UKC

i'm gradually repairing my old Berghaus rucksack, and having sewn and patched the holes in the base of it, I'm looking into how to recover the shoulder straps to stop the foam within being worn away. 

Does anybody know of a tape which is like Spinnaker tape, but hard wearing enough to deal with the rigours of being stuck onto the outside of a rucksack strap and handled and slid on and off shoulders and what have you? 

Many thanks.

Tim

I think the tape itself should be tough enough, but I think the glue won't stand it for long, and the weak point in that respect will be where the strips overlap with each other. Assuming you could find wide enough or generally big enough pieces, could sewing them down work?

I've just come across Tenacious Tape, but sewing it in place could be definitely be a plan.

Tenacious Tape is pretty useless in my experience, for anything other than a temporary fix. After a short while it starts to crack. Sewing it in place won’t solve this.

The best repair tape is Betrafol Tap. It’s very sticky, tough, flexible and machine washable. 

A 25m roll costs about twice as much as a metre of Tenacious Tape.

https://www.luchtdichtshop.nl/luchtdichte-tapes-en-banden/binnenzijde/op-fo...

Could you unbuckle the rucksack strap then slip a piece of tubular webbing over the whole thing and sew in place? I would think any tape would wear off, unless you were happy to wrap the whole lot in duct tape which to be honest is probably what I'd end up doing. At least it would match the rest of my kit :p

I think gradually sewing sections in place to cover the straps with is going to be my first approach. It's a bit of a 'rucksack for a lifetime' project. I was given it when I was 15 and I'm 38 now, and if I can repair the straps and replace the webbing, and put a new zip in the lid, it, in theory it should be fine for another 20ish years. 

Every time I think of getting a new 35 litre one, I remind myself it's just a rucksack, and it's quite nice to be bringing back into use. 

Just a rucksack?????

It's not just a rucksack. It's a faithful companion. A partner in crime. A loyal vessel of hopes, dreams, successes and - I don't doubt - occasional failures. Your rucksack has seen you at your best and your worst. It has witnessed beautiful sights, extraordinary tenacity and, most likely, some class A swearing. A well loved pack has a very intimate relationship with its owner.

Repair is a radical act.

Just a rucksack indeed....

youtube.com/watch?v=LAh8HryVaeY&

Perhaps you could take the Trigger's Broom approach.  Remove a vital component, say the waist belt buckle, and go in search of a new rucksack with a buckle of similar proportions.  Swap them over and your old rucksack is restored to full working order.

Alpkit shops do repairs to other makes of kit according to a flyer I had through my door yesterday, if you live near Ambleside or Hathersage you could pop in 

(I think Patagucci may do the same)

Anyone have an idea where to buy Betrafol in the UK?? Am struggling with sites being blocked at work, translate not performing from mobile etc

I got my 25m roll on eBay (German version) from seller boewe24com. I couldn't find any UK based sellers/stockists. The postage was almost as much as the tape but it's a huge roll so will last ages. 

If you go via eBay then once you've found the product on the .de page just swap .de part of the URL to .co.uk and it should swap everything into English which makes things easier.

I've pm'd you a link as I'm not sure UKC will allow the eBay links etc. 

thanks Fiona - for some reason my ebay searches didn't find this. only problem is they don't seem to post to the UK, but have asked if it is possible so here's hoping

I'd noticed that the UK was no longer listed for delivery etc. It was definitely included as a destination back in Feb 2017 when I bought mine.

Certainly no harm in asking them if they will ship to the UK though. Fingers crossed. 

argh they said no

That's a thought, I could go to Hathersage and see what they say.

That's rubbish  

Maybe there's some builders or roofers on UKC that can recommend the equivalent product in the UK?

It's a vapour barrier tape that remains flexible and conforms to standard DIN 4108-7 should that mean anything to any builders/ roofers reading this. 

Item 142872628692 on eBay UK looks pretty similar. 

B.E.T.A tape might be a possibility?

http://www.betatape.de/produkte/artikel/betrafol

that's the same stuff - searched dome more and just doesn't seem like any retailers post to the UK

Have at last found somewhere that will post Betrafol but unfortunately the relative shipping cost is killer. Would anyone fancy a roll for £20 ? Would only need 3 other people to bring the cost down to that figure.

Sail repair tape. 

Like spinnaker tape is for thin fabric spinnaker sails, reg. Sail repair tape is for thick leasure sails. 

What exactly is betrafol? It looks like ldpe damproofing tape, Does it have a fabric layer?

I believe it is a vapour barrier tape used by carpenters/joiners.

No fabric. All plastic

I think I'd use fabric similar to the original and sew it.  

I have a buoyancy aid I need to scrap as it's no longer floaty.  The foam goes after a while.  If you want the fabric and clips and webbing I'd be happy to send them to you for a new lease of life.  

Thanks. It's probably easy enough to buy similar from Screwfix for less than it costs to import.

Let me know if you find something similar.

As mentioned above sail repair tape or probably more useful sail repair patches. It´s often called Insignia tape as it´s used for putting numbers and stuff on sails as well as repairs. Comes in Kevlar as well as Dacron if that´s your thing! Try PSP Marine tapes.

Or make your own straps from scratch. Plenty of MYOG types make their own rucksacks. Have a browse through this thread to find plenty of examples:

http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?threads/the-what-have-you-made-today-thr...

I may look into PSP tape, or follow marsbar up on her kind offer. 

Many thanks to all. 

Note there is an excellent lady who repairs stuff based in Alpkits shop in Hathersage. 

I may have found a UK company that do something similar to Betrafol tape. The product is called Permo TR Tape made by Klober (see http://klober.co.uk/shop/product/permo-tr-plus). It can be bought from various UK based suppliers, googling "Permo TR Tape" should suffice. 

Klober very kindly sent me a small sample and it looks and feels very much like the Betrafol tape. I still need to test it in anger so will fix the holes in my gaiters one with Betrafol one with Klober and see what happens over the next few months.