Sew or throw???

[munkiboi182]

whilst sitting here sewing the inner lining back into my favourite thinsulate fingerless gloves, i started wondering how many of us actually repair our kit or simply throw it away and replace it. i've got a pair of issue gore-tex trousers i've been using for over ten years now and they dont have a single one of the original stitches in them but still just as good as the first day i bought them. i just re-seal once a year and stitch up any holes.

 

[Globetrotter.uk]

im just thinkimg of sewing my lads coat, it will last him a little longer. but he would throw it and ask me for a new one.

 

[Magentus]

I always repair or attempt to repair before throwing anything away - sewed up my thinsulate fingerless gloves only last week.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

I repair everything until it can be repaired no more..................then it gets dismembered & put into the treasure box, awaiting it's turn for a new lease of life as something completely different...the wait may be long, years even but eventually it's time will come

 

[monkey boy]

I repair everything until it can be repaired no more..................then it gets dismembered & put into the treasure box, awaiting it's turn for a new lease of life as something completely different...the wait may be long, years even but eventually it's time will come

I love that attitude 

 

[Ogri the trog]

I repair everything until it can be repaired no more..................then it gets dismembered & put into the treasure box, awaiting it's turn for a new lease of life as something completely different...the wait may be long, years even but eventually it's time will come

That's just what I do - repair the patches that repair the garment!

Ogri the trog

 

[Magentus]

To quote Bon Scott;


'And I've got patches on the patches
On my old blue jeans
Well they used to be blue
When they used to be new
When they used to be clean'

 

[munkiboi182]

thats the sort of thing i was looking for. what about stuff other than clothes? like bits of wire holding a stove together or the old duct tape fixes?

 

[Snowfire]

Fix it up with one exception - if it affects safety then it's going in the recycling or the bin. So a bit of wire holding a stove together would probably be a no-no for me, other than as a field repair.

 

[ged]

I'll repair anything if it's feasible, sometimes it gets pathological. :yikes:

 

[craeg]

I repair everything until it can be repaired no more..................then it gets dismembered & put into the treasure box, awaiting it's turn for a new lease of life as something completely different...the wait may be long, years even but eventually it's time will come

Me too I am a fixer-uper through and through. If there were more like us then perhaps we wouldn't be all living on a giant landfill!!!

Things recently fixed:

• Son's long wool coat pockets with a nice triangle of leather, hand-sewn of course.
• Wifes steam driven mobile phone, new battery.
• Tumble drier, new timer module, (£10 from tinternet! as opposed to £200 for a new one. Incidentally, our previous drier finally packed upafter about 35 years use. This last one, a Bosch BTW packed up after 3½ years
• Office chair, new wheels scounged from tip!
• Beachcaster rod, new ceramic ferule whipped on
• Mam's 1980's sewing machine, fixed the reverse function.

The kids think I too am a pathalogical fixer but as I am a tight Yorkshireman, that's the way it will stay!

Anyone got any interesting other repairs?

 

[Toddy]

Repair, replace parts, and when there is no further decent repair possible I take garments I really liked apart and use them for patterns

I've been accused a couple of times on the forum of being a Womble

cheers,
Toddy

 

[luckylee]

Me too I am a fixer-uper through and through. If there were more like us then perhaps we wouldn't be all living on a giant landfill!!!

Things recently fixed:

• Son's long wool coat pockets with a nice triangle of leather, hand-sewn of course.
• Wifes steam driven mobile phone, new battery.
• Tumble drier, new timer module, (£10 from tinternet! as opposed to £200 for a new one. Incidentally, our previous drier finally packed upafter about 35 years use. This last one, a Bosch BTW packed up after 3½ years
• Office chair, new wheels scounged from tip!
• Beachcaster rod, new ceramic ferule whipped on
• Mam's 1980's sewing machine, fixed the reverse function.

The kids think I too am a pathalogical fixer but as I am a tight Yorkshireman, that's the way it will stay!

Anyone got any interesting other repairs?

i'm just like you bud, i was only having this conversation the other day with her indoors, if it breaks the first thing out her mouth is, sweetheart we need a new one its broke, not me, i will try me hardest to fix it if i can, just wish everybody else was the same i'm trying to instill this into the kids to, that with a little patience and a little perseverance most things can be fixed, or a part bought and breath some new life into the item.
it drives her mad, the jets have just gone in the oven for the cooker, she said the cookers broke luv, will go on the net and have a look for a new one, 20 mins i have found the part, and installed it, and back to wrking again, just saves me self 400 quid, for a 20 pound part.
take care.
lee.

 

[Mark W]

Scrimp, make and mend:

• Dishwasher bits (hoses, sprayer arms)
• Tumble dryer - multiple belts, replaced the timer, sorted door interlock
• Dyson DC01 multiple dismantles
• PCs dismantled, new power supplies, hard drives
• Several toasters, kettles and irons have been given a new lease of life
• Using the various "hot tips" on a soldering iron to repair split plastic (water butt, carrying crates)

Didn't bother with washing machine bearings though, too much of a risk of never getting the thing to be watertight afterwards
Cars don't do much for me though, hanging upside down in the footwell of an austin maestro soldering the broken connections to get dipped and full beam functions back was the final straw.
It depresses me to see the quality of consumer goods in the recycling centre, many of which have simple repairable faults, and some of which aren't even broken.

 

[dwardo]

If i cant fix it my self i will trade skills with someone who can. Cant stand just chucking stuff but sometimes these things are designed to have a short life such as my washing machine for instance!
I repaired it several times using everything from epoxy to tie-wraps, rubber banding but due to its poor poor design i had to let it go after 5 years

 

[luckylee]

If i cant fix it my self i will trade skills with someone who can. Cant stand just chucking stuff but sometimes these things are designed to have a short life such as my washing machine for instance!
I repaired it several times using everything from epoxy to tie-wraps, rubber banding but due to its poor poor design i had to let it go after 5 years

i no what you mean bud, sometimes you have to just buy a new one, with some stuff.

 

[brancho]

I repair anything that canbe

 

[udamiano]

Im a 'trigger's broom' type of guy. I hate throwing anything out that could be repaired

 

[stekker]

I always try to repair all things. (not only bushcraft related)
When i can't get it fixed, i still have learned a lot about it's construction.

Gr. Theo.