Patching wetsuit elbows?

[Mdowling56]

Have a small golf ball sized area that is wearing out on the elbow of my suit... I can only assume it's from where I prob myself up on my elbows. It's not all the way through the elbow, just the first thin layer of outer material has kind of shredded.

Does this sound like a candidate for a patch job?

I've never patched a suit before... probably going to grab a new suit soon anyway but If I can make this one hold up through the summer that would be cool.

[jaffa1949]

Check your local surf shop some of them will sell stuff to repair wetsuits hopefully better than the next item.
There is also neoprene rubber glue a nasty black contact cement stuff, that is both toxic and possibly cancer causing (which probably explains why most wetsuits are made in China now). this stuff can be used to glue a patch on. For this make sure you read both the instructions and safety directions

Bear in mind if you put a patch on in any way the bending of the elbows will be more difficult.
It should last a season more without doing anything you could also hack the lower sleeves off and make it a short sleeve.

Another question, what are you doing, that you prop up on your elbows?

[Rickyroughneck]

A patch job should be quite easy, you just need some neoprene cement and strong thread. For the patch itself you could look into using a tough rubbery patch (like you get on wetsuit knees), but that would be risky in that it could reduce the flexibility. The easiest would be to use 3mm neoprene

Sew it from one corner to the other diagonally from both corners, leaving the thread loose as you finish. Once the cross is done, take the loose thread from the two corners and sew the edges with it. After that apply the cement to the edges and lightly to the stitching to waterproof it and bingo, job done

I wouldn't worry too much about the cement being poisonous, as long as you use it in a well ventilated area it will be fine. Read the label, if it presents a serious problem then it will say. To be honest you could probably do without the cement altogether, I use it mainly to protect the stitching from abrasion but with strong enough thread that probably wouldn't be a problem. I have some beastly leather thread that you could probably strangle a wolf with!