Sail patch tape

I just saw it in a Duluth trading catalog, and it sounded like just the thing for emerjancy repairs.They claim it seals,lasts and sticks to damp surfaces. Any body tried it?

Turtle

Haven’t tried it
But if it’s at all abrasion resistant and it sticks to damp royalex and/or gelcoat it sound like I need some in my kit.

Thanks for the tip!

hippo patch for boats
Hippo patch actually sticks to wet surfaces. I prefer it for all boat patching and leak stopping. They sell it at BassPro and a lot of places online.



Sail tape sticks to dry sail surfaces and I’ve often used it to repair sails. Dry the spot put on the tape. Stitch around the edges when you get back to shore. I would use sail tape to try to stop a boat leak. Even duct tape would work better.

hippo didn’t work for us
When I did 3 star training we tried a bunch of patches on the water, in real conditions, and very little worked. Hippo tape didn’t stick at all. Normal duct tape worked ok, and DensoTape worked fairly well. Gorrila tape wouldn’t stick.



Boats were wet. Conditions were choppy. Water was about 60 degrees.

That’s good to know
It’s also important to note that as the temperature drops, so does the effectiveness of any type of tape’s adhesive.

What is “Normal” duct tape?
I had a crack in my whitewater canoe (royalex) and tried to put some 3M 3939 duct tape on while the boat was wet.

The tape came off 100 yards down stream.

At lunch I was able to dry the boat and try again with the same. That patch lasted a day and a half on the Dead River.

My experience has been that some duct tape holds better than others. But nothing I’ve tried stayed put on a wet boat.

Crazy but good to know
I’ve used hippo patch in wet and dry but always in temps above 65. I’ve never had duct tape stick on a wet surface well.



I’ve had really good luck with with duct tape in dry warm conditions.

"normal"
I don’t know what the brand was. By normal I mean the gray stuff.



Temperature is definitely a challenge for adhesives. Many seem to be optimized for “room temperature” and unfortunately Maine paddlers are at best 10 degrees below that.



I’ve been meaning to try some RV repair tape that claims to stick to wet surfaces - haven’t ordered it yet though. I guess I’m not optimistic.

Drying repair areas
I’ve taken to carrying alcohol soaked pads and paper towels in my repair kit for prepping boats before applying any kind of patch. The kind I use are sold for cleaning glasses, which is also great when I need to clean the salt off my shades or camera lenses. The alcohol helps remove the salt film that seems to be death on adhesive bonds, and the paper towels help finish the drying. Duct tape is good, but I’ve discovered huge differences in the stickiness of different brands. I’ve had good success in warmish conditions with products that are sold to the construction industry for window and roof flashing. The very best brands are Vycor (sold in rolls for flashing around windows) and Grace ice and water shield (sold to install on roofs as killer peel and stick flashing). I’m a custom home builder and have purposefully tried as many brands as I could for stickiness- more for kayaking than home building- builders cover flashings with other stuff that helps hold any brand of flashing down for a bond. Cold weather and water is always an issue, but rubbing one of these patches quickly with your fist will generate some heat that will help with the bond. Cheers and try not to hole any boats-----------------

Tear-aid
http://www.tear-aid.com/




Tear Aid for Dry surfaces only
From the application instructions on the website referenced.

http://www.tear-aid.com/Images/TEARepair%20Instructions-Rev.%20F…pdf



“For best results apply to a clean, dry surface. Clean the surface to be repaired with an alcohol

prep pad, or a 50/50 mixture of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol and water.

Surface temperature of the materials to be repaired should be 50 F or warmer. Do not put

repaired material into a washer or dryer.”