I recently picked up a book at REI that should be on the book shelf of every self respecting ETSer. Most of us have a lot of cool gear, but what the heck do you do when strap tears, a buckle breaks, your tent leaks.

The book is called: "Don't Forget the Duct Tape - Tips and Tricks for Repairing Outdoor Gear".

The information on hand stitching alone is worth the price of admission. Here is a brief summary from the REI web site:

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You'll be an outdoor gear fix-it guru with this pocket-size book in your pack.

Author: Kristin Hostetter
Softcover; measures 4 x 6 inches; 85 pages; black-and-white illustrations. The Mountaineers Books; copyright 2003

Remedy a leak in your tent, repair flapping boot soles, nurse a cranky stove back to life, unclog a water filter or revive gunked-up VELCRO®. Many repairs can be done with an inexpensive 12-item repair kit that, once assembled, won't weigh more than a pound or two. Covers what to include in your repair kit, how to extend the life of you gear and save money. Duct tape do's and don'ts".
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This is likely available through Amazon and other outlets as well. Hope this helps.

TR

cool, thanks for the tip.
guess I'm going to REI tomorrow to check it out.

Yup, it's available through Amazon.

I think I'll check out that book myself.

Thanks for the info!

Since you mention duct tape and Amazon ...

With Christmas coming up and the wife asking what I NEED for Christmas, I have found the wish list on Amazon.com to be very nice. You can set up a wish list for yourself and add things like the Duct Tape book (which I just did) along with other items you really NEED, like a new multitool instead of a tie.

I did this last year and acually got some nice stuff. Amazon has much more than books. Look in the sports and outdoors section. They have some good prices on SAKs and multitools and they even lists Doug's PSK (a great gift, by the way). They also sell duct tape.

Speaking of Christmas gifts and the wife. Last year, as a small gift along with girly stuff, I gave my wife a LRI Photon II micro light for her key chain. After having it on her key chain for a while, she has mentioned several times how much she likes it.

I was back cruising through my neighborhood REI and made a second discovery that dovetails nicely with the "Don't Forget the Duct Tape" book. It is called "GearAid" Backcountry repair kit.

REI has put together two small kits that resemble a first-aid kit for your outdoor gear. They include nylon buckles, and all manner of goodies to keep your stuff in tip-top condition.

I tend to like to put together my own kits and REI has me covered there. You can buy most of the kit components separately as well. This is a nice touch. Some of these items can be a pain to locate at your standard hardware or department stores. It could take days or weeks to put together a kit this complete.

Below is a list from the larger $28 kit. They also sell a smaller kit for around $18.

Compact repair kit for the backcountry traveler contains materials to fix tents, stoves, water filters, clothing, packs and more
Contents: Repair manual, Seam Grip® adhesive 0.25 oz.tube, (4) sleeping pad patches, 2" and 1" side squeeze buckles
(2) 1" tension locks, 1" Slik Clip® 1" Siamese Slik®, 1" D-ring, (2) Posigrip® cordlocks, (2) adhesive ripstop patches
Cordura® packcloth, no-see-um mesh swatches, (8) adhesive nylon patches, (2) hot glue sticks, (6) alcohol swabs
Grip Clip™ (2) duct tape 100" rolls, (6) 8" cable ties, (3) 4" cable ties, 40" flat 1" webbing, 80" para-cord, sandpaper
Blanket pin, (4) straight pins, (6) safety pins, (6) sewing needles, thimble, nylon thread, (6) buttons, (2) 1" and a 2" SlipLok® buckle (2) clear acrylic tubing, (2) vials, (2) hang tag clips, hang tag awl kit and (6) various sized zip-close plastic bags. All contained in a handy zippered nylon pouch

Hope this is of some help,

TR (unabashed REI junkie)