Surfing Waves

I have a cut on my knee, despite wearing a wetsuit. I found that there's already a thin spot on the corresponding location of my O'Neill Psycho-Tech 4/3 that I've had only a few months (about 18 outings).

It looks like this spot gets rubbed against the board when I go from lying to sitting, and I'm trying to move differently to keep things from getting worse.

Has something like this happened to you?

Will I eventually wear a hole in the suit if this continues? Should I put a patch??

Thanks,

Al

Dragging a knee (or toes) along a board during pop up is a not infrequent issue. Usually it’s because your hips are not high enough - my usual recommendation is to move your hands further down towards your hips

In terms of the wetsuit, I think the suit has reinforced knees so interesting if you are wearing out that area. In any case, always fix up anything that might be a hole - holes in wetsuits can really reduce the effectiveness of the suit

It’s also possible that you are just weighting your knees when you are paddling, particularly if you paddle with your feet raised (and your feet wobble back and forth and your knee takes all the weight)

There is weird orangutan gene circulating the surfing community, it results in scrapped knuckles and feet, in your case knees....

Try putting your back foot down first, then the front. Still pop up, but concentrate on the back foot. Most newbs think that both feet go at the same time, but if you see a popup in slow motion the back foot comes down first, thus no knees.

Thanks, guys.

I didn't make it clear, but this happens not during the popup, but when get out the back and go from lying down to sitting on the board. I learned this because the cut on my knee was sore the other day, and that's the point at which I said, "Ow!"

This is what it looks like:



>>fix up anything that might be a hole
Is there anything preventative that I can do?

Thanks.

Strange, did you wax your board to the rails? I usually don't

IB_Surfer wrote:Strange, did you wax your board to the rails? I usually don't

Yes, I do. I hadn't in the past, but after a few slips while trying to step back and carve turns, I started waxing right to the rails.

But that's an excellent point, and I think I'll remove the wax there. Now that it's colder, I'm wearing booties, and with those, I never need any wax when I'm using those.

I sent the photo to O'Neill and they told me to send it in for repair (since it's under warranty). I think I'll wait until deep winter, then send it in. They told me it takes 30 business days to fix it.

Al

Curious why you only posted a photo of the inside of the wetsuit ? Where the damage to the outside ?

But what I can see and what there's to go off of, seems dry skin on dry neoprene jersey fabric is causing friction/abrasion. You could try lubricated the leg with a dose of water after you got the wetsuit leg on half way up the thigh.

waikikikichan wrote:Curious why you only posted a photo of the inside of the wetsuit ? Where the damage to the outside ?

But what I can see and what there's to go off of, seems dry skin on dry neoprene jersey fabric is causing friction/abrasion. You could try lubricated the leg with a dose of water after you got the wetsuit leg on half way up the thigh.

True, the damage is more apparent on the inside. Here's the outside, and if I don't push with my finger, it's barely noticeable:



Interesting theory, and I'll try spraying some of this on the knee (I sometimes use it to make wetsuit on/off easier):



I've never had this kind of thing happen before. One difference from previous wetsuits is that the reinforcing material is pretty abrasive.

Be careful to let Oneil know you've been using sprays, vaseline and such which might void the warranty. From what I see, the damage is happening from the INSIDE out. If the material is getting thin after repeated bashing in short amount of time, that is USER ERROR. Normal WEAR and TEAR warranty clause may or may not apply, but it's good to know they will try to fix it. But as Oneil, I would have you send it now, not months later of use, to prevent the damage from getting bigger.

No way is that user error. I have a normal knee. This wetsuit is about three months old.

Banana wrote:No way is that user error. I have a normal knee. This wetsuit is about three months old.

I've work in Bike shops and Surf shops my whole life. I can tell you "defects" and "claims" usually turn out to be due to the user, not a manufacturing defect or problem. Of course, you don't think so and won't believe it otherwise. No one wants to hear it's their own fault. But honestly, it may come down to how you pop up or drag a knee on the deck. But turn it into Oneil immediately so they can repair the area and get it back to you as soon as possible.

Do you paddle with your feet raised?

Banana wrote:I didn't make it clear, but this happens not during the popup, but when get out the back and go from lying down to sitting on the board. I learned this because the cut on my knee was sore the other day, and that's the point at which I said, "Ow!"

The reason why you notice the pain only when you sit up is because that's the point when the wetsuit is stretched taut the most.
The material gets pinned down by your butt on the deck.
Then the material on the other end gets pinned down by the bend of under your knee.
The abrasion to the knee may be happening during the pop up ( or paddle, etc. ) but you only notice the pain when you sit up. Maybe the pain is there during the pop up, you just don't notice it in the heat of action.
So then you might say " then why is it only on one leg and not both ?". Is the knee the rubbing out is happening, is also the leg where you wear the leash on ?

>Is the knee the rubbing out is happening, is also the leg where you wear the leash on ?

No.