Repair Kit

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C1CAM
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2019 5:49 pm

Repair Kit

Post by C1CAM » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:14 am

New to the world of repairs - can someone please provide me with what I should be carrying to competition for emergency repairs to both boat and paddle!
Thanks

JimW
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: Pinkston

Re: Repair Kit

Post by JimW » Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:12 pm

Gaffer tape/ Duck tape / Gorilla tape - depending on where you get, it is all much the same. The only one which really stands out as different is the duck outdoor tape which doesn't disintegrate from long term UV exposure, but any brand or cheaper duck tape will be fine for temporary repairs.

Proper composite repairs are usually best left until after the weekend when you can get the boat to a controlled working environment.
If you are determined to do this sort of thing you will want a small pack of epoxy resin. Some syringe bodies for measuring (don't need needles) - 5 and 10ml will be big enough, you probably never want more than 20ml of resin on the go for minor patching, you can always mix a bit more if you need say 50ml total. Paper cups to mix in (not styrene cups, and expecially not styrene if you are going to use polyester resin/gel coat or thinners in them because they will melt). Some small paint brushes and mixing sticks (lollipop sticks or tongue depressers are good). Lots of nitrile gloves. 20mm (ish) kevlar tape for seam repairs (I think I have 19 and 25mm), 50mm kevlar tape for small splits, 50mm carbon tape if you have a carbon boat and want the repair to not stand out, 1m long x 1m wide carbon kevlar cloth (200g/sq m, plain weave) for major splits, kevlar shears for cutting tape and cloth to size - these seem expensive but ordinary scissors do not work you need the right shears. Some clean rags or garage cloths - most of these look like strong paper towels but contain plastic to make them strong, you are going to mop up plastic with them anyway so always dispose of properly. To prep the repair you will need sand paper - 80 grit, and a sanding block is useful and a dust mask essential. Bin bags - there will always be waste and you need to keep the venue/campsite/hotel car park tidy. What I haven't mentioned yet is thinners or acetone, and there is a reason for that. It is much more flammable and difficult to keep bottled up than resin so I try to avoid transporting it in my car in case it leaks in transit. If you work without thinners you can't clean your brushes and mixing sticks so these become one-use items, you also can't clean up drips onto adjacent areas of the boat. If you do take thinners, I would reccommend a small well sealing bottle, preferably unopened, but when you have used it you also need to transport the dirty thinners (or were you going to dump it somewhere?) so consider how to do that. Masking tape can be useful to avoid spreading resin to adjacent areas, but make sure you peel it off whilst the resin is wet (still wearing your gloves) or it is a nightmare. Depending on whether you want a smooth final-ish finish right away, you might want some release film - spread it smoothly over the repair and tape down to hold the patch in place and give a smooth resin finish. I prefer to use peel ply rather than release film, I can still tape the peel ply down to hold the patch in place but resin soaks through the peel ply and the waxy amine blush ends up on the outside and torn away with the peel ply and tape twhen cured meaning I don't need to sand again if I need to do more to it, but this does leave a slight cloth texture to the repair.
The final thing in my repair kit which most people don't bother with, is some filler powder. mix it with epoxy to create a filler paste, useful if there is a chunk missing from a seam or paddle tip when you want to repair it. I apply filler first and then tape/cloth over the top immediately taking care not to disturb the filler - quicker than letting it cure first and you get a better bond between filler and cloth.

Don't worry about gel coat repairs at river side, do something structural and then worry about tidying up at home later.

Basically, just use gaffer tape, I usually only take my repair kit when I am away for a week or more.

Mike Mitchell
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:44 pm

Re: Repair Kit

Post by Mike Mitchell » Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:25 pm

As Jim says Tap for weekend repairs.
Good to have some Araldite Rapid for a quick paddle repair.

Take a look at Easy composites.
They sell everything you will need.
They also have some good Videos so you can find out how to do it.

Repairs in the Cold Winter are the hardest.
My Wife has the Boat on the Kitchen Table for weeks.

C1CAM
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2019 5:49 pm

Re: Repair Kit

Post by C1CAM » Tue Jul 16, 2019 11:01 pm

Thanks both - much appreciated

Steve Agar
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:30 am

Re: Repair Kit

Post by Steve Agar » Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:28 pm

..and don't forget cable ties, especially if you're a canadian paddler and need to jury-rig fittings.

Steve Agar
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:30 am

Re: Repair Kit

Post by Steve Agar » Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:28 pm

..and don't forget cable ties, especially if you're a canadian paddler and need to jury-rig fittings.

JoS
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:30 pm

Re: Repair Kit

Post by JoS » Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:43 pm

And a hairdryer. Because right when you need the weather to be hot and dry to set your resin nicely, it'll get cold and damp. My Hello Kitty £5 super discount find has done some serious work after the Wagon Lanes of recent years!

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