As discussed level 1 repairs will be most of the types of superficial things seen on grade 2 military surplus. Meaning, the items should be fully functional but may have marker written on them, have oil or stains on it, and most commonly they will have small holes or tears.
For the average person items in grade 2 or what I consider normal surplus condition will have no problems running these pieces right out of the box. There are a few exceptions though. People who tend to train seriously or run them very hard may want to consider making the repairs themselves before hand.
Level 1 repairs are the most basic of repairs. And since small tears and holes are the most common I will cover how I fix them.
Small holes and tears turn into big ass holes and tears when you are ripping and running through the wood line. For me it's not smart to even attempt doing because ill be frank, my luck sucks. I opt to fix the gear first.
Holes are the biggest problem for the long haul. The other surface problems surplus gear has can easily be solved with a good wash and scrub. Really you should do that anyways before the repair part starts to come to fruition. This is why I am skipping any tutorials about that here. You can find tons of videos on how to wash and scrub surplus gear on youtube.
With holes and tears I assess how large they are first. Then I look at the location of the damage. And make a plan of attack on how to approach the repair.
3 types of repairs for holes are usually:
Patching
Sewing
Gluing
In a perfect world self adhesive patches would fix ALL the problems. But sometimes it isn't a good option on its own. A lot of holes will require some stitching to get it usable. And if the tear is in a bad spot, like near a zipper or a high stress area, it will take all 3 repairs to fix.
Here are some things you will need supply wise.
A small sewing kit
Bondex peel and stick patches
Bondex iron on patches
Fabric glue
3600 industrial glue
I have managed to fix nearly everything with these items and they have lasted me a long time. You could start out with just a cheap starter sewing kit, they are like $4-5. These will usually have thread, needles and little things to make the whole learning process easier.
It should be noted I am not going to teach you how to do basic sewing. I can show you my methods I use but chances are you probably wouldn't be happy with how your project turned out if you care about how it looks. I am totally about functionality. Not how it looks. My repairs are typically overkill but do not look pretty. Functionality > appearance.
If you care about final outcome and how it looks take your time and follow some very detailed basic sewing guides. Like this one.
Basic Process
So you got a hole on a pouch. You take a gander at it and see its a small dime sized area that needs fixing. Sweet. If you got Bondex stick on patches you can patch the outside and the inside. Make sure the edges of the patch are smooth and stuck on good and boom you are done.
That same hole might be in a place where its needing a little more help. Might need to start with using some of the Bondex stick on patch on the back on the hole for reinforcement. Then you have a little more material on it and you can still stitch it. Boom, done.
And worst case scenario for level 1 repairs is the hole is in a high stress rough use location. Do all the same things as before, but now glue the patch in place first and then glue over the stitching itself on the back and front. This seals the work in to the material.
Glue
Some people may look at the supplies in the picture I posted and say, "why do you use two kinds of glue?" Simple. Regular fabric glue dries in 2-4 hours. The E6000 is very tough industrial glue. It takes 24-48 hours to totally dry in my experience. It takes time to cure and bond to everything. Both hold pretty well but the E6000 is incredibly strong.
I choose to glue a lot of my repairs into place. It looks awful in some cases but the fact remains that these methods work. Through rigorous testing not just from me but numerous friends and acquaintances these efforts are worth it. Many pieces of gear I have sold have held up to rough treatment, potentially worse than they seen during duty. I am confident in my layered repair approach that it will work for you too.
Patching, stitching, and gluing are entry level skills to fixing your surplus items. I am confident you can do basic repairs on your surplus equipment and gear with a little practice. Buying grade 2 or even grade 3 surplus gear with the purpose of learning to repair is also a cheap and rewarding way to gain a skill that could come in handy. Not just for your gear, but who knows. Maybe you will end up having to use some of these sewing skills on your homies. For their sake lets hope it doesn't come to that.
Remember. This repair method is the same steps I use to take unusable, sometimes irreparable gear and making them work for another lifetime. It may not look pretty but I can tell you the gear works. With a little attention and minor follow up repairs along the way it will serve you well.
No comments:
Post a Comment