5 Essential Items for a Hiking Repair Kit

There’s nothing worse than having gear fail when you’re on a hike. Especially when you know you could fix it if only you had the right tool. While often overlooked by ultralight hikers, having a small, but well-stocked repair kit can help you stay on-trail in comfort vs. having to go home early. Additionally, keeping your favourite gear in service helps to reduce the amount of waste heading to landfill and can potentially save you a lot of money if you were to buy a replacement instead.

In this article, we look at the top 5 items you should have in your hiking repair kit.

1. Tenacious Tape

Think of Tenacious tape as the gaffa tape for outdoor fabrics. It bonds well to the lightweight, synthetic fabrics often found in outdoor gear, is waterproof, can handle being rolled and scrunched, and is machine washable. It also looks way better for long-term repairs.

2. Sewing kit

Sometimes, a patch just isn’t enough. To permanently seal tears and holes, a sewing kit can be a great addition to your backcountry repair kit. This is especially true for things like lightweight clothing or your hiking pack where keeping water out isn’t as important as closing up a tear or hole. It’s also useful for when you need to replace a button on that beloved hiking shirt, or pants!

3. Paracord

Taking up very little space in your pack, this strong, lightweight cord has a variety of uses from a makeshift clothesline to replacement boot laces. It can be used as a replacement for the guy lines on your tent or if you want to attach something securely to your pack. It can help lower a pack past a tricky descent, or (with appropriate training) even be used to help reduce a femur fracture in the field!

4. Replacement buckles

Ever had a buckle break on a pack? Most of the time, one side of the buckle is linked to webbing that is sewn into the pack. This makes it almost impossible to replace unless you have a Sea to Summit Field Repair Buckle! These use a small metal rod that will slide through the sewn-in webbing to help you replace even the most difficult-to-access buckle.

5. Tent Pole Sleeves

Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes a weather system and strong winds can come through in the middle of the night and catch you out. Being able to splint a broken tent pole can be the difference between having shelter, or not having shelter. Slide this over the broken section of pole and tape it in place to keep your damaged pole going for the remainder of your trip. While many tents come with a tent pole sleeve, they have a tendency of getting lost. If you can’t remember where your tent pole sleeve is, consider this the sign you’ve been waiting for.