Soon, the last of the ice will crack and melt on the northern lakes, the sun will warm the ground and it will be time to dust off your paddling gear for the first trips of the season. Before paddling season comes gear repair season, and now is the time to pick through the gear you promised you’d patch up in the fall to make sure it’s water-tight for the summer.
How to re-waterproof a rain jacket
Nothing ruins your paddle trip quite like getting to camp, pulling on your dry clothes, throwing on your rain coat and getting ready to cook under your tarp only to find your raincoat is soaking through. Just like that, you no longer have any dry clothes.
Luckily, this all can be prevented by properly refreshing the waterproofing of your jacket before the season starts. All you’ll need is Nikwax TX Direct Spray-On Waterproofing, your clean raincoat, and a hanger and space to dry the raincoat on after treating.
How to repair a leaky dry bag
Dry bags go through a lot. We fill them to the brim then roll them up tight. We jam our dry bags in kayaks, and to be honest, how many of us are really cleaning them out after every trip?
With all that wear, tear and questionable care, you might find that it’s time to patch your leaky dry bags.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when repairing your leaky dry bag. First, you’ll want to make sure the points on the dry bag that you’re applying adhesive to are totally clean; rubbing alcohol is a good way to remove dirt and residue and prep your surface for the repair.
For larger cuts and tears, you’ll typically want to use a patch like a Gear AID Tenacious Tape Gore-TEX Fabric Patch. It often works well to use a patch on both sides of the hole to ensure full water proofing. You can also reinforce the edges of your patch with Aquaseal to reduce the changes of the patch catching and ripping off. For smaller, pinhole leaks, Aquaseal alone may be enough to repair the dry bag.
Patches like this are meant to be permanent patches to save your gear from an early grave rather than a temporary fix or quick trail repair.
How to repair a leaky drysuit
With drysuit prices running you several hundred dollars, no one wants to replace a drysuit that’s still mostly dry. When it comes to drysuits a savvy repair can save you a lot of money.
In order to effectively repair your drysuit you’ll need to check for leaks first. This can be done by sealing off your gaskets and filling the drysuit with air. Similarly to how you might locate leaks on a sleeping pad, spray the drysuit down with soapy water. Gently press on the inflated drysuit to check for leaks; you’ll be able to locate leaks from the soapy foaming bubbles as air comes out of pinholes.
From here, repair methods range from patches to gel adhesives. When patching a drysuit it’s extremely important to create a smooth patch that won’t catch and tear off as you’re paddling.
Check out a full guide on how to repair your drysuit.
How to repair a tent rain fly
A surprise leaky rainfly is one way to complicate your comfort on a camping trip, but the good news is rainflys are surprisingly easy to patch. Similar to other patches, you’ll want to be sure to clean your rainfly before applying your patch. Often, a Gear AID Tenacious Tape Gore-TEX Fabric Patch applied to both sides of the tear is enough to re-water proof a rainfly.
If your rainfly isn’t torn but soaks through in a heavy rainstorm, consider using Nikwax TX Direct Spray-On Waterproofing to re-up the waterproof coating exactly as you would on a raincoat.
A waterproofed rainfly can be the difference between a happy camper and a trip cut short. Feature Image: Maddy Marquardt
