Ever experience gear failure ??

KuRUpTD

KuRUpTD

Joined
Aug 5, 2008
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I was backpacking a few years ago and had my fairly inexpensive tent practically disintegrate on me. One of the poles snapped and the zipper broke but I wasn't about to let that ruin my weekend. I had a tarp and plenty of rope so I was able to use some ingenuity to rig up a "crappy" tent type shelter. It was by no means a life threatening situation but was wondering, for people who do hardcore backpacking into the wilderness, if anyone has had an essential piece of gear fail and hopefully share their experiences.

Thanks
 
My Leatherman Pulse broke on only the second time I had used it !!!
 
Shoelaces.

Back in 2005, I was a few days into a trip when the shoelace on my boot shredded, right in the middle. It was my own fault. The laces were old, worn, damp (at this point in the hike) and ready to be tossed. Now, this wasn't catastrophic, as I had some paracord on hand (my Becker Necker handle wrap!), but it did take some time to sort out. It was actually a rather sobering experience. The lace was in bad enough shape that it was pretty much useless, which prompted me to think about the predicament I would be in if I didn't have materials on-hand to improvise a solution.

All the best,

- Mike
 
In the old days some of the backpacks were attached to packframes by metal pins. I had a pack or two become disattached from the frame (one or more of the pins broke) but fortunately was able to repair using string.

I also had a leatherman pocket tool break clean in two at the pliers under normal use. The company gave me a brand new one, no questions asked.
 
bcornelis said:
In the old days some of the backpacks were attached to packframes by metal pins. I had a pack or two become disattached from the frame (one or more of the pins broke) but fortunately was able to repair using string.
Click to expand...

I've had that problem with pins breaking. I once had a sandal strap break too! $2 gone instantly! (kinda like a tequila shot):D

I've had worse experiences when gear simply wasn't up to the stresses put on it. Camping in the San Juans in March, we got hit by some heavy wind and rain and the family style tent collapsed in the night.
 
I've broken the tip of my Buck 110.The shoulders of the blade were removed...My fault :D
I've bended the blade of my Mora 2000 - my fault again :D
 
I had my MSR Miniworks water filer fail while camping in sand dunes. Sand got into it and compromised the seals. But you can take them apart without tools - so I did, cleaned out the sand, and worked fine.

I had a thrift-store bought external frame backpack disintegrate on me after hiking and camping in Central America - but fortunately it didn't disintegrate until after I got home. The nylon fabric just kinda got so fragile it lost all its strength and would shred at even a light touch - not sure if it was humidity, jungle rot or just its time to go...
 
Doing geological fieldwork I had a shoulder strap bust loose on my daypack. Might have been the 15lb. of rock samples :p Luckily I had some zip-ties and I cobbled together a fix. Held up until I could do a more permanent fix with fishing line and a needle.
 
On a 6 day 55 mile hike in Montana'a remote Bob Marshall Wilderness, my buddys' Montrail synthetic/leather hiking boot literally blew apart at the seams, all that was showin was the gore-tex liner sock. That sucked for him as the trerrain was really rough. Days later after we made it back to the trail head after a long and exhausting hike....we discovered a flat tire on his car....! :grumpy: Believe me, the last thing you want to do when everything hurts is to change a tire.

He contacted Montrail and they replaced the boot free of charge
 
I've busted fiberglass tent poles on a couple of occasions, and got by splinting them with extra stakes and duct tape.
 
That's how you know you're doing something!:D

I've had a fairly expensive dog pack fail at the start of a 39 mile trail, which meant I had to pack his food.

That was the same trip I locked my keys in the trunk with our packs.:p

Also the same trip my knee failed about 15 miles in. Now THAT was an essential piece of gear.:rolleyes:

Water bladder leak all over the long underwear in my pack in the high desert. Was able to dry out the long johns, but couldn't get the water back.

It was that same trip I couldn't get my alcohol stove to work due to temps/wind.

Stove get gummed up and not light properly.

Seal on the Mountain House broke open all over my hat, pants, and sleeping pad in brown bear country.

Things always fail. Life goes on. Just try not to take things that you KNOW will fail, or have the knowledge to fix them or do without. That is part of what experience is all about.
 
I have been through two separate Deuter Kid Comfort II's.

The nut/bolt that attaches the "landing gear" to the rest of the frame failed.

It was the left one both times and both times my 3 year old daughter was in it. It didn't hurt her, just scared her.

Since I got it at REI, I go back and get a new one each time.

Maybe the third time will be the one that lasts.
 
"Have you experienced gear failure" ?

If you mean "have you busted sh*t" ?


Short answer : all the time. I'm great at fixing sh*t though so it doesn't usually sidetrack me too much.

I blew a shoulder strap off a pack on a hunting trip once, but a heavy needles and some carpet thread made it a quick fix. It broke when it was new and I used it for years till some lowlife stole it.

A tip for the guys that have lost/busted pins on freighter packs - if you put a pin and its cotter pin into a piece of heatshrink, you can drop it inside one of the tubes. No rattle and it's always with the pack. Nothing beats an ugly-@ss old-school external frame for getting meat outta the bush!

I had an old pair of leather boots resoled again and the front of the sole came unglued, just a little bit. I don't know of anything more annoying to try and work around than having a 'scoop' on the front of your boot that grows with each step. Again, a bit of silicone seam-sealer (comes in a squeeze tube and sticks like sh*t to a blanket), a tight wrap with string, and by morning it was fine. The cobbler seemed a little peeved when I took it back to him all goobered up though...
Seam-sealer's great for gluing leather together before stitching it too.

Busting stuff's no big deal, isn't self-reliance a big part of why we do this rather than play golf ?
 
How about on one backpacking trip.. Going in an O-ring failed on my stove, The bottom of the walking stick broke. On the way back to the car my brand new shoes the sole started to peel off. Not to forget that i forgot my larger water bottle. So had only one Q of water inbetween the water sources. So its only normal that s**t happens to me every time.. If not gear then its body parts that i hurt on every trip....

Sasha
 
Okay this one is kind of funny. I had this old baseball glove that my dad gave me that was ancient. I used it playing catch with some friends. The baseball, on a rather hard throw, went right through the pocket and bonked me on the forehead. Fortunately, there was enough resistance during the tear through the pocket straps to enable me to stay conscious :)
 
sasha said:
How about on one backpacking trip.. Going in an O-ring failed on my stove, The bottom of the walking stick broke. On the way back to the car my brand new shoes the sole started to peel off. Not to forget that i forgot my larger water bottle. So had only one Q of water inbetween the water sources. So its only normal that s**t happens to me every time.. If not gear then its body parts that i hurt on every trip....

Sasha
Click to expand...

so true ....wasn't even considering the various body parts that breakdown
 
I had a thermarest pop. that was a bummer because it was in the winter.
I had my water filter explode from sediment in Zion. it built up so much pressure in it the side broke off. that was day 3 of 7.
I had a pack strap rip out. that sucked to have to sew together in the field.
I dropped my camera off a 40 foot cliff. lets just say it failed to work afterwards.
 
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