Reading my own post I can't help but relay a story from my youth about gear repair...it's a bit off topic so sorry in advance.

My brother went on a hiking trip with a very expensive external frame pack (which was the slickest thing going at the time...about 20-25 years ago). He had his food in the bottom of his pack and to keep the bears away from the tent he just wedged the pack on a high branch of a tree. It was off the ground and the boughs protected it from rain...he thought he was so smart.

In the morning there was a gaping 8" hole in the bottom of his pack and the food was gone...the squirrels had all night to go to town on his pack and hide or eat just about everything he had. He had to hike out a day early carrying half of his gear because it wouldn't stay in his pack. He even ended up with a hole in his sleeping bag...some lucky squirrel got to spend the winter in a house lined with down feathers LOL.