Here’s a little skin maintenance tip I came up with recently. I’m sure others have done this but here it is in print, for what it’s worth.
The lean early season conditions in Alaska have been hard on some of my gear. Lot’s of PTex has been lost and last weekend I encountered the dreaded climbing skin shred. I’ve heard about this but managed to avoid it all these years. The only thing worse is when the skin rips in half following a tear. That would suck.
But this tear involved the middle of the skin and only went in a couple of centimeters. Skins are expensive so I decided to try and repair it. As an orthopedic PA I’m pretty handy with a needle and thread so I took some Vicryl suture to my skins and fixed them up. I secured the repair with some Seam Grip on both sides and then reglued the repaired section.
Sewing complete
Seam Grip and skin glue to protect the repair
Seam Grip added to protect the high abrasion side
With snow falling up here now I'll be able to test this repair next weekend if weather cooperates. I’ll keep you posted. - Brian