Wet Suit Armor plating

[Iceaxe]

Over the years I've noticed most canyoneering wetsuits fail in the butt. This is especially true of wetsuits designed for a purpose other than canyoneering. The suit usually fails at the stitching when someone slides down a rock on their butt, novice canyoneers are particularly prone to destroying wetsuits in this fashion.

Anyhoo... a simple trick to help solve this problem is to run a bead of Shoe Goo down the threaded seem, we refer to this as armor plating the seam. Don't wait until your seam splits to apply the armor plating, a tube of Shoe Goo costs about $5 and will do all the wetsuits in your house.

[nkanarik]

Thanks for knowledge sharing...will apply

[moab mark]

Another idea is to buy cheap gold gym shorts. Wear over wetsuit. Or over shorts.
They are made out of a light neoprene type material.

[2065toyota]

I use a pair of neo shorts and a scuttle butt. Same harness and suit for over 60 canyons

[Bootboy]

+1 for just wearing something over it.

Even if you just coat the butt seam, the thighs and hips are major rub points in most non-Zion canyons. Many canyons I've been in would destroy an uncovered wetsuit in one trip.

I use the golds gym neos with a coating of clear roof sealant called "Through the Roof". it lasts a looonnnnnggggg time. Even in slidy canyons.

[rick t]

I slip a pair of levis shorts on over the wetsuit if I'm going to be doing a lot of sliding. Roger used to wear a full pair of levis and a long sleeved wool shirt over his fancy Camaro to protect it, but then of course the extra weight of those wet clothes was not an issue for him. Sealing the sewn seams is always a good idea, I cover all of the seams of my new 5-10's, right out of the box, before they ever get near a canyon. Ditto the expensive Asics wrestling knee pads.