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Old 08-25-2011, 07:05 PM   #1
XavierDeRoos
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Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

I got my Argos booties a while ago, and ever since the second dive I have been fighting a losing battle with the threading. It just keeps unwinding itself. I will cut some off or clip it off with toe nail clippers and it just keeps unwinding. Is this my fault and rare or is it the manufacturers problem? I have had them for a while so I dont expect to be able to return them, but it just sucks because they were pretty expensive and started to fall apart almost instantly.
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Old 08-25-2011, 07:11 PM   #2
BleedtheGills
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Sew it back up. Iv'e seen some ppl with there booties sewed in the front by the toes. I have the same issue with my gloves.

Im in need of some new socks cuz mine are starting to wear through the bottom. Only had em for a couple months but the shore dives are getting the best of them.
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Old 08-25-2011, 07:15 PM   #3
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

get some glue and quit pulling on the loose threads.
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Old 08-25-2011, 07:16 PM   #4
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Argos threading often comes undone. I'm on my third pair in the last 4 years right now (shore diving is hard on booties when you hike down/up in them) and all of them have had the threading come out. If you put a little wetsuit glue over the stitching it'll stop the unwinding. Despite this issue, Argos are still the best bootie I've ever used... speaking of which, its about time for me to order another pair...
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Old 08-25-2011, 07:22 PM   #5
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

X2 on thread coming out, and X2 on them being the best booties out there. On my next pair, I'm just gonna go over all the stitching with wetsuit glue right from the get-go. I might hit the bottoms with a thin film of 5200 too.
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Old 08-25-2011, 07:54 PM   #6
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

No problems here, mine have been great
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Old 08-25-2011, 07:59 PM   #7
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Awesome booties, threads come out though but glue em like they said. Im only on my second pair cuz i lost my first pair in 9 months and all I do is shore dive.

(dont wanna derail but I just got some hammerhead gloves from J&J and they seem like they are gonna be the best gloves yet.)
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Old 08-25-2011, 08:01 PM   #8
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

haha I yanked on a lose threat on mine and the whole thing came undone. haven't had any problems with it falling apart though. This is my third pair in like 4 years. First pair came apart at the heel. Second pair I wore holes through the heel. This pair I've had for about 3 months and counting.
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Old 08-25-2011, 08:53 PM   #9
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gettin'wet View Post
X2 on thread coming out, and X2 on them being the best booties out there. On my next pair, I'm just gonna go over all the stitching with wetsuit glue right from the get-go. I might hit the bottoms with a thin film of 5200 too.
be careful with the 5200. i did a coat on the bottoms of mine, and that shittt dont stretch so now mine are like 2 sizes too small!! haha
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Old 08-25-2011, 09:10 PM   #10
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Totally normal, Argos booties are disposable. Maybe one year out of them? Sew them up and glue with Picasso glue or similar.

It would help to preemptively glue all the stitching while the booties are new.
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Old 08-26-2011, 12:50 AM   #11
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Quote:
Originally Posted by chowderpuff View Post
It would help to preemptively glue all the stitching while the booties are new.
I do this with my gloves was well. Cheap stitch in time..
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Old 08-26-2011, 09:24 AM   #12
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

People really need to learn that wetsuit glue is essential for MAINTENANCE of wetsuits (and neoprene boots etc.). All sewn seams should be inspected after drying. All sewn seams and threads are vunerable to being pulled out and starting to run, especially if you scrape up against a rock or barnacle or catch a seam on something on the boat. Good suits have a lock down stitch (or whatever it is called) at the end of any seam. Runs can start from this location, but more often than not a seam is damaged away from the very end and when this occurs the thread will begin to run and pull out, often in two directions.

If you see the thread beginning to run, it takes just a moment to dab a small (3/16" ) blob of wetsuit glue over the run. Sometimes it might take two tries to glue the end of the thread and lock it down. Once this is done, the thread will no longer pull out, cutting the thread off short without locking it down with some glue will NOT solve the problem at all.

You are not smearing wetsuit glue all over a seam, just a little dab where the seam has lost it's integrity. If the break in thread is in the middle of the seam, then you need to obviously lock down both ends of the "cut" thread.

If you loose a bunch of thread, maybe over an inch or two, then you might want to re-sew the nylon back together by hand.

"A stitch in time saves 9" and all that. When I was taught to dive 35 yrs ago the old salts taught me to take a look at your brand new wetsuit and put blobs of glue here and there on anywhere that it looks like the threads MIGHT begin to run. It is really kind of ugly, especaiily on a new suit, but after 20-30 days of use, it is not going to be pristine anyway. I've followed this general recommendation for a long time and if you just immediately STOP threads from running by locking them down with glue when you first see a problem, the issue with threads unraveling should not be a big problem on a quality suit.

Another option which I have been using for a while is to use some iron on material that MAKO sells. It is cheap, very thin, and is stretchy 'nylon-like" material that has some heat activated adhesive. Rather than a blob of glue, you can cut a small circle of this material and iron it on over the thread break. They only have black and it will probably look worse than a blob of glue on a pretty suit, but you can apply the stuff in a few moments and it seems to hold up pretty well. It is quick, easy and cheap and I don't think there is an issue with shelf life as there is with wetsuit glue.

While I am rambling on about wetsuit maintenance, it is essential that small cuts in the internal smooth skin rubber of freedive suits be fixed ASAP. If you glue them back together as soon as the suit has dried, they will most likely never open back up. If you dive for weeks with these tears, the wetsuit edges get dirty, oily, worn and I think the rubber may oxidize too?,, but the longer you wait to repair a small tear, the less likely it is to be glued back together securely. If you have the glue on hand when you buy a new suit, you will be able to spend 5 minutes here and there and this will maintain the functionality of the suit for much longer.

I keep my wetsuit glue in the fridge and only warm it up for a short period when applying it. This seems to extend the shelf life.
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Old 08-26-2011, 09:53 AM   #13
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

Hmmm never happened to mine. I've had them about a year. The heels are worn out from hiking but the rest is holding up.
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Old 08-26-2011, 10:06 AM   #14
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

The threading by my toes started coming apart from day 1. Westuit glue won't work there because there is too much movement. After a year and a half, I finally repaired that area by sewing it up with spectra core and then using the wetsuit glue.
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Old 08-26-2011, 10:59 AM   #15
Otis Driftwood
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Re: Did you have problems with your Argos booties?

I love my argos, that being said i have had some unraveling without the seam opening and once I got two left booties in a package.
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