Water Bladder repair in field?

Questions about equipment and supplies to bring on a trip (including reviews).

Moderator: hooky

Post Reply
guyguy50
NewbieCake
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:11 pm

Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by guyguy50 »

I've never had one fail on me in over a decade of using a water bladder, but had new one out of box have pinhole recently. Got replacement and they didn't want the old one back. Now I'm never going to use the defective one outside of a short day hike if I could fix it etc etc... but seems to waste just to throw away so I'll salvage parts off it and experiment on it.

So with that said any suggestions of things that may work to repair this? Something lightweight enough that could potentially be carried in a repair kit for field repair?

Type of bag is top opening "ziplock" style with rigid plastic welded on the back. Pinhole near a rigid plastic section, so most likely a stress point during manufacture process that got a pinhole there. So a type of tape fix isn't practical in this specific case but if that has works practically for someone would be appreciated to know about it.
Bobcat1
Bushwacker
Posts: 277
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:01 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 8
Location: Pickerington, Ohio
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 90 times

Re: Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by Bobcat1 »

The brand Platypus at one time sold "Platy-Patch" kits which were little pre-cut adhesive patches for leaks in their brand. You could try a stick of hot-melt adhesive - a glob in the right spot might do the trick. The adhesive melting point is probably much lower than the bladder material melting point, but maybe test on the edge where it won't create a leak if this is not true.
22 WC-HC-BCZ20-WC
19 RH-ML-TI-RH by kayak
16 RH-DF-MB-TI-RH-3M-RH by kayak
09 RH-DF-MC-TH-HL-SD-WC
00 WC-IM-WC
96 WC-FL-SB-SD-HL-CE-3M-RH
94 RH-DF-MB-3M-RH
92 RH-DF-LR-CW-HL-SD-IM-WC
User avatar
booyah
NewbieCake
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:33 am
Isle Royale Visits: 2

Re: Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by booyah »

In the field? Duct tape. If its in an inconvenient location (like your case) I have some sealeant in my air mattress puncture sealing kit. Just enough to get you out of the woods as it were. At home, replace
User avatar
Ingo
Forum Moderator
Posts: 1944
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:11 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 14
Location: Hillsborough, NC
Has thanked: 257 times
Been thanked: 158 times

Re: Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by Ingo »

I patched a significant tear in a Platypus (my stupidity) successfully with duck tape that worked well for 4-5 days.
22: BI-PC-BI-RH, 21: RH-ML-DF-MB-DF, 18: MC-PC-BI-DB-RH-DF, 17: WI-IM-SB-FL-WC, 16: RH-CI-TI-RH, 14: BI-ML-CI-CH-MB, 13: RH-PI, 12: MC-CB-HL-TH, 11: WC-HC-WC, 09: MC-BI-DN-RH, 05: MI-CI-MB-DF-RH-TM-RH, 02: MC-LR-WL-CH, 01: BI-DB-RH, 79: worked RH
torpified
IR Expert
Posts: 594
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:06 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 6
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Has thanked: 238 times
Been thanked: 120 times
Contact:

Re: Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by torpified »

I wonder if the kind of patch that comes with a therma-rest type air mattress would do the trick?
User avatar
Midwest Ed
IR Expert
Posts: 1355
Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 1:25 am
Isle Royale Visits: 8
Location: Quad Cities, IL
Has thanked: 42 times
Been thanked: 82 times

Re: Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by Midwest Ed »

Is it time to add a small piece of Gorilla Tape or Flex Tape to the repair kit? The old Red Green stand-by (Duct Tape) has been improved for these cases.
8 trips, 1975 x 2, 1976 x 2, 1978, 1985, 2000, 2013
User avatar
hooky
IR Expert
Posts: 791
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:26 am
Isle Royale Visits: 2
Location: Central Indiana
Has thanked: 138 times
Been thanked: 54 times

Re: Water Bladder repair in field?

Post by hooky »

Another vote for some sort of duct tape here. I always have a couple of yards wrapped around a pencil stub in my first aid kit.
Post Reply