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Leaking Air bag?

SZihn

Paddler
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Messages
207
Location
Shoshoni Wyoming
In buying used kayaks I often get spray skirts and sometimes float bags and paddles too. But one float bag I got has a fixture (that is glued into the bag for the air hose to attach) that has a glue joint which is now loose and leaking air. I have in mind to get a small syringe and fill it with Lexel to force some into the joint and let it set. I hope doing that will repair it and then I can use it again. But before I do I thought I'd ask if any other product would be a better glue to use. Has anyone else done such a repair and what is the recommended way?
 
SZihn, to each his or her own but for me, there are some things I wouldn't repair; I'd just replace. I absolutely understand there's a "cost" to the environment for throwing things away. But, if I have something that needs to go into a dry bag, I don't want to have a part of my thinking revisiting, "... I wonder if that repair will hold." Gear, just as myself, eventually wears out. When it does, it's a moment of celebration because it means I've had many, many adventures with that gear.

That said, I've certainly slapped some duct tape on a small tear on a drybag and called it good. But I don't use that bag for anything super critical (like electronics). For example, I'd put my bear barrel in it. The barrel has its own lid but it's not waterproof. And the food in the barrel is commercially sealed in bags or in ziplock bags. The aggregate of seals is good enough for what it's for.

You might mention the material the bag is made out of. These days you have SilNylon, SilPoly, and that rubber-like substance older bags were made with. The bag material would probably dictate the sealer because it's different for the different fabrics.
 
Thanks Cougar, but I can always throw it out. I figured to try a rapair first. It's not a dry bag, just a float bag. What's it made from?
I am unsure, and I don't know what the difference is in the materials used. It's an older NRS bag and its gray and black, marked "made in Mexico". It's a fabric that waterproof, but what the composition is I can't even guess.
 
And if no gear is needed for a short paddle I could just use the dry bag as a float with nothign in it too.
I am seeing the logic now,.
 
The closed dry bag's action is not as dramatic as a real live Float Bag, but it's not nothin'.

Note that some vendors (i.e. Watershed ... or maybe that's Water$hed) make a dry bag with an air tube. I think Sea-to-Summit also has a version. So if you plan your packing such that the bag is emptied at camp, then you can use it as just a float bag until you are ready to load it up again. I'm guessing it doesn't work as well as an official float bag (that doesn't have any openings except the air tube) but works better than just closing up a normal dry bag. It's tapered for a better fit in the bow or stern.
 
And if no gear is needed for a short paddle I could just use the dry bag as a float with nothign in it too.
I am seeing the logic now,.
Hopefully you'll never need the float bag, but if you do you won't regret buying a new one or making absolutely sure your repair is reliable.
https://www.kayakacademy.com/products/copy-of-bow-float-bag-for-sea-kayaks?

If I planned to day paddle on a trip, I'd probably just take along the float bags - they aren't very heavy or bulky.
 
Anna and I have several old kayaks we got used which are made with no bulkheads. We bought them at yard sales and use them as loaners to teach new students. Such kayaks need float bags because the first things we teach any new student is to do wet exits and reentries. We are not wealthy people (by a long shot) so buying kayaks that are newer and far more costly is now within our reach. But getting them from $70 to $120 is pretty common. Some date from the 70s and early 80s. A few have rear bulkheads but none of them have front bulkheads. 3 of them have no bulkheads at all, and are similar to the old skin on frame types in how you have to pack them.

But even though they are old and outdated they still paddle fine, and I can take the kids out and teach them the safety classes and get them doing a basic roll. The kids love them and having them available is getting them and their parents out and doing things together. So having float bags is important for us now.

I took some Shoe Goo and worked a bit around the flange with a tooth pick and set it flat with a weight to press it down to seal up the leak. After that I formed a dam around the edge of the joint with more Shoe goo. Seems to be working fine. If it starts to leak later I can always throw out the bag then. For now I seem to have found a solution.
 
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I took some Shoe Goo and worked a bit around the flange with a tooth pick and set it flat with a weight to press it down to seal up the leak. After that I formed a dam around the edge of the joint with more Shoe goo. Seems to be working fine. If it starts to leak later I can always throw out the bag then. For now I seem to have found a solution.
Excellent.
I have a few float bags, since sometimes Mariner kayaks have come to me with bags and left without them, after having bulkheads and hatches added. The main hazard I notice with the bags is that most of them have mold/mildew growing in the transparent fill tubes, and presumably in the inside of the bag too. Replacing the tubes is a good cosmetic solution, but avoiding accidentally inhaling any spore-laden air from the bags when blowing them up is important. So I try to use the air line if I'm at home; in other places I try to be careful if inhaling by mouth. Of course, it's inhaling by mouth that probably put the moisture and nutrients into the bag in the first place. Yuk. :)
 
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