Gluing plastic hardware

[Adam G]

I am trying to convert a standard side release buckle to a surface mount buckle to retrofit an already completed project. The original plan was to epoxy the buckle to XPac. It turns out that epoxy binds poorly to both the plastic and the fabric. The next idea is to glue the buckle to a different fabric and sew that onto the XPac. Any ideas on which glue and fabric to use?

[Chris R]

is the buckle acetal or nylon? You are going to struggle either way!

[Adam G]

I have no idea what the material is. It’s a side release buckle from Quest Outfitters. It’s a bit shiny?

[Sam Farrington]

Forget the adhesive and secure the buckle, if it is a buckle, as the maker intended; that is, with a loop of grosgrain, twill tape, or webbing, sewn onto the Xpac.  Disclaimer:  Stopped fooling with Xpac and the like for packs because it is inferior to conventional woven and coated fabrics.  So can’t be sure anything can be sewn to it securely for a long time under rugged use.

[Adam G]

Just to be clear, it is currently attached with a piece of grossgrain through its loop and attached to the XPac. I just want it to lay flat. Also, who said I was making a pack?

[Sam Farrington]

Adam,

Thanks for your clarification.  But don’t think that the type of buckle you have will work properly unless it is free to swivel a bit on the Grosgrain loop.  Sorry I can’t help with adhesives.  It has taken me many years, for example, to find the right adhesive and best method for bonding silnylon reinforcement patches, and still could not have done so without Roger Caffin’s help.

Suggest looking for a buckle that can be secured with grossgrain loops at both ends, allowing enough flexibility to grip.  This would also probably provide more strength than an adhesive.  Not sure what you are making, but would love to know.

 

[Chris R]

If you really have to do it you would need to find a circle of similar plastic, glue the buckle to that and then glue or sew that to the pack. Personally I would just buy a buckle specially designed to mount directly to fabric. You may even be able to find one that’s compatible with the other half of your existing buckle. They usually have a backing plate that goes on the inside and prongs push through the fabric to lock the buckle in place.

[baja bob]

I found a specific glue and tended for plastic at Home Depot. I used it to glue a buckle that I cut to slide onto a webbing loop and the close buckle back up. I will look for the glue.

[Eric Blanche]

I know you said you tried glue but, specifically, did you try JB Weld’s Plastic Bonder? https://www.jbweld.com/product/plastic-bonder-syringe

[Bob K]

Consult http://thistothat.com/

[Adam G]

Thanks for all of your help on this. ThisToThat is a really cool website.

For those wondering, I am trying to make a crampon bag that wouldn’t puncture. I would strap the bag to the side of my pack so the crampons would be pushed against the pack. I noticed that the front points could dig in, and I worried that if I ran into a rock or something, they would fully puncture. My initial bag was made of canvas which worked but was heavy. I then tried those lightweight Tyvek envelopes that you get at the post office. Those punctured really easily. I tried using that material that they make rice bags out of, but that too punctured. I tried to shove them into 2 L soda bottles but they wouldn’t fit. I then made a bag out of cordura that I had lying around, which was decent, but it ended up being ugly and still could puncture. I experimented as to what was the lightest and most puncture resistant fabric from what I had lying around, and the X-Pac won.

So I made a buckle-closure bag out of X-Pac. It seems fairly durable and looks decent. Unfortunately, I made the buckle closure using the standard side-release buckles. That’s fine, but it became annoying opening and closing it with mitts on. I didn’t want to rip out the initial buckle or go and buy a single flat lay buckle online. So I decided that the best thing to do was to glue it. Easier said than done…

[Iago Vazquez]

For a crampon bag I use a Black Diamond Toolbox. I like the buckle system on that bag as it allows me to adjust the volume of the bag somewhat.

If I were making one, I would consider using discarded airbag fabric. Since Greg Pehrson mentioned it, it seems like a fantastic fabric for this application–and many others, of course. The local junkyard or body shop may be able to supply you with some pieces. If you don’t like the look, you could sew it as a double layer to the inside of  Xpac or whatever other fabric you like.

 

[Sam Farrington]

Some things hide in plaint sight, and naturally, the climbers had to come up with something for their spikes.  Glad we have climbers on BPL.

I’ve experimented with Loctite Hysol U-09FL used by many to adhere mylar to mylar on Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), and if clamped for a couple days is the strongest bond I’ve found.  But mylar is just one of many plastics, and don’t know if acetal plastics would bond as well.  The Hysol is sold by McMaster Carr, and is also quite expensive.

[Adam G]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. The MYOG community is awesome.

One thing I do not like about the commercial crampon bags is the attachment system. Why didn’t they put Molle webbing on it? I’ve had good luck putting these securely onto the side of my pack which has side release buckles. That, of course, could drive the crampon points into it, which is the motivation for this project.

In case anyone is wondering, here is what I’ve made. The craftmanship needs some work. I didn’t really prototype this one up. I just made it to see what would happen. I’ve never had anything that closes with a flap. It’s harder than it looks. I had a really hard time getting the dimensions right for the flap requiring a lot of trimming and resewing once already constructed.

You can see that the female portion of the buckle is flapping down which makes it annoying to clip it back together if I’m wearing mittens. It’s annoying, but not really crucial for the functionality. In retrospect, I should have used a flat lay buckle, but I didn’t really think about it during construction, a lot of the MYOG suppliers don’t even sell them, and buying a single buckle would be very expensive for such a small project. Thus, the glue conundrum.

[Chris R]

How about gluing a magnet to the side of the buckle and then adding one to the fabric to hold the buckle in place?

If you were in Canada I’d send you a buckle!

[Greg Pehrson]

2 ideas come to mind:

-sewing a lightweight lash tab (those little patches with the two vertical cuts) beneath the buckle and running a zip tie through it and over the uppermost part of the buckle (so you can still freely squeeze it to unclip). You may have to sew a horizontal line across the slits to reduce the opening size so the zip tie doesn’t slip down.

-sewing a piece of grosgrain horizontally over the buckle to hold it place–you may have to experiment with the tension of the ribbon in order to be able to unclip it. I have a Kelty pack that uses this method to hold the buckles in place and you just squeeze through the ribbon to unclip.

I hope I’m explaining these clearly.

Good luck!

(Thanks for the shout out, iago!)

 

 

[Stephen Seeber]

This may be more weight than you want but this is what I use: https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/product/crampon-bag/

The bag is kind of heavy but it will not puncture.

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