This article is about how to quickly repair a small hole in your down/synthetic jacket or sleeping bag. The repair will take less than 5 minutes of your time and will prolong the lifetime of the jacket by ensuring you don’t lose anymore insulation!
All you will need is:
Rubbing Alcohol/Hand Sanitiser
Tissue/cotton wool
Tenacious Tape
A Pen/Biro
Scissors
Step 1 - Clean Around The Tear.
The first step of the repair is to ensure that the area around the repair is clean and grease free. Apply some alcohol based cleaner, hand sanitiser will suffice, and rub it into the jacket/sleeping bag with a tissue/cotton wool.
Step 2 - Mark Out a Patch Of Tape.
Whilst waiting for the alcohol to dry, mark out a rectangle of tape by using the guide on the back. Aim to make this around 2x bigger than the tear/hole to ensure it has enough surface area to stick to.
Step 3 - Round The Corners And Cut It Out.
Round the corners of the rectangle, this stops the tape catching and peeling off. Now cut out the marked area of the Tenacious Tape, making the shape as smooth as possible.
Step 4 - Stick It On.
Stick the tape on ‘like a plaster’, be sure to ‘smooth’ out the edges by applying pressure and making sure the edges aren’t peeling.
Step 5 - Done!
Your jacket/sleeping bag is now repaired and should be good for many more adventures; remember the more you wash it the more likely it is to come off. By adding a drop of ‘Gear Aid Seam Sealant’ you can prolong the lifetime of the repair but the only permanent solutions is to sew on a replacement piece of fabric.
Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.