Gear problems and causes / solutions

[photohiker]

Can i rewaterproof japara jackets (only used in grampians)? I have 10 jackets at school that need to be rewaterproofed to save students having to buy raincoats, as school camps are getting expensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxed_cotton#Maintenance

Do you know the manufacturer name? I bought a waxed cotton camera bag (Domke "Wax Wear") recently, and it came with a little can of refinishing wax...

[bfpollard]

My Thermarest is 16+ years old now I think, and it has bubbled, is it time to say good bye to my beloved mattress? the bubble is 40cmx30cm toward the end, elevating my feet when I lie on it. I have a picture, however I don't know how to upload. Sorry if this is vague, or if its been discussed previously, I'm time pressed!

[Strider]

My Thermarest is 16+ years old now I think, and it has bubbled, is it time to say good bye to my beloved mattress? the bubble is 40cmx30cm toward the end, elevating my feet when I lie on it. I have a picture, however I don't know how to upload. Sorry if this is vague, or if its been discussed previously, I'm time pressed!

Turn the mat around and use the bubble for a pillow?

[bfpollard]

My Thermarest is 16+ years old now I think, and it has bubbled, is it time to say good bye to my beloved mattress? the bubble is 40cmx30cm toward the end, elevating my feet when I lie on it. I have a picture, however I don't know how to upload. Sorry if this is vague, or if its been discussed previously, I'm time pressed!

Turn the mat around and use the bubble for a pillow?

It's 4/5ths of the way down, juuuuust not far enough!

[scownie]

Can i rewaterproof japara jackets (only used in grampians)? I have 10 jackets at school that need to be rewaterproofed to save students having to buy raincoats, as school camps are getting expensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxed_cotton#Maintenance

Do you know the manufacturer name? I bought a waxed cotton camera bag (Domke "Wax Wear") recently, and it came with a little can of refinishing wax...

Grabbed a jacket today from school, they are made by Mont. I am going to contact them tomorrow to see what they suggest I can do.

[jay]

started as normal, worked for a couple of minutes, then the gas cut out. I tried taking it off the cannister & reattaching a few times - eventually worked for another couple of minutes, then stopped. Got an experienced gas stove user to have a look and reattach the cannister - wouldn't work for him either. O ring and washer look fine.

Had a similar issue with my msr pocket rocket recently. Got the stove working with fine wire in the small hole at the bottom of the stove. Seems to be working fine, assume it blocked somehow. Maybe spilt something?

[Tortoise]

Had a similar issue with my msr pocket rocket recently. Got the stove working with fine wire in the small hole at the bottom of the stove. Seems to be working fine, assume it blocked somehow. Maybe spilt something?[/quote]

Thanks for the input, Jay. Seems like it's more generic than Kovea titanium stoves.

I asked at the shop i got it from re the instructions on cleaning (as above) - i didn't want to go poking around in the wrong place & damage something! He didn't think it was necessary - so no clarification as to which part could be blocked. Of course, the stove worked perfectly for him through half a cannister of gas...

Is your 'small hole at the bottom of the stove' near the pin that pierces the cannister top? Or elsewhere in the workings?I'm convinced no spillage - not even water has been let overflow. But friend recently said that tiny bits of residue from burning the gas can clog bits of stoves. She takes it now & then to a servo, and uses the air hose to generally blow around the stove - no problems for her since then.

Someone else experienced a gas leak after years of happily using gas stoves - flames / potential bomb have sent her back to ye old faithful metho. I did the same on a recent trip where stove failure would have been a real bummer.

Cheers

[jay]

Small hole at the bottom of the stove. Everything thing looked fine o rings etc, my gas cannister worked okay on another stove. So assumed stove was blocked somehow. Residue from the gas sounds plausable.. build up of soot?

[Strider]

Is this a Kovea Titanium stove by any chance?

[Moel Hebog]

Butane gas bottles get cold and splutter or won't work?
Have considered sleeping with them but they're like ice cubes.

