Wednesday, October 10, 2012

What do you do when small things break?

The Fix: How to Reattach A Pack Strap
Repair a busted backpack with this simple sewing technique
by: The Backpacker Editors

Pop! The shoulder strap on your backpack just divorced itself from the packbag--and it wasn't an amicable split. You have three choices: 1) Slog back to the car cradling that 40-pound load; 2) sit and wait for a Sherpa to amble past; or 3) bust out the sewing kit. Assuming you'll choose the latter, here's how to proceed.
©Illustration by Supercorn
Backstitch: Reinforce each stitch by doubling back over it.

[step 1]
Empty the packbag and turn it inside out (remove any stays or the framesheet if necessary). Using scissors or the tip of your knife, carefully cut away the protective seam tape to reveal the strap opening.
[step 2]
Poke the strap back through the opening where it was originally anchored. It should lay flat, sandwiched between the two layers of the pack's side seam.
[step 3]
Using your strongest needle and thread, sew three parallel lines of short, tight backstitching across the sandwiched strap. If you're carrying SeamGrip, apply a layer for added strength.
[step 4]
Check your warranty when you get home; most manufacturers will do a permanent repair for free.


OK, so I told you last week or so how backpacker magazine is not worth the ten bucks but, what is worth its weight in the inter-web gold is the daily backpacker email.  If they mad the magazine half as good as the daily email it would be the best magazine on the planet (or at least good).  Yesterday as I was perusing through the daily email I came across this article I posted above (is it copyright issues if it was in my email?) about how to re-attach a shoulder strap on a backpack when it breaks while on the trail.  This totally reminds me of when my brother and I were in New Mexico doing a week long backpacking trip and his waist belt clip lost one of its side thingies.  You know what I am talking about how you push in each side and the other side slips on and the two things hold it all together.  Well that one little piece on each side has to be there for the thing to work and his broke off halfway through the trip.  These plastic belt clips cost about three bucks or so but there are no walmarts on the trail so my brother had to improvise and what he did was tie one strap to the other the step into the circle, pull his pack up and I would hold it while he tied the other side in sort of a truckers knot.  I know what you are all saying is: why didn't he use a square knot, well webbing does not tie well using the square knot system so you have to do something like a truckers knot or a fisherman's to get the webbing not to slip.  After that trip I went out and bought a replacement buckle for my pack and ever since then have carried a sewing kit with me on trip.  Now I have lost the replacement buckle but I now use my dads full metal buckle from 1983 that he took from his job at the FAA.  I think it is some sort of jet buckle so if it can hold a man in a chair breaking the sound barrier it will hold my pack on.  This article was real neat how it talks about how a strap works and what to cut away and how to sew it back together.  They even discuss about how you should look into getting the manufacturer to repair it for you.  In life knowing stupid stuff like this will help you be able to logically think your way out of a situation and critical thinking is what put America here in the first place.

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