Wetsuit Zipper Issue

by **yojimbo** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:49 pm

While donning my wetsuit yesterday the zipper released one of its tracks. This was surprising since there are no broken teeth. It felt like I had triggered some sort of release mechanism, as it came undone so easily. I inspected the sliding mechanism and there is a spring assembly, but have not figured out what it does. Anyone know if this is easily rectified? Its a Hyperflex Amp 5/4 Surf Series with a hood.

Never gonna get another front entry suit, what a hassle getting in and out.

by **behindThePeak** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:43 pm

i had this happen a few years ago. you probably have a small rip in the fabric between two teeth perpendicular to the travel of the zipper; doesn't look like a break unless it gets twisted at which point you'll see how the zipper can travel right off the rails.

if that's it you can twist it just right to get the zipper back on. I fixed it by moving the zipper above the tear and sowing the teeth shut at and below the break so as to create a new bottom stop for the zipper.

by **kitenaked** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:15 pm

my front zip hyperflex did same thing. Still needs fixing...

by **le noun** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:27 pm

I've tried front zippers a couple of times, I don't even understand why some people wear those. Such a pain to get out!

by **stompdit** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:50 am

They're tricky for a few sessions until you wear them out a bit and figure out an easy method to get them on/off. No problem after that. If you can't figure it out, stick to a back zip.

by **le noun** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:56 am

I'm sticking to the back zip. :mrgreen:

by **Aloha** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 1:13 am

Front entry seems to me to be a little less prone to the old eskimo sunrise on duck dives if you're surfing

I'm not sure they have much of a benefit over back zip for kite or windsurfers though

by **yojimbo** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 1:46 pm

Front entry apparently provides greater flexibility for arm movement, something important to surfers, absolutely not worth bothering with if you kite.

I ended up sending my wetsuit to blownoutwetsuitrepair.com. $20 for the repair, $30 for shipping(both ways). Unfortunately I attempted a repair on my own, which will result in a smaller opening now.

I also had contacted info@hyperflexusa.com. I still have not heard back from them. You always see great deals on Hyperflex wetsuits-I won't be buying their wetsuits anymore.
Still don't know why the zipper failed, no tears, nothing to point to why it separated.

by **yojimbo** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:58 pm

Just got my wetsuit back from "blownoutwetsuitrepair" in santa cruz. Repair done in less than a week, super nice. Highly recommend their services.

It took Hyperflex about a week to respond to my email, and they told me to see if I could have it repaired locally. Nice.

by **sc-surfer** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:22 pm

Blownout are good people! Glad you had a good experiance (with them!).