Hypothetical pack fail question

[Poeschel]

Let’s say your in the backcountry and have a shoulder strap blow out. Let’s also say you have a needle and thread in your pack but aren’t much of a seamstress. If you do what you can in order to make the pack usable but in turn, make the problem worse when it comes to a professional repair, would most companies still warranty it? Any good field repair stories?

 

[feanor]

Probably just snap a photo in the field and send it when you get back. I doubt a needle and thread by hand would be detrimental to repairs. That’s why i always carry a sewing machine to camp.

 

[Poser]

I’d try and use zip ties I think.


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[Elkhntr08]

Zip ties or 550 cord from kill kit. And a couple pictures are worth a thousand words.

 

[Dave0317]

I’ve seen 550 and duct tape used in various ways. Unlikely to make the problem worse.
I would think that if the initial failure was the fault of the pack, a good company would honor their warranty even if you took necessary steps to get out of the backcountry and made the problem slightly worse.
I would definitely try to call or even go see them in person. Harder to say no to a real person face to face than just ignore an email.

 

[Jauwater]

I actually carry a light weight version harness and, couple extra straps of the harness that my pack uses for this exact situation. The light weight harness attaches to tab loops on the top of the pack, rather then attaching to the pack the way the original harness does. It's not as comfortable but, it should get me.out of the woods at least.

You might look around to see if a brand sells some light weight straps that could fit your pack.

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[bowhuntrben]

My dad’s shoulder strap broke carrying a big load of moose sheds out of the BWCA. We held it together using rope for the rest of the packout. It was an older pack, and we never even looked into the warranty. Just bought a replacement that was more what we needed anyway.

 

[RockChucker30]

Depending on how the shoulder strap is done I'd think that would be an unlikely failure.

Any company worth their salt will cover breakage that isn't obvious user error or abuse. We try to give the benefit of the doubt.

 

[slick]

Shot a cow in WY last season. Boned it out and loaded half in each pack. Two major manufacturers.

Buddy sat down, put his on, I grabbed his hand and helped him up and we heard the tear of cordura. Where the 1” webbing was sewn into the hip belt from the shoulder straps a vertical rip on the outter side, but behind the webbing formed. It was maybe 2” long.
I asked him how it was? He shifted and tightened it a little bit. Said it was good.
We walked another 50-100 yards and it completely tore.

On a backpacking trip I ended up picking up someone’s leftover 1/2” cheap white webbing a couple summers ago that they had left in a camp. Luckily I had that, we weaved the 1/2” webbing through the buckle over top of the original 1” webbing. Spent 10minute figuring out the proper length for it, tied it off to some pals webbing at the back of the waist belt and we were good to go. Hauled it out just over a couple miles. Nothing insane. But it worked.

He had a deer hunt coming up in NM shortly there after. Called company and swapped waist belts. All ended well.


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[Beendare]

550 cord would make a good Magivered rig....though I've only seen it once with a Badlands over 20 years ago....and that pack was WAY overloaded.

I doubt there is a major MNFR pack company that wouldn't fix that for free.

Some dual purpose items are worth having with you- like the cord- but If a guy brought EVERYTHING in the field for every contingency....his pack would weigh 60#

THATS^ why you buy good gear.

______

 

[roosiebull]

550 cord would make a good Magivered rig....though I've only seen it once with a Badlands over 20 years ago....and that pack was WAY overloaded.

I doubt there is a major MNFR pack company that wouldn't fix that for free.

Some dual purpose items are worth having with you- like the cord- but If a guy brought EVERYTHING in the field for every contingency....his pack would weigh 60#

THATS^ why you buy good gear.

______

absolutely!

packs are similar to optics to me, a terrible place to skimp, and a piece of equipment you have to have 100% faith in. any of the high end hunting pack companies would take care of you, knowing their packs are marketed for that type of stress.

i'm still mindful of how I put a heavy pack on, trying to not have one strap supporting the whole load pulling sideways on the stitching (like putting a loaded pack on one shoulder and swinging it around to the other shoulder to put it on)

buying good gear and a little common sense being realistic knowing even good stuff has limitations if used in a way not intended.

I do think a little 550 cord would make a way to improvise. I have heard of straps ripping off of loaded packs, but don't know the exact context.

I would do what I need to do to finish the job, and not worry about the pack getting more messed up, if you rip a strap off, what's a little more damage?

hope I never have that happen, and doubt it will.... that would be like losing a sole on your boot

 

[couesbitten]

Shoulder strap and other failures have already been discussed, but nobody has mentioned a broken waist belt buckle. I can rig up a temporary fix using paracord, compression straps, etc. to correct a lot of the failures that have been discussed, but if my waist belt buckle were to get damaged and not work, that could absolutely ruin a hunt. This is why I carry a spare, weighs almost nothing, takes up very little space, but having it could make or break your trip.

 

[Poeschel]

Thanks for the replies. Like I said, this was hypothetical. I’m starting to carry packs with more weight these days and go on longer trips and this just occurred to me. I kind of figured most companies would warranty it or somehow work with you even if you did a butcher repair job.

 

[duchntr]

I carry this in my misc/med pouch. https://zpacks.com/products/sewing-repair-kit

 

[Elkangle]

Zip ties go along way...that's a super unlikely failure with good gear...but I once was basically hypothermic and I got to my car (yes car) I dumped my pack next to the car and got in to get warm...it took awhile to get warmed up, I even took a nap..I woke up and proceeded to drive off and drug the pack down the road for about 200 yards

Being pretty broke back then I used zip ties to patch the torn webbing back up and used it for sometime that way before saving up and having a seamstress fix it properly

Definitely not an issue that keeps me awake at night