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View Full Version : Patching a hole...



JokerJersey
11-04-2009, 13:42
This past weekend, we had a run-in with a very curious, extremely fat, and overly brave squirrel, which I believe must have been a distant cousin of the AT shelter mice...

Somehow (likely due to carelessness :p), a peanut bar was left in the tent when we were off refilling our water supply. In the 15 minutes we were gone, the little bugger came up, chewed a squirrel-head-sized hole in one end of our tent, and helped himself to it. When we got back, I had to chase him out of the tent and then another 10 mins chasing him away from the camp.

Which leads to the question...how do you go about patching a tent? Where would I find sil-nylon like the kind the tent is made out of? Do you need to seal the seams of the patch afterwards? Heck...even what kind of thread to use would be good to know.

After doing some reading on the topic, I've seen most people saying NOT to use duct tape, but that brings up another problem, which is...what would you do about this if it happened on the trail? I was told that duct tape will leak, leave a nasty residue on your tent, and potentially make the original hole larger and harder to repair. Then again, this was also said by people who had a product to sell...so I have to take it with a grain of salt. Dealing with it now is going to be a minor inconvience, but having a compromised tent on the trail would be a serious PITA. Is duct tape only not to be used for long term fixes, but is ok for a short term band-aid?

Any advice you guys have would be appreciated.

ShelterLeopard
11-04-2009, 14:07
You could just buy a tent patching kit. They have everything you need. (I'm thinking I'll probably bring one on the trail with me on my thru.)

JokerJersey
11-04-2009, 14:10
Yeah, I saw those...but I was hoping I could find something that would match my tent so my OCD wouldn't freak out at me every time I saw my tent with a mismatched patch on the front. :D

ShelterLeopard
11-04-2009, 14:26
Well what kind of tent do you have? I'm sure it would be easy just to call the supplier (Mountain Hardwear, MSR, etc...) and ask if they sell tent specific repair kits. If there's still a warantee on your tent, they might even send you whatever you need to repair it for free. Not sure about that though...

JokerJersey
11-04-2009, 15:07
LOL, I thought about taking it back to REI and "exchanging" it...but my g/f slapped me and told me to act right. I'll look into contacting REI about it though...thanks!

Manwich
11-04-2009, 15:12
Go to wal-mart, buy the triple pack of stuffsacks.

Cut patch to specification. Use Silnylon Patch Goop to stick it on.

JokerJersey
11-04-2009, 15:16
Nice, hadn't thought about using a stuff sack. Makes total sense though. Thanks for the idea!

Manwich
11-04-2009, 17:17
My Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo is a good percentage of stuff sack, now.