Well, I have tragically and foolishly put a small burn hole in the outer shell of my Western Mountaineering bag. It happened on a long trip in Patagonia and was field repaired with electric tape. The hole is very small, but I just wanted to see if anyone has experience patching down bags. I assume ripstop nylon tape would work for this but I might want to do something more permanent like a small peice of ripstop with seam sealant or something. Any experience or ideas?

Thanks,
Seth

Mine was just a pinprick hole in my Montbell down jacket, but I used McNett Seam Grip over it and let dry for a couple days. Couldn't be happier with the results. If the hole was much bigger, I'm not sure how it would have worked.

Just something to consider.

I had a small seam blowout on an SB while in France in 2007. I taped it up with some prepared fabric tape from my repair kit: 3M9485 tape and Pertex Microlight fabric. The patch is still there ...

Cheers

I've patched down clothing using self-adhesive rip-stop repair tape. If you round the edges of the patch (no square corners to catch and peel), and firmly rub the patch down, it should last for years. I'd also suggest cleaning any residual adhesive from the electrical tape before applying the repair tape. I always carry a short length of rip-stop repair tape with me for field repairs.

You didn't say how big the hole is, but you may be able to just pinch the fabric together, and sew it shut with needle and thread. Put seam grip on the sewing repair, good to go. May look a little pinched, but unless the hole is really big, I think this would fix it. Or put patch in, and again sew it into surrounding fabric. Dry cleaning places usually have sewing repair available if you are needle and thread challenged, lol.

> pinch the fabric together, and sew it shut with needle
Possible, but in my experience that often puts an increased load on an already damaged area, leading to swift failure again. That would have been the case with my SB seam for instance.

Cheers

I've used Seam Grip with great success on down bags, jackets, and more. Been on for years. I've repaired other things with the repair tape you mention successfully, too, but have really liked using the seam grip, especially on smaller holes. Bigger rips, step up to the tape.

MLD now offers a patch kit for silnylon. This might be a simple and effective way to patch a hole or tear. Just a thought.

I put a big L-shaped rip in my Western Mountaineering Ghost Jacket, around the left wrist--- a little over 3 years ago.
I called WM and they mailed me an iron-on patch that perfectly matched my coat. I thought it looked good. But that didn’t last more than a few months. It started curling up. They said I didn’t have the iron hot enough. But I was too scared to put a hot iron on my coat. So I called them again.
They said I could send it in. For $20 they sewed the rip and shipped it back. It was an incredibly good job. I can’t find the rip unless I examine the fabric real carefully.

And while they were at it, they took off my #3 zipper and sewed in a #5 zipper--- a little more robust (free under warranty). Their newer jackets use a better zipper.

I haven’t had a problem since. I use the jacket on every winter backpacking trip; and in fact, about every day of my winter life.

-Barry

I had great luck repairing a 3" tear in my Western Mountaineering Versalite bag using a scrap of nylon (from a Momentum swatch kit) and a hot glue gun.

1. Cut a patch that's 1/2" bigger than the hole on every side. So mine was 1" x 4". Round the corners of your patch. Sear the edges over a flame. I think I've read alcohol flames are good.

2. Use the hot glue gun to lay down glue on the matte side of the patch.

3. Preheat an iron on the nylon setting.

4. Shake all the down away from the tear. I got this wrong the first time and didn't shake hard enough. It really has to be completely away from the tear. Any stray down will get trapped in the glue on the next step and you'll have to start over.

5. Insert the patch through the tear, glue side up. Rotate it until it's centered around the tear. This is a delicate operation. Take your time.

6. Cover the tear with parchment paper and heat it with the iron for 30 seconds or more. Keep moving the iron around so you don't scorch the fabric.

7. Remove the parchment and let the glue cool completely for a few minutes. Shake the down back in place and you're good to go!

Hi Colin

I'm fascinated by your method.

A question if I may: why did you put the patch on the inside? Wouldn't it work just as well if you stuck it on the outside? Or was it a cosmetic decision to hide the tear? (I can understand that.)

Cheers

Hi Roger,

> A question if I may: why did you put the patch on the inside? Wouldn't it work just as well if you stuck it on the outside? Or was it a cosmetic decision to hide the tear? (I can understand that.)

Two reasons:

1. Cosmetics as you say. The patch is nearly invisible; what you see outside is the faint outline of the patch on the inside. So BTW it looks better if the patch is neatly oriented to be square with with the bag.

2. Durability. The patch should be much more sturdy when applied inside. The big risk to a patch on the outside is that the patch edges catch and curl up over time as Barry describes. When patched from the inside, there are no edge transitions to catch. (The tear edges seal flush with each other so they don't count as a transition. There isn't much risk of them curling.)

Hope this helps!

A bad zipper snag (and a lack of patience) created a three inch tear in my WM Alpinlite bag. This was the best info I could find on trying to repair it. Has there been any advances in fabric repair over the last couple years or does anyone have any other suggestions for repairing the extemelite shell fabric? Colin's method sounds nice, but I'm lacking a glue gun.

To b s: I just put a small tear in my marmot plasma only a week after getting it sadly, (after the trip was over!) and this too was the best info i could find on down repair. I'm thinking colin's idea is my favorite so far. sounds less risky than sewing or using wet glue. Might i suggest that i was thinking of putting a small patch on the inside as well as the outside? or would that be overkill...

Thanks Mark. I actually spoke with WM and they offered to repair the bag for a reasonable cost (~$20). I decided to have it professionally repaired rather than giving it a go myself and risk making the issue worse. I'll update this thread once I get the bag back.