What are your critical don’t-leave-home-without gear repair items?

[lisa r]

I’m sure this has been covered before, but a quick search turned up only pretty old discussions, so I’m curious what folks nowadays are bringing.

I find myself increasingly doing off-trail solo trips and am realizing I need to be much more prepared to manage gear failures in the field than I’d consider necessary if I were sticking to well traveled trails. I’ve also been working hard to reduce my base weight so I don’t want to bring the whole kitchen sink with me. I’m aiming for smart-light.

Right now my repair lists consists of Tenacious Tape, both regular and for sil-nylon, some safety pins, one tent pole sleeve, and I was thinking about throwing in a few zip ties. I also carry some leukotape.

On my last trip I started wondering what I’d do if I had pack shoulder strap failure or shoe failure (specially since I’ve made the switch to trail runners) and what I could/should bring for those cases. And I’m trying to think of what other kinds of gear failure could be problematic to mildly catastrophic if it occurred in the middle of doing a solo high route.

What else should I be carrying?

[Matthew / BPL]

Needle and thread/floss?

[Matthew / BPL]

A little extra line?

[Adrian Griffin]

Twenty feet of microcord. I carry a few cable ties. Get the type with the thumbnail tab allowing you to release and reuse them.

[Edward John M]

Needles and strong thread.

5minute epoxy. Superglue and one of each of whatever SR buckles on my pack and as much cord as I think needed

If ski touringn then binding  screws, Posi-drive screwdriver, stainless steel wire and fixings as well

[lisa r]

For people suggesting extra cord, what are the potential uses you envision for it?

[Nick Gatel]

Needle & thread. Tape. Mostly to repair clothing and shoes. A quality pack and shelter should hold up to the rigors of solo hiking off trail.

[David Hartley]

Beyond the common items like tape or thread and needle I bring a spare hipbelt buckle. It doesn’t weigh much and I figure a long trip might get pretty unpleasant with a non-functioning hipbelt. I also include a spare cap for my water containers.

[Dave Heiss]

I just bring some tenacious tape and some cord, although the zip-tie idea is a good one. I’ll add a few of those.

I think one other noteworthy point is not to go out with any gear that is on its last legs. I’m as guilty as anyone about nursing along gear that is near the end of its life but I find that’s where I tend to run into problems. If your gear is in good condition the chances that you’ll need to make emergency repairs is pretty low.

[Adrian Griffin]

The extra cord is for shoelace replacement, guy line repair, perhaps making a clothesline. If you have a panel-loading pack, it can be used for a diamond hitch if the zipper breaks.

BTW, I endorse David’s suggestion for an extra bottle cap. Mine fits my smart water bottles, the squeeze bottle for my Sawyer mini, and my 5-liter Juvale.

[Matthew / BPL]

beyond what Adrian said, It could be used to address the OP’s concern about a shoulder strap/buckle failure.

David Thomas likes some sort of braided fishing line. He sent me some when we did an exchange of spoons a couple years ago. It’s really lightweight but I usually just carry maybe 6 or 8′ of MLD 1.5mm line. It’s like 6 grams or something.

I’m a heretic. I carry a heavy FAK/Repair kit that is near 1/2# on longer trips. Maybe 6 ounces if I really pare it back.  I feel like I lot of mileage out of that half-pound. I usually travel either with my son (who I feel responsible for protecting) or by myself (with nobody else to rely on).

[Matthew / BPL]

also, hell yeah at a spare bottle cap.

[David Thomas]

That fishing line I mail out to folks is 130-pound-test braided Dacron halibut fishing line.  6 grams for 25 feet.  Strong enough for guy lines, clothes, lines, lashing sticks together, sewing shoes or pack straps, or emergency shoe laces.  I’d rank my most important repair items as follows:

– some of that light but strong fishing line.

– a glover’s needle (goes through anything), stored in a square inch of waxed cardboard (fire starter / palm thimble)

– Tenacious Tape

– extra bottle cap (may be modified for a shower-head or SteriPen)

– square inch of emery cloth (knife sharpener, filing metal burrs down).

– one large and one small safety pin

– one or two medium and 6 tiny zip ties.

– smaller needle and thread for a longer trip.

Elsewhere, I’d have my Victorinox Classic, a mini-Bic and Luekotape.

[Tipi Walter]

David Hartley is spot on about bringing an extra hipbelt buckle as you will inadvertently step on it during a trip and snap off a tooth—so I always carry a spare.

It’s also important to carefully inspect items before a trip—boot soles and laces, tent pole shock cord, tent fly for tiny pinholes, clothing, etc.

