Don't Forget the Duct Tape: Tips and Tricks for Repairing and Maintaining Outdoor and Travel Gear (Don't Series) - Softcover

This book offers advice on what to include in your hiking or travel repair kits and duct tape do's and don'ts. It includes new sections on caring for technical wool garments and repairing softshell fabrics, single-wall tents, hydration systems, and more.Whether you need to 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, you'll find the solution here. And it can all be done with an inexpensive 12-item repair kit that, once assembled, won't weigh more than a pound or two - worth its weight in gorp!As you'd guess, this pack-it-with-you pocket guide includes many ingenious uses for that most versatile of tools: duct tape! Here's just a few of many tips: make a sturdy zipper pull by threading a thin strip of duct tape through the slider, then wrapping the tails with more duct tape; for a more stable stove, cut a square of old closed-cell foam pad sized to fit the base of your backpacking stove and wrap the foam generously with duct tape for insulation and you have a stable cooking platform that works great in the snow; and, when re-gluing a boot or shoe sole, a few turns of duct tape can keep the toe area secure while the glue dries.

KRISTIN HOSTETTER is a former gear editor for Backpacker Magazine. She writes a bi-weekly column on gear for The Seattle Post Intelligencer.