I find the Four season mix that Primus have works better than other butane canisters in cold environments. Whether or not it's all in my head I am not 100%.

My solution has been to put the canister in a sock and put the stove (with canister attached) on to a square of closed cell sleeping mat. This insulates the butane canister from the ground and prevents it from liquifying due to the cold. It has worked for me on Scottish winter trips where the temp has been below zero deg C.

[Orion]

Problem: Thermarest has slow leak

A hole was patched with the hot glue kit but it still leaked so this was originally covered over by seam grip. This was repeated a second time so the patch is doubly covered by a large patch of seam grip so removal of hot glue is difficult or impossible.

All attempts to find the remaining leak (soapy water, immersion in a tub with heavy weights on top, immersion in hot water, pinching off part of the pad to attempt to isolate it, and more) failed to uncover the location(s) of the leak(s).


Solution: Buy a new Thermarest.

[kbm63]

Rewaterproofed my old japara jackets (and second hand old ones from the op shop) for the kids rather than go to the expense of buying new ones for them to wreck! I think it was Nikiwax - it worked well, and has given extra life.

[tas-man]

Can i rewaterproof japara jackets (only used in grampians)? I have 10 jackets at school that need to be rewaterproofed to save students having to buy raincoats, as school camps are getting expensive.

If you are talking about genuine cotton Japara oilskins, I posted a recipe in this thread. You can possibly buy the made up oil/drier mixture but can make it yourself with ingredients from a paint shop. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1956&start=0#p16464

[Will_de_ness]

Hi,

We are currently hiking the bibbulmun track and bought a macpac Olympus tent off a guy on gumtree. It is an older model, blue with 2 vestibules I think he bought it within the last 10 years.

Our problem is it doesn't seem to be waterproof, after pitching water seeps through the outer within the hour, are these tents supposed to be treated with something before use or have we got a defective one?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[icefest]

While it is nice to see people having questions, it can be useful to have a look if the same question has been asked before.

Here is what happens if you search google: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bushwalk.com+waterproof+a+tent+fly

[blacksheep]

Problem- Products that are marketed at "RRP's" that do done reflect their true value proposition.
Causes- a buying public that encourages this model by over reacting to small windows of actual fair price value
Solution - opting out of this charade.

[icefest]

Problem- Products that are marketed at "RRP's" that do done reflect their true value proposition.
Causes- a buying public that encourages this model by over reacting to small windows of actual fair price value
Solution - opting out of this charade.

How do I opt out?

[Strider]

Problem- Products that are marketed at "RRP's" that do done reflect their true value proposition.
Causes- a buying public that encourages this model by over reacting to small windows of actual fair price value
Solution - opting out of this charade.

How do I opt out?

Don't shop at any retailer that displays this type of behaviour.

[GPSGuided]

Don't shop at any retailer that displays this type of behaviour.

Kathmandu, Macpac, Mountain Designs etc? Now, what do I do with local retailers/International brands that maintain an elevated RRP all year round except from O/S online store?

[icefest]

Don't shop at any retailer that displays this type of behaviour.

So, what local stores can I support?

[GPSGuided]

So, what local stores can I support?

Good old disposal stores, if any could still be found.

[perfectlydark]

Not much better sometimes! Cheap prices but you may get a very univiting atmosphere walking in (long story I bought a daypack during lunch break..in office gear bunch of paramilitary dudes staring, guy behind counter couldbt have been less interested in my business either..anyway not going back to that particular disposal store although I have been in ones nothing like that)

[Joomy]

Don't shop at any retailer that displays this type of behaviour.

Kathmandu, Macpac, Mountain Designs etc? Now, what do I do with local retailers/International brands that maintain an elevated RRP all year round except from O/S online store?

