Rant: My uncle the machinist laughed at my gear repair kit

I was at his shop outside Dayton last week and showed him my bag of salvaged zippers and toggle clasps for fixing old backpacks. He just shook his head and said "you're treating symptoms, not the problem" before handing me a 3-ounce tube of seam sealer from 1987. Now I'm wondering if I've been overcomplicating my whole approach to gear maintenance, does anyone else build up a whole system around one specific repair tool then realize you missed the obvious fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

park.iris24d ago

That uncle sounds like he's been fixing stuff long enough to know the real secrets. Seam sealer from 1987 is probably still good if the tube isn't crusted shut. I've got a whole sewing kit situation with thread wax and specialty needles when really a tube of aquaseal would cover 90% of my problems. Sometimes the old guys just know that durability comes from keeping water out, not stitching things back together.

wren65220d ago

That uncle probably has a tube of 5200 from the 90s in his garage that he considers "still good" if you warm it up enough. Meanwhile I'm over here with a sewing kit that looks like I'm preparing for an apocalypse of ripped backpack straps. Aquaseal really does solve most things, but I still feel like a fraud when I use it instead of actually stitching something. Guess that's why us younger folks have the fancy thread collection while the old timers are just laughing with their one tube of mystery goop.