Apparently, it costs...

more than the price of a new drysuit to repair a broken zipper on a drysuit. So I decided to try to repair my old drysuit, with a ripped-off tooth near the base of the zipper.

Before:


First, glue the base of the zipper together and clamp for 48 hours.

(Saran wrap the edges of the clamp so the zipper does not adhere to said clamp.)

Next. Find a piece of metal to cover the zipper above and below the break. After a brief discussion with an ACE hardware employee about the softness and corrosion resistance of different metals, I settled on Bronze spacers.

Oh yeah, and cut the metal so that it can fit over the zipper, yet get under the zipper teeth.


Finally, slide Bronze spacers in place on the zipper track, put another layer of adhesive between the spacer and the zipper, crimp the spacer tight to the zipper track with pliers, and wait two or three days to pool-test the damn thing.



If successful, I will have a dry drysuit, with a zipper that doesn't quite open all the way. I can live with that, especially a a savings of 300+ dollars.