Repairing the Osprey/58 pattern water bottle

[jelkel25]

Hello!!

Had what appears to be a one in a million mishap with my pattern 58 water bottle, don't know how but a tiny sliver of glass or metal has pierced the plastic on the little lumps that help keep the cup on. I have removed the glass/metal and put a bit of rubber glue on to fix the hole, the problem arises in that I'm not sure if the rubber glue will survive being cleaned in soda crystals (has to be done). Has anyone out there had to fix a hole in their 58, what did you use? Would Sugru be suitable? Many thanks!!!

 

[johntarmac]

Hi, if the hole is small I think I would try smoothing over it with a soldering iron.

 

[richardhomer]

You could try heating a tent peg up and melting the hole to reseal it ? Be warned you could do more damage to it !

Many years ago as a 15 year old. I did a temp repair on a pair of wellies by doing this, I did work! But they did split again. The repair did get me though the weekend.

You could also try bathroom sealant ??

I am sure there are people on here with far better ideas than I have that will come along and sort you out. But these are couple to get you thinking

 

[Fraxinus]

Hello!!

Had what appears to be a one in a million mishap with my pattern 58 water bottle, don't know how but a tiny sliver of glass or metal has pierced the plastic on the little lumps that help keep the cup on. I have removed the glass/metal and put a bit of rubber glue on to fix the hole, the problem arises in that I'm not sure if the rubber glue will survive being cleaned in soda crystals (has to be done). Has anyone out there had to fix a hole in their 58, what did you use? Would Sugru be suitable? Many thanks!!!

Yep! I heated up an old craft knife blade and used it to weld the next plastic lug down over the hole. Take it easy with the hot knife and pressure applied.The blade allowed me to smooth the plastic over. A soldering iron might also do the job.
hth
Rob.

 

[bambodoggy]

Araldite should do it....and mix it with a little crushed/powered charcoal to make it black. Once it's properly dry you can even sand it down to the right size/shape.

Hope that helps,

Bam.

 

[Rabbitsmacker]

If u cant melt it back just bin it. Be mindful of applying anything that is not food safe to it.

 

[Old Bones]

Since my local surplus place sells the bottles for a £1, and the bottle/cup for £1.50, your not losing much by just buying a new one.

 

[jelkel25]

Who's your local surplus place? The cheapest I've seen them is 7£ for the really old ones.

 

[Steve27752]

Buy a new one, less hassle.

 

[Native Nathan]

My advice buy a new one, melting it or using any sort of glue, could leach any number of toxic carcinogenic chemicals.

Is it really worth saving £7 ?

 

[jelkel25]

I'll have a buzz at repairing it just for the experience, you never know when that experience might come in handy. The people out there who say Osprey 58 patterns are ''bomb proof'', I've found over the years they're more reliable than some but they're far from bomb proof. I'll get one more brand new one and if this one goes wrong then I'm done with them. Thanks for the helpful suggestions, much appreciated!!

 

[ged]

I'm sure they're only polythene.

You can repair almost any polythene container with layers of polythene from e.g. freezer bags. Waft a turboflame lighter over it - carefully - to melt it onto the bottle.

Practice on something else made of polythene first to get the hang of how much heat to apply.

Be warned that it's a slower process than you'd expect because polythene is a good insulator.

I'd be pleased to get hold of a couple of bottles and cups at 1.50!

 

[lou1661]

Not a 58 pattern bottle, but i used a soldering iron to "weld" a split seam on a 20 ltr jerrycan. i used a black cabletie as the filler rod.

Louis

 

[jelkel25]

Just out of interest, if you just flicker a lighter flame over the hole then cover the hole with the heated plastic, using a small unheated knife blade, it can work. If you heat the knife blade and try it that way, it's really easy to send the knife right through the bottle.

 

[jelkel25]

I've heard (though not tried) you can repair small holes in plastic water bottles (in that emergency situation) by melting para cord strands and patching it with that. A plastic bag would be much better on your larger fold away bottles and they're the ones you forget to replace before they get brittle with age so I'll put that in the memory banks, Thanks!!

 

[mr dazzler]

I dropped my sigg bottle (bought in 1984) off my bike years ago, it got angle grinded on the road surface and developed a pin hole leak. I used to work in a glass plant where we had clear resin that is used to bond glass to glass. It cures with UV light. So I cleaned the area around the pinhole by scrubbing with wire wool to remove the blue paint, until it was bare aluminium. Then degreased it, then applied a 1/4 inch blob of resin in a domed bead over the hole, then cure it with UV light. It worked perfectly 1st time and never came away subsequently, bottle is still around somewhere. I realise yours is plastic, but the same thing might work?

 

[TarHeelBrit]

As already mentioned you can use either a soldering iron or heated knife blade to melt the surrounding plastic into the hole. As for the possibility of releasing toxins that would be miniscule and far less than the original moulding process released. Personally I'd steer clear of any sort of glues or fillers as you never know what's in them. Factor in that two part epoxies technically never stop curing and your patch won't last long anyway. I used a soldering iron to repair a neighbours water butt that had a split seam and as far as I know it's still collecting rain water to this day.

 

[mr dazzler]

Interestingly you can actually buy plastic (ABS) welding rods to repair motorcycle fairings and car bumpers etc

 

[jelkel25]

I succeeded using a lighter flame flickered gently over the hole and a cold knife blade to reshape the plastic, the plastics too delicate to use heated knife blades. All the thought on this thread on how to fix the bottle is a part of bush craft I really like. It's all well and good throwing money at the situation but there's a real satisfaction to be had from modifying items to make or repair into a good piece of kit. I have two good 58 pattern water bottle copies and with the addition of a rubber washer in the top to stop the leaks, they're great. The smaller size of the bottle and cup can really make a difference when your backpack space is limited, they're still tougher than most bottles on the market and at £4 a pop, easily replaceable.