Sealing the Deal: Making Repairs With Cargo Tape

Last week we talked about the fire starting abilities of cargo tape and this week we will be moving on to the true reason that it is a part of the 10 C's. That reason is its ability to repair in the field. We are still using Gorilla brand cargo tape and that is the only brand of cargo tape that I will use.




Whether you are repairing your tarp, there is something wrong with your pack such as a broken strap, or turned it into a rope like Kirk Miller did (link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgJ0z...), or even if your shirt got a rip, you could repair it really quickly with cargo tape. I'll show you how.

You want to start by getting a length of cargo tape that is roughly a quarter of an inch longer above and below the rip; this can be longer depending on your preference. This actually works really well with denim, but because I didn't want to rip my good pants, we will just be working with a cotton t-shirt. So all I am going to do is pull the fabric taut, fold the tear over on itself, and seal it with the cargo tape being sure to smooth out any wrinkles as this will weaken the bond. Now the tape does not stick to my skin and no wind is able to get through the fabric. Of course we can all agree that this is a temporary fix, but this can be a quick solution to the problem until you have time to sit down and repair the fabric with needle and thread.

Now let's say you got injured.What I have seen some people do is take a small section of cargo tape and tear it in half. They will start on one side of the wound and pull over to the other side and seal it down. Then taking the other half of the cargo tape start on the opposite side than what you started on with the other piece of tape and repeat the process. I have even seen some people take a larger section of tape and cover up the the smaller pieces of tape and the entire wound. On the contrary I have also seen people saying not to do this because the wound needs to breathe. I am not an expert by any means so you may want to do more research into this topic. If there is a way you prefer to do it, leave me a comment and tell me!

We have now repaired our shirt, we've repaired ourselves, and my pack currently does not need repairs. Now we are going to move on to the reason I carry cargo tape the most; repairing the tarp. So I have just cut a small hole near the corner of my tarp. I am going to do this the same way that I repaired my shirt. I am going to get a piece of cargo tape long enough to go about a quarter of an inch above and below the tear and seal it down. I am now going to go onto the back side of  the tarp and do the same thing. Now if you happen to do what I did and did not get a long enough piece of tape, no worries. Just get another section of tape and overlap where the previous piece stopped and pull it the rest of the way over the tear. This should  make it water type and we will test it out. All I have done to test is to stake the corner near the rip up so I can see the ground beneath it and poured water directly over the cargo tape. After doing this, the ground beneath the tarp was still dry as was the inside of the tarp, making this a successful repair.

That does it for this week! Next week we will be doing a cargo tape review and you won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.