by johnjam » Tue 31 Mar, 2009 9:04 pm
G'day everyone
I just stumbled across this site last week while I was researching 2 man UL tents .
It looked like a great site so I joined !
I live in Sydney , and In a nutshell , I was into a bit of bushwalking and rockclimbing when I was a young bloke , but then dropped out what with work and family etc .
Still took the boys away occassionaly , but it was pretty spasmodic .
Anyhow , now I'm an old fart , and got more a bit more time , I'm slowly getting back into things .
And I've still got stuff from 40 yrs ago !
The reason for this message is that I still have my Paddy Pallin water bucket .
You older blokes would remember these . It's made out of Japara , has a zipper on top , and two handles , and holds about six litres .
They were supposed to ooze a bit of water ,so the outside was always wet , and the evapourating water would cool the water inside .
Trouble is , this buckets just like me , and showing it's age .
Instead of the water oozing out , it leaks out pretty quickly .
There's no physical wear / damage / abrasion to the material , it's more like the japara has forgotten to swell when wet ( and I've soaked it for days in a tub trying to revive it )
I rang up Paddys ( and another store ) to ask advice , but they basically suggested I throw it away , and buy a new plastic one .
Trouble is , I haven't used it that much , but I have used it for forty years and I'm attached to it .
Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can revive it , or oil it , or externally coat it , or whatever ?
Thanks John