Photo Ralf Roletschek, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fixing gear in the field
The small kit that turns a ruined trip into an annoying afternoon.
What you need
- Duct tape wrapped around a bottle or a pole
- A few feet of soft wire and a few feet of cord
- A sail needle and waxed thread
- Zip ties, a spare buckle, a spare tent pole sleeve
- Epoxy putty or a tube of seam grip
- A multi tool with pliers
How
- Clean and dry the spot before tape goes on. Tape on wet nylon peels inside an hour.
- Patch a tarp or a tent with tape on both sides of the hole so the patch grips itself through the tear.
- Splint a broken tent pole with the sleeve, or a tent peg, or a stick, and lash it tight at both ends.
- Sew a torn pack strap with a box stitch and back it with tape. Pull the thread through twice on every pass.
- Wire a broken buckle, a snowshoe binding or a boot eyelet shut, then twist the ends flat so they do not catch.
- Fix it at camp while there is light, not on the trail in the dark.
Watch for
Danger
- Epoxy putty will not cure in hard cold. Warm it against your body first.
- A field repair is temporary. Do it again properly at home or it fails on the next trip.
- Pliers on a stuck fuel canister fitting can split it. Warm it instead.
Notes
The whole kit fits in a sandwich bag and weighs less than the spare you would otherwise carry.
Updated 2026-09-11
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