I bring pre-threaded needles ready to go so when a mishap happens I can get to sewing—

This is my emergency bic lighter with needles in an old McNett’s ripstop tape container—just in case my mini Bics quit working.

Another critical item for a silnylon tent fly is McNett’s Silnet sealer and some ripstop tape—or tenacious tape.  The sealer is vital during a rainstorm to see if your tent fly has any small holes which are easily fixed with a dab of Silnet—or patches as in this example.

One time I was in a gap and a big windstorm blew a tree limb onto my Hilleberg tent and I immediately when out in the rain and used my pre-threaded needles to sew it up and then coated the whole thing with McNett’s Silnet which works great on Hilleberg Kerlon.

And sometimes you’ll have an inflatable sleeping pad blowout on a trip which cannot be fixed—like a delamination—so I always carry the smallest NeoAir they make and keep it in my pack for emergency use.

Oh and let’s not forget your tent pole repair sleeve—which I needed and didn’t have on a trip when my crappy Mt Hardwear pole snapped in half during a trip—(using their old Atlas pole system).

 

[Andy Stow]

What size glover’s needle, David?

[Jenny A]

An item I carry in my 10 Essentials kit is an 18″ stretchy rubber strap, sometimes called a “Voile” strap and commonly found in back country ski shops and now with bike packing gear.  These can be used to repair gear, help fasten a splint, compress things, and attach a cup to a trekking pole to retrieve a fishing reel spool out of a creek (OOPS).

[Robert Spencer]

Great suggestions.

Does the tenacious tape work well on DCF tent floor? I discovered a pinhole leak on my last trip and wondering if I needed something specific for that material.

Would the tape go on the outside or inside of the tent floor?

[David Thomas]

Andy: I get the $2.79 assortment that Safeway stocks (or the fabric store) and bring the larger of the two chisel-point / sharpened needles.

I’ve tried some of the cheaper assortments off of eBay and the needles aren’t sharpened and other reviewers are disappointed with how easily they break.  

[Duane Hall]

Robert Spencer:  I am unfamiliar with Tenacious tape; I always carry DCF repair tape in small rolls or patches for my DCF shelters, and I’ve used it successfully on small tears.  You can purchase this from Zpacks.

I would place the repair tape on both sides of the tear or pinhole.  It is a good idea to round off the edges of the tape.

[David Thomas]

Rounding corners is always good.  On patches, on bandages, on moleskin.

And the best way to do is 1) bring small scissors* and 2) leave/place the tape on non-stick backing paper and cut while it is on the backing.

* I do pre-round the corners at each end of a piece of tape or rectangular patch at home, but that often leaves two new corners to be rounded in the field.

[Andrew I]

I just got back from a trip where I had to sew up the entire side of my tarp from floor to ridgeline.  Plus, I had to do it quick since storm clouds were brewing and thunder was cracking.  I bring a needle and thread kit and this was the first time I’ve had to use it for field repair and I was glad to have it.  It didn’t wind up raining but I was able to sew up the side in case it did.  I also carry tenacious tape and duct tape.  The duct tape does NOT stick to my coated silpoly though.  I tried medical tape, duct tape, and even shoe goo.  Tenacious tape will do it though.  Thinking about bringing some seam sealing Silnet for my kit now.

[David Thomas]

“Duct tape” is shit.  Actual metallic duct tape that tolerates hundreds of degrees F has its uses when I’ve got my plumber’s hat on, but not on the trail.

Luekotape is good, especially for foot care and other first-aid applications.

Tenacious Tape is probably the best general-purpose repair tape.

DON’T bring the gray, clothy “duct tape”. Gorilla Tape is stickier and stronger and better in every way.

If you do insist on bringing “duct tape”, at least get 3M brand because it is better than the off-brands, even if the off-brands come in more colors and patterns.

[Erica R]

needles and thread

Tenacious tape

DCF repair tape

Aluminum duct tape (the width came in handy when something ate through my bug netting)

Thermarest repair kit

spare bottle cap

razor blade (not sure what it is for, but it doesn’t weigh much)

spare zipper slider for the tent

too much Z line (very lightweight line)

What is the super glue for? Might be a good idea.

 

[Andrew I]

Zipper pulls can get heavy since they’re usually cast metal.  A paper clip and tape (or just the clip) will do the job in a pinch.

Seam sealer might be a good addition to the kit as well.

[Edward John M]

Superglue is for emergency repairs to my spectacles when/if the tiny screw falls our and gets lost. Also used for ski repairs

[Author]

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