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My $30 Therm-a-Rest mattress patch kit saved my trip last weekend
I was up at Lake Tahoe and woke up to a slow leak in my sleeping pad. All I had was this tiny patch kit I'd tossed in my bag years ago but never used. Turns out the glue works better if you rough up the surface with sandpaper first, and you gotta let it dry for a full 10 minutes before peeling the backing off. I fixed a quarter-inch puncture in 15 minutes and slept fine the rest of the night. Anyone else carry a patch kit they've never tested until they actually need it?
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ericcraig6d ago
The opposite approach has actually worked for me more often than not. I had a pad leak out in Desolation Wilderness and just wiped the dust off, applied the glue, and stuck the patch on immediately. Held fine for the rest of the trip. Letting it dry completely before peeling the backing seems like an extra step that can introduce more trouble if you're doing it in the dirt or wind. @samrodriguez, your buddy's method might have been messy but it's basically the same thing I did and it got the job done. Sometimes overthinking it just makes a simple fix complicated.
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Did your buddy actually let glue dry or did he just slap it on like mine did?
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