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Praise the lord for gaffer tape Praise the lord for gaffer tape
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  #1  
Old 31 May 2007
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Praise the lord for gaffer tape
Just wanted to post this for interest more than anything else...

18th May, camping in a national park in Romania, I was robbed. Whilst asleep a thief slashed my tent and made off with my (expensive) camera bag. Anyway, the tent fits exactly on the back of my pick up truck, and is only available in the US, so I have to repair it. 50cm long slash in inner, other smaller slashes in inner and raincover. No patch will cover this, so resort to gaffer tape.

Tape both sides of the slash, then sew with thread through both pieces of tape, across the slash, then cover this with another layer of tape.

Aside from being neon orange (and my tent dark green), it looks like a good job, and I reckon it will keep the damp out (the inner is not waterproof anyway).

Any similar experiences? Any better ideas for fixing the tent should this not hold?

Cheers

Daniel
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Old 31 May 2007
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The 'gaffer tape' I am familiar with is sold to ariel and satellite tv installers. It is a stretchy sticky tape with a peel off back, and forms a plastic sticky mass that will seal any hole. Is ideal to put over control cable ends as well as sealing electrical connections. I got mine from a wholesaler and not seen it in shops. It is excellent stuff and I recommend every one keeps a roll in their toolkits.
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Old 31 May 2007
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The gaffer tape I have is slightly different - it's very sticky, but thick and strong. the plastic and adhesive are actually incorporated into a matrix of fabric webbing. It's ideal for sewing through as the tape won't rip, unlike conventional PVC tape etc.
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Old 31 May 2007
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i bought a roll of spinnaker tape in a boat supply shop , its a very thin but strong rip stop type fabric with adhesive backing, probably the best thing for repairing tents IMHO. I have a tent i patched in several spots maybe 10 years ago, it still good.. and water tight
Spinakker Repair Tapes: Marinestore Chandlers
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Old 1 Jun 2007
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A good tip I picked up recently regarding repair of clothes/tents etc. with Duct or 'Duck' tape (what a lot of people call gaffer tape) is to stick the tape both sides of the tear and then warm the tape, ideally with a warm but not hot iron. Apparently the glue sticks much more positively.

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Old 2 Jun 2007
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Hmm. I was thinking of doing that myself when I was repairing it. Think I'll give it a quick going over with a cool iron.

Cheers Matt

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Old 2 Jun 2007
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Your tent fits on your WHAT? Me thinks your next tent should be a Winnebago.
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Old 2 Jun 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldbmw View Post
The 'gaffer tape' I am familiar with is sold to ariel and satellite tv installers. It is a stretchy sticky tape with a peel off back, and forms a plastic sticky mass that will seal any hole. Is ideal to put over control cable ends as well as sealing electrical connections. I got mine from a wholesaler and not seen it in shops. It is excellent stuff and I recommend every one keeps a roll in their toolkits.
That sounds a lot like amalgamating tape. Black with peel off back, you stretch it as you lay it on and it fuses with itself forming a solid rubber mass that is effectively massively strecthed over whatever you put it on. This is great for low-medium pressure hose repairs, electrical connections etc. Not good for joining fabric though... Get it in a plumbers or motor factors

When I think gaffer tape I think of Duck Tape or similar, i.e. fabric, smooth back, about 2" wide and capable of pretty much everything (apart from hose repair). The most impressive thing I have seen made solely from this sort of tape was a fully functioning rowing boat (coracle design)! I wrap all my bottles in a good 15 layers of gaffer tape, this protects them from impact, reflects heat and means I always have a ready supply of tape.
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Old 2 Jun 2007
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[QUOTE=henryuk;138424]That sounds a lot like amalgamating tape. Black with peel off back, you stretch it as you lay it on and it fuses with itself forming a solid rubber mass that is effectively massively strecthed over whatever you put it on. This is great for low-medium pressure hose repairs, electrical connections etc. Not good for joining fabric though... Get it in a plumbers or motor factors

Yes this is the stuff sold in UK as gaffer tape. As I say great for waterproofing electrics, etc, but has no tensile strength. I would not use it for fabric repairs either. Seems several different products sold under same name. Years ago we had 'insulating tape' which was fabric covered in black goo. The type of gaffer tape I am on about is better at insulating joints because it is self amalgamating and completely waterproof, unlike modern insulating pvc tape which lets water in through the gaps. Ie it is better at waterproofing than insulating tape but do not know how it compares at insulating in the dry.
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