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Sleeping pad repair
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Sleeping pad repair
- This topic has 9 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 6 months ago by Tipi Walter.
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Sep 20, 2021 at 10:23 pm #3727877
On a recent trip my hiking partner had major issues with his sleeping pad, a Nemo insulated Tensor (same one I use). He had several small leaks that were issues throughout our week-long journey. Also, in frustration trying to get the valve open, he actually tore through the sleeping pad, from the outside edge to about a centimeter into the body of the bag, the way you’d tear open an envelope. Each afternoon at camp, he’d work on repairs, each time hoping they’d hold so he could get a good night sleep. We had a combination of repair options that he tried, with varying results.
-small patches that came with the sleeping pad
-black Tenacious Tape
-clear Tenacious Tape (supposedly the same exact kind as the black, neither being the silnylon version)
-‘glue dots’, which I had left over from an old Thermarest – these were very sticky, thick, sort of gelatinous patches that came with a clear patch to put over them once they’ve adhered – looks like you can buy them on Amazon now https://www.amazon.com/Therm-Rest-Instant-Camping-Mattress/dp/B00G4V53FQ.Most of the small leaks were on the bottom of the pad right at the creases and dimples. He found that it was very hard to get most of the tapes to adhere well all the way down in these creases. Weirdly, the black tape seemed to adhere better than the clear, which a day later we simply pulled right off the pad when it was clear it wasn’t working. The tape that came with the pad worked fairly well, but the patches were too small and too few. The thing that seemed to really do the trick, and we even got to work on the large, two-sided ‘envelope’ tear up top, were the glue dots, which seemed to have enough sort of gooey volume that it easily filled any tiny gaps and was very sticky.
Now that all my repair tape has been used up on this week-long experiment, I’m trying to figure out what to replace it with should I run into a similar situation. Curious if anyone has any insights into a) what kind of tape Nemo may have provided, b) why the black vs. clear Tenacious Tape didn’t work the same and for the most part didn’t work well at all, and most of all c) now that I see I can buy more glue dots (which I discovered as I was writing this) what are their best uses?
Thanks!
Sep 20, 2021 at 10:34 pm #3727878UV wader repair polyurethane glue. It’s like aquaseal, but instantly cures when exposed to direct sunlight, or more slowly in cloudy conditions. Patches are temporary at best. You need glue. For tears, if you can get a patch to back the hole, then apply a bead of glue along the tear. The glue will be stronger than the surrounding fabric.
Sep 21, 2021 at 3:28 am #3727880b) why the black vs. clear Tenacious Tape didn’t work the same
I do not know why, but I had a similar experience. My son got a nice REI light down jacket 9 years ago, when he was there. Being the age he was, he tore holes on that jacket all over the place. Patched it with black tenacious tape and after three years of laundering and heavy use, not one came off.
Then, 6 years ago, when he was six, we got him the same exact jacket in the next size, same color. But mom, tired of the black patches on the green shell, wanted me to find a matching tape. I couldn’t, so I just bought clear. The two years that my son wore that jacket, we noticed that the clear patches seemed to develop cracks and also keeled off the fabric. Several had to be redone. This never happened with the black tape, even though we had more patches on the first jacket and heavier use, more launderings.
So I do not know if current clear tape is the same as 6 years ago, but at the time there was a stark difference in performance, both with regard to the stickiness of the glue and the durability of the fabric.
To me, it seemed as if the black had more flex and conformed better to the shell.
Time for a warranty claim?
Sep 21, 2021 at 5:53 am #3727888The tenacious tape colored patches are quite a bit more flexible and softer and stick better and longer. The clear does work fairly well but the colored are better yet.
Sep 21, 2021 at 6:54 am #3727891This is their company info. Nylon would seem more flexible than vinyl. What is the difference between nylon and ripstop?
“Use the nylon fabric (black, red and colors), ripstop fabric (green and gray), and clear vinyl for nearly invisible repairs”Sep 21, 2021 at 9:12 am #3727898Do they put a UV accelerator in the Loon UV wader PU glue?
Other PU glues include McNett Seam Grip and Shoo Goo. I bet those would work just as good except for the curing time.
Once you open a McNett Seam Grip (and I assume other PU glues) it hardens within a few months. If you store it in the freezer it will be good for several years. In my experience.
So, if you store a tube of PU glue in your pack, I think you’d only get one use out of it. Maybe better to get a small tube.
Sep 21, 2021 at 9:43 am #3727900Did you clean the offending areas with alcohol pads?
Sep 21, 2021 at 10:03 am #3727905I don’t have any particular insight into field repairs, but I have never had an issue with replacement under warranty when sending sleeping pads back to Big Agnes or Therm-a-Rest (and I’ve sent at least two back to each manufacturer in the last decade).
The only other piece of “advice” I can give is to consider bringing a 3/4 length closed-cell foam pad as a back-up/sit pad/additional insulation/puncture protection. This isn’t as important on one or two-night trips, but anything longer than that and I usually have a 3/4 length CCF pad with me. It can make the difference between having to bail on a trip, getting miserable nights of cold/hard sleep if bailing isn’t an option, or being warm enough and reasonably comfortable enough to continue a trip. It also helps prevent punctures in the first place when used under the pad (although it is generally accepted that it will feel warmer/you will actually be warmer if it is placed on top, but I don’t do this except when camping on snow because puncture prevention is my main priority for this item). I also use mine to sit/stretch out on when taking breaks, for light yoga/stretching at camp, laying on to stargaze, turning a rocky and slanted summit into a laid back padded lounge chair through various contortions, etc. One additional tip is to be sure to make sure you keep the same side down on the ground every time and check it for pine needles, cacti spikes, etc. that it might pick up when lounging around on it before you put it in your shelter and put your sleeping pad on it. I’ve had a few close calls in that regard.
While some ultralighters (typically those who are more focused on having an impressive spreadsheet than on actually spending time outside and being prepared for contingencies) might scoff at this, I stand by it. And I’ve loaned my CCF pad to a friend whose inflatable pad failed in the middle of a three-night trip. Instead of us bailing, we continued thanks to having this useful “back up” piece of gear, whereas we probably would’ve cut the trip short otherwise.
Sep 21, 2021 at 10:50 am #3727910My experience is consistent with yours. Careful field repairs that I’ve made with the Thermarest glue-dot system have lasted for years, basically permanent fixes. I’ve been able to make temporary repairs with various types of tape that got me through a trip, but they were rarely perfect.
The biggest problem for me is finding slow leaks while in the field.
Sep 21, 2021 at 1:39 pm #3727918I’ve field repaired leaking inflatable sleeping pads many times in the past—just did one recently on a leaking Trail Pro pad with a pin hole leak by overinflating and submerging in a creek. I always carry either McNett’s Seam Grip or Silnet on every trip. You have to first determine the pad’s shell fabric as to which sealer you will use. The patches do very little except as a confidence booster—it’s the sealer which performs the job. On this leak I used Seam Grip because the shell is not silnylon—
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