Repairing a Paddy Made tent

[Allchin09]

Hey everyone,

Last weekend I slept under and old Paddy Made 2 person japara A tent, blue/gray in colour, which I recently aquired. It's actually went pretty well and even stood up to the abuse of a hailstorm.

The only issue I have with it is that there are some small millimeter sized holes in the roof which allow water to drip though. What I would like to hear are any suggestions on how to go about patching the hole. The tent has some other patches on it already which seem to be holding up fine.

Is it even possible to get hold of the right material and glue for the job there days?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Moondog55]

Silicon and cloth works well for small patches; one inside and another on the outside and just enough thinned silicon to hold
For a millimeter sized hole a centimeter patch is plenty; I've used Ripstop repair patches with success but those are very expensive for what you get, you are paying for the convenience
It so happens that I have found some more of the green PaddyMade japara here so if you want a small bit, an envelope quantity I can cut you a scrap
Just PM me your address
But any LW cotton or cotton/poly will do the job as the silicon will provide plenty of strength and waterproofing
In the "Olden days" we used rubber solution as the glue, dliluted silicon is much better

[Allchin09]

Hi Moondog,

Thanks for the advice. With the silicone, how do your recommend thinning it out? Add a bit of turps?

[Moondog55]

As for seam sealing 4:1 should do
Replied to the PM

[stry]

Iron on japara patches were available at one time.

I've seen these used very effectively on sleeping bags, bur have no idea how waterproof they would be; or even if they are still available. Spotlight may have been the source.

[Franco]

If the holes are really just a millimeter or two I would not bother with a patch.
I would put some tape on the underside (most tapes will stick temporarily ) and just paint some silicone thinned but not too much over it (on the other side)
BTW, there is a very good chance that it will stick better if a thin layer is applied around the hole . (nothing to grab and peel off...)

[thejungleisneutral]

I was recently gifted a 4-man Paddymade "Tassie" japara wall tent which was in desperate need of a few repairs. It looked to me like a small branch had fallen on it, so there were a couple of holes along with some small burn holes from embers I'm guessing.

Since I planned to reproof the whole tent, I resolved to patch it all up properly. I was unable to source any of the proper patch material, so I improvised with some green cloth tape I found on eBay. - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRITISH-ARMY ... 1335123814 (no affiliation) - which was an OK colour match and was only a little thicker than the japara fabric.

I stuck the required size patches on either side of the holes and then stitched them into place with the thread-injector. For a temporary fix you wouldn't even need to stitch them on since the tape sticks very well. I rubbed the lines of stitching with a candle prior to reproofing the whole tent.

I have no closeups of the repairs, but here's a pic of the tent in use last weekend on a car camping trip.

[thejungleisneutral]

Oh, that reminds me - Terra Rosa Gear is currently making tarps out of japara, so if you contact Evan Howard, he may be able to supply some japara fabric for future use as patches. The fabric he has is the same weight as the standard Paddymade green japara, but is natural and undyed.
Cheers.

[Moondog55]

Nice little PaddyMade pack I was given one of those at the Mt Franklin gathering
I may have a small scrap of green japara left somewhere PM me your address and if I find it I'll post it to you

[thejungleisneutral]

Thanks mate, that's very nice of you to offer. I have a strip of japara for repair patches I was able to grab off Evan at Terra Rosa Gear.

Cheers and thanks again.