Repair Materials
- Alcohol Wipes: Basic denatured alcohol wipes available at your local drug store, great for prepping the raft for a successful bond of repair tape or glue.
- Patch-N-Go: A strong, easy, and effective repair tape, great for most tube and floor repairs. Provides for long lasting repairs when applied correctly. This is a great product.
- Tyvek® Tape: Amazing on packrafts! (Lowe’s® House Wrap Tape works too) We discovered this by accident. You can buy Tyvek® Tape at any hardware store that handles Tyvek® House Wrap. This tape is almost as good as the Patch-N-Go®, it just isn’t as strong. With 15 feet (4.5 meters) of tape, you can literally re-assemble your boat after a Grizzly bear uses it for a chew toy, and it will probably get you home. Consider wrapping a few yards of it around your paddle or around a lighter in your repair kit. The longer you leave it on, the better it sticks! Be sure to remove any temporary repairs that you don’t want to become permanent when you get home. We have seen small Tyvek® Tape repairs last several seasons, though we prefer more permanent methods.
- Tenacious Tape®: A strong repair tape for the uncoated side of raft and spray-deck fabrics. Great for backing (inside) tube repairs and spray-deck repair. Can be used for temporary repair of small holes (>1/2” 1cm).
- Gorilla Tape®: For backing the inside of tube repairs and quick spray-deck repairs. Can be used for temporary tube and floor repair in a pinch. Works best on the uncoated side of fabrics, as in the underside of the spraydeck.
- Aquaseal®: Aquaseal is an air-curing adhesive sealant. It’s great for patching small holes, reinforcing stitches, sealing seams, and much more. It’s flexible when dry and completely waterproof when properly applied. Requires a minimum of 6-8 hours to dry and cure! Cotol® Accelerator will reduce cure time to 2-3 hours. Does not work well for attaching grab-loops or bonding fabrics, as it needs air to cure.
- Aquaseal® UV: Instant curing version Aquaseal. Apply in the shade and then move to direct sun or use a UV light pen and sealant will cure in seconds. Perfect for instant repairs and long lasting, but not quite as good of a bond as regular Aquaseal.
- Urethane tube and floor fabric: You should have received small pieces of both tube and floor fabric in your basic repair kit. Aquaseal can be used as an adhesive in a pinch, but doesn’t bond well sandwiched between layers, as it needs air to cure.