It's not an "elevated" RRP if it's justified because of the extra costs of importing the product. The main problem in Australia is we have an extra middle man in the form of the local suppliers, who take their cut and drive up the retail prices. I.e. Sea to Summit, well-loved Australia brand (for no good reason IMO but that's another story) is primarily a wholesaler who bulk buys products and sells them on to retailers. So any time you buy Black Diamond you are effectively paying for Black Diamond's cut, plus Sea to Summit's cut, plus your retailer's cut. And if each time the price roughly doubles (100% mark up) then you pay twice as much as a from a retailer in the US which buys directly from Black Diamond. So yes, until this system somehow changes then the International brands will always be more expensive in Aus than elsewhere. It's not an inflated or elevated price, it's just the price that is being set by the mechanics of the situation.

Shops like Kathmandu, Macpac etc. are all vertically integrated so they avoid the cost of paying a manufacturer and an importer, so the products that hit their floors are 25% to 50% of the wholesale price of imported products from other stores. The great fallacy is that they still charge as if their wholesale prices are comparable to those of other stores which might be true if their products were of exceptional quality but they are not. And the greatest deception comes when Kathmandu marks up their down jacket to an RRP of $700 when a comparable or probably superior quality down jacket from a well-known international brand like Patagonia or North Face sells for $350 RRP, fully half the price, or in other words the same price as the Kathmandu jacket at 50% off, or cheaper than Kathmandu at 40% off.

I can't place all the blame on Kathmandu. In fact it's not their fault at all. There is something about the Australian consumer that appears to be far more susceptible to this sort of scheme. Compare this to American stores like Golite or American Apparel (not an outdoor company of course) which are also vertically integrated but which attract customers with cheaper prices rather than phoney discounts. You would think if any corporation were to be engaged in this sort of consumer rort it would be an American corporation but in fact I've only ever seen this sort of behaviour in Australasia. In fact if you look at Kathmandu's UK site you'll see that their retail price for the exact same jacket is nearly 55% cheaper than the retail price in Australia. And yet nobody in the media or government says anything. Every time I walk past a busy Kathmandu store I am more and more convinced that Australians are the least educated consumers in the western world.

[photohiker]

The situation is similar in other countries, but the methods vary. In the US, the big brands have 'outlets' in major towns which are in low rent areas and sell product really cheap. There is a mob in Australia doing something similar called 'Harbourtown' but it is big time, and real discounts in the US.

People have been educated to respond to specials, we cannot now blame them for it, nor blame retailers for engaging in it. It's an established part of the retail ecosystem. The only people who seem to avoid it in general are the cottage industry, but even they get involved sometimes.

[GPSGuided]

May have something to do with their population. I have never seen discounts like they do in the US. After 3-4 sequential discounts, it's 20% or less, of the original. When they want to clear stock, they really entice you to buy everything you don't need.

[Tortoise]

Yes, icefest, please google it for me. I've tried for far too long without success, so here goes an old issue:

Down bag, no fancy fabric, lots of condensation in my tent at times = damp foot of bag. Worse on multiday walks, packing away partially damp bag = more gets damp. Can I spray the footbox with eg Nikwax and expect improvement?

Ta for any ideas.

[Tortoise]

Bump

[icefest]

Apart from google....


Have you tried the jacket trick? That works for some.

I personally have the same problem and have resigned myself to the fact that I am too tall for most tents and that I'll need an extra long winter tent (eg Hilleberg Kaitum) or else never be able to fully stretch out.
When I get a winter bag/quilt I'll get one with dridown and hopefully limit the issue that way.
It's not a problem in summer as I will dry out my bag during lunchtime sunny spells.

[Tortoise]

Problem is more in wet weather, so the jacket is already wet. I don't really have an excuse - it's just that I really love the head room I get by sleeping half way along the Akto! And I do tend to find myself having slidden sometimes.

It seems like spraying for a bit of water repellency would be a simple way if it won't hurt the fabric - but if it was that easy, why don't I hear people talking about it? I gave up after spending far too long googling.

But i just realised I could at least try asking the manufacturer. Doh!

[horsecat]

I've used an extra large dry cell (could also use a large bin liner etc) to keep the feet of my sleeping bag dry. A 30L works fine for me