How Do You Make A Permanent Patch On A Torn Tent?
Dry and cozy in your sleeping bag, you hear the first raindrops hit the rain-fly. You drift back to sleep. You are awakened when the wind picks up, and the sides of your tent begin to shake like a flag blowing in the breeze. That’s when you notice the damp floor. You feel the windward side of the tent wall, and discover a small tear. Through the tear, a steady stream of water flows down the inside wall and accumulates on the floor. Unless the rain lets up soon, you know you are in for a night of mopping and wringing. When your tent dries out, you know you will have to make a repair. To Repair or Not To Repair Our discussion here is limited to patching a tent, rather than repairing seams, grommets, or frames. Any discussion of patching fabric has to begin with a discussion of the fabric itself because not all fabric is worth repairing. Tent fabric, whether nylon, canvas, or vinyl, is susceptible to a host of ills that weaken the fabric to the point where a repair will not hold. When you
