repairing ripped down bag

I would fold the ripped edge under a bit, then stitch as mentioned, making sure to keep the material lifted away from the down. If you're feeling brave, you might even melt the edge of the torn fabric first, but probably not necessary at all. Don't use too big of a needle/thread. That should be fine. If you find that you're getting some down leaking out of the repair later, you could top it off with some repair tape or a decent bead of seam grip.

I'll suggest two different solutions.
The reason is that frankly I don't think you can sew the edge of torn Momentum and have it stay intact after the next pull. The weave is not very strong. It will just pull out and then you will have an even bigger mess.

Solution 1
Get some 3M9485PC transfer tape as wide as you can and some Momentum fabric. Create a repair tape with the 3M9485 and the spare fabric. That is, bond one side of the transfer tape down onto the fabric, burnish, and then cut the fabric to match the tape. Behold: adhesive Momentum. Align the torn edges and tape together. (This step is tricky: get help to hold the ends of the tear.) Burnish hard and leave for 24 hours. Yes, I have done this in the field, and the repair is still going strong some years and one wash later.

Solution 2
Get some 3M9485PC and some Momentum, make up a repair tape as above. Then reinforce each edge of the tear with the repair tape, burnish, leave 24 hours. Now try sewing together. Caution: this is still susceptible to having the weave undo under tension. I have not used this method myself.

Cheers

I've tried to repair one sleeping bag with a long tear, using sticky nylon tape and McNett Seam Grip. It's fixed, but it looks awful.

Christopher,
Your avatar reminds me of the B. Kliban cartoon… "Never eat anything bigger than your head."

Christopher,

I posted a technique a few months ago here.

That approach worked great for me. The repair is nearly invisible.

-Colin

OK, on a trip last weekend I found a small (1/4") tear in my Versalite bag. Any suggestions for a hole that small? Colin's suggestion looks good but not sure it would be a good idea to try and get a patch through a hole that small; I suppose I could use the same technique to put one on the outside.

Any other ideas?

I would buy Tenacious Tape or Kenyon tape in the right color. Seal the rip with seal grip. Let it dry. Put the tape patch over it.

There is also a hidden seam sewing method that would work, but Tenacious Tape is really awesome stuff for repairs to tents, jackets, sleeping bags, etc.

I’ve had good luck using insignia cloth repair tape on various nylon rips and tears.

here

Ha! The insignia tape is $3, but the cheapest shipping they offer is $16. But hopefully I can find it elsewhere. That sounds like a good way to go.

(edit: I just phoned WM and they are going to send me a piece of tape to put on it)

dk,

When you get the tape could you let us know what kind it is?

It would be helpful to know what WM has found to work well.

I will if I can figure out what kind it is (I'll phone and ask if it's not apparent to me, which it probably won't be).

Or better yet – you guys just send me a large piece of all the kinds that you use, labelled

;-)

My cat clawed a nice 1/4" hole in my EE Enigma (10d) a while back…I ended up cutting a small bit of single-side cuben tape into a nice circle (to keep the edges from lifting up) and it seems to do well. No leaking and I barely notice it…

The repair patches that Thermarest supplies and that are included with Marmot tents all seem to be identical to Tenacious Tape. Available in clear, black nylon, dark brown nylon, dark blue nylon, sage green ripstop and platinum white ripstop. I think the fabric versions make a cleaner repair than the clear version.

https://www.mcnett.com/gearaid/tenacious-tape#10696

http://www.rei.com/product/783045/gear-aid-tenacious-tape-repair-tape?s_kwcid=sWDnQTnPv_dc|pcrid|34213216325|pkw|tenacious%20tape|pmt|e|google|main&gclid=CIuY2cOnncECFaZj7AodTjwAuQ

Here's another brand of nylon repair tape. Kenyon makes it in a ripstop version and a smooth taffeta version:

http://www.kenyonconsumer.com/store/product.php?productid=89&cat=4&page=1

I've used both brands.

With some of their tents, Marmot supplies a 2 x 8 inch strip of tape in each color fabric used on the tent: fly, floor, inner. Nice repair kit if it's ever needed. The ThermaRest repair kit supplied with their mattresses and as an accessory has precut patches of a similar tape. With any tape repair, it's best to round the corners when you cut the patch. Makes it less likely to "snag" a corner of the patch and lift it off down the road.

Well, WM finally sent me the tape they said they would put in the mail back in October, to fix the small rip in my Versalite. It is Tenacious Tape.