repairs on kokotat drytop

blackdude

blackdude

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I have two tears in my kokotat drytop (0.75 inches and 1.25 inches long). I am considering taking on this repair myself.

Someone has recommended sewing it up with dental floss then putting aqua seal over top to make it waterproof. Any thoughts on this method?
Has anyone done a similar type of repair? Any advice? How did you do it?
 
Dental floss and Aqua seal would be something that would work on a trip with limited options. It would be somewhat elevated from the rest of the fabric so more likely to abrade.

Tyvek tape is another great field repair option- I always have some with me on a trip. It is very popular with packrafters for temporary boat repairs on a trip. I've had some on the lower legs of my rain pants and it has held on astonishingly well over several years. It does have a certain low budget look to it though.....:) You could use a patch of it on the inside to strengthen the area and provide a thin, tough waterproof layer. You'd still want something on the outside to keep the torn edges from fraying or snagging.

At home, depending on the material being repaired, I've done repairs with the adhesive backed rip stop nylon marketed for tent or jacket repairs. There are lots of different brands of that stuff- some have a peel off paper backing for use on a trip. Some are iron on. Most are coated to provided some water resistance. You could use that on either the inside or outside, or both.

Iron on Gortex tape is another option.

If you're going to sew, I'd get the right product for the job- UV resistant thread.
 
Just thought I'd add this: if the jacket is Goretex and you do your own repair, you void the warranty. That's what I was told by Gore themselves when I sent a garment back for a delamination test. I had ironed on a Goretex patch, which I thought was fine, but apparently it was not -- they want a professional repair by a Gore certified shop.

Cheers,
Andrew
 
JohnAbercrombie said:
In my experience most companies - including Kokatat and Gore (both of which I had interactions with) will grasp any opportunity to refuse to honour their warranties. The exception for me was Patagonia.
I figure I'm 'on my own' once I buy a product.
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Sadly, I have to agree. I just bought a tent and chose a model with simple, hubless poles for that reason. My reasoning was that they are the most complicated and mission-critical part of the tent, so I wanted poles I could sleeve in the field and have easily repaired by a third party once home. I’m not going to count on the company.

Cheers,
Andrew
 
Kokatat has an excellent record of replacing drysuits with delaminated goretex - even if you are not the first owner. Our club has lots of members who've gotten free replacements when their suits delaminated. They replaced my custom suit last year for exactly that reason. They will charge you though, for a repair of the nature you described. Still, it might be worth it to send it to them. My partner tore a small hole in his suit on a rock and they patched it as part of the leak test that we paid for. They've also patched areas that have worn through on my suit. Their leak test is a good deal. OTOH, I have also had Kokatat tell me that my suit was worn out (I wear them frequently and that suit was a few years old and pretty worn), that they didn't want to repair it any more, and so would not do the leak test.
 
At some point in the nearish past the warranty for Gore products at Kokatat changed from lifetime to reasonable life. If you send something back, they will ask a lot of questions to determine when you bought it to determine which warranty it falls under. Replacements are common under original warranty (my partner is on her second replaced dry suit from one originally bought about 2010) but rare under the new policy.

Not sure what the cutoff year is. I asked AI about when it was, and it thinks that they used the term "reasonable" life all along, so it was not a change in wording but a change in how they define it. If someone was really concerned, might be interesting to go to the Internet Archive Waybackachine and see if a change can be seen.
 
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I've done dental floss and then Aquaseal to repair a drytop. It was a hole on my upper bicep caused by bouncing down a shallow river upside down while waiting for enough depth to roll. The drytop was used on plenty of other river trips afterwards with no issues.
 
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Peter-CKM said:
At some point in the nearish past the warranty for Gore products at Kokatat changed from lifetime to reasonable life. If you send something back, they will ask a lot of questions to determine when you bought it to determine which warranty it falls under. Replacements are common under original warranty (my partner is on her second replaced dry suit from one originally bought about 2010) but rare under the new policy.

Not sure what the cutoff year is. I asked AI about when it was, and it thinks that they used the term "reasonable" life all along, so it was not a change in wording but a change in how they define it. If someone was really concerned, might be interesting to go to the Internet Archive Waybackachine and see if a change can be seen.
Click to expand...
I bought the suit they replaced more recently than the suit they rejected as worn out (it was several years ago and it really was worn out), so I'm not sure the warranty has changed.
 
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