Tenacious Tape Repairing A Repair On A Marmot Jacket

An unlucky wind caught some embers from my campfire and sent them to the sleeve of my Marmot Driclime Windshirt.  It burned 2 small holes in the right sleeve.

After asking a few of my fiends, it became clear that I should repair my Marmot Jacket with Tenacious Tape.

I made the repair in only a few minutes.

And that repair lasted for about 4 years.  I don’t have a clear memory of when I made this repair; but suffice it to say that that the repair lasted for a satisfactory amount of time.  I wear this Marmot from Fall to Spring; so it gets quite a lot of abuse.

As you can see in the video and image below; now, the repair has worn out.  It is time to repair the repair.

Step 1 Remove The Old Tenacious Tape Patch

I was hoping to catch the edge of the tape and pull it off in one piece; but the tape had become brittle.  You can see those fault lines at the beginning of the video.  So I had to pick the tape off bit by bit like I was trying to pull a hangnail off of my finger.  And yes, it was just as excruciating.  But I persevered; and after 15 minutes of pain-in-the-butt preciseness, I pulled that indefatigable patch off of the sleeve.

Step 2 Remove The Old Tenacious Tape Patch Residue

I feel like I am the smartest guy in the world when I use De-Solv-It.  It is the worlds best organic cleaner–and it is made out of orange peels.  Who would have thought it possible?

Anyway, while I was picking the pieces of Tenacious Tape, I could see that it was leaving the adhesive stuck to my Marmot.  Almost by reflex, my brain said, “You got this, Jason!  Grab the De-Solv-It and you are done!”

And no, it is not magic.  I had to put some effort into removing that unyielding adhesive from my Marmot (follow the directions on the label); but I endured and, after 15 minutes, got about 99% of that stubborn adhesive off.

Step 3 Wash Your Item To Remove All Cleaner From The Item

Easy peasy, I put my jacket in the laundry. Done!

Step 4 Follow The Directions On The Label And Add A New Tenacious Tape Patch

Follow the directions on the label.  The most important things to remember are:

• Round the edges of your patch
• No, it doesn’t have to be a perfect circle
• Make sure the item you are patching is clean and dry
• Massage that Tenacious Tape into the repair area so the adhesive adheres adequately

You Should Carry Tenacious Tape With You Everywhere

If you are a hiker, climber, camper, or mountain biker, you should have a roll of Tenacious Tape in your repair / tool kit.  It is versatile, lightweight and very affordable.

Regularly Check The Repairs That You Have Made With Tenacious Tape

The biggest takeaway from this experience of repairing a repair is to regularly check the repairs that I have made with Tenacious Tape.  It didn’t come to mind to look at my sleeve every Fall when I pulled my Marmot out of storage.  I should have checked.

I would venture to guess that repairing this repair would have been significantly easier if I had done it at the first sign of the original patch wearing out.  Lesson learned.

So remember to look at the repairs on your tents, sleeping bags and clothing on a regular basis to see how that Tenacious Tape is holding up.

I bet it will be holding up quite tenaciously!

Read more about repairing and maintaining your hiking, climbing, and camping gear in HCRBeta’s Gear Repair and Maintenance Section. 

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Jason Clements is the founder of and writer for HCRBeta, Hike Climb Relax:  How to…  He lives in Shawnee, Kansas and also runs the cell phone recycling company, Cells for Cells, which recycles cell phones to raise money for families battling cancer.  You can follow Jason on Facebook or on Twitter @jasonclements.

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