Repairing a puncture. Can it be done?

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Pattree

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Jul 19, 2023
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Just done a pre-trip check on my Vango Trek sleep mat.

It’s leaking air badly from a puncture near the seam under the valve. I cleaned the area with meths and used a patch that came with it but even before I’d cut it I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t work.
Perhaps it was my lack of faith but I need something that will do the job permanently in a difficult spot. I need to be able to trust it.

…… or I need a new sleep mat.

Any ideas?
 

Woody girl

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Mar 31, 2018
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Second tenacious tape. I always have some in my repair kit. Works better and quicker than patches. I used it on a burn hole in my down bag which has survived washing, and repaired a mat with excellent results.
 

Pattree

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Thanks for the ideas.
I’m concerned that the texture of the Vango fabric is too rough for tape and wondered if there was an adhesive that might work.
Silicon?
I’ll give tape a try. I hate throwing anything away if it can be rescued but if I don’t trust it I won’t keep it.
Thanks again.
 

Pattree

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Does it have any sort of warranty?
I don’t think there are many warranties that cross millennia!!!!
I’ve had most of my kit for a long time. It’s not particularly high grade, some of it is very amateur stuff and I use it hard.

However, as far as I can arrange it, it’s all simple in operation and easy to repair. Much of it has been repaired many times.
I’m hoping that includes the Vango sleep mat.

(I avoid moving parts wherever possible and this includes me.)
 
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Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
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Had a similar problem with a berghaus, right near the valve and could not get a conventional rubber patch to stick. I used duct tape in the end.
 
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Pattree

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Had a similar problem with a berghaus, right near the valve and could not get a conventional rubber patch to stick. I used duct tape in the end.
Now! There’s something I can try straight away. Thanks.

Right off topic. :) . I’ve just found out (after more decades than I care to think about) that it is “Duck Tape”. QI informed me that it comes from Dutch. Mind you they aren’t always right.
 

gg012

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Now! There’s something I can try straight away. Thanks.

Right off topic. :) . I’ve just found out (after more decades than I care to think about) that it is “Duck Tape”. QI informed me that it comes from Dutch. Mind you they aren’t always right.
In my working experience duct tape is the aluminium tape used to seal HVAC ducting and Duck tape is a brand of gaffer tape. Could be wrong though!

Sent from underground
 
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Toddy

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In my working experience duct tape is the aluminium tape used to seal HVAC ducting and Duck tape is a brand of gaffer tape. Could be wrong though!

Sent from underground
I think of them that way too, but I got roundly told off about calling it duct tape :rolleyes: but I have a roll of the aluminium duct tape, so I was sure I was right, but you wonder when you're told otherwise every time it's mentioned.
 
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gg012

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I think of them that way too, but I got roundly told off about calling it duct tape :rolleyes: but I have a roll of the aluminium duct tape, so I was sure I was right, but you wonder when you're told otherwise every time it's mentioned.
It's a minefield!

Sent from underground
 
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Ystranc

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May 24, 2019
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, it really is called duct tape and another product called gaffer tape has been lumped in with it and they’re often confused/conflated.
Duck tape may have been a brand name at some point though.
 

Pattree

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That’s OK. Perhaps someone will write in to the QI elves or Sandy Toksvig and put them right. I bet Alan Davies doesn’t get his point back though.

Right off topic but - If you get the chance to see the “No Such Thing as a Fish” tour, I recommend it.
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
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Call it what you will, I distinguish between duc(k/t) tape and gaffer tape, which to me is the tape used for electrical jobs. In any case so far as it goes I prefer the gorilla tape brand as being the most useful for sundry bushcraft repairs to clothing, tarps etc.
 

Pattree

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In any case so far as it goes I prefer the gorilla tape brand as being the most useful for sundry bushcraft repairs to clothing, tarps etc.
I totally agree.
…. and if gaffer tape isn’t holding it then you need more gaffer tape. Never travel without the black stuff.
 

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