How have I not come across this product before? Tenacious Tape is a brilliant waterproof repair tape for all sorts of outdoor gear and equipment, from sleeping bags, to waterproof coats. It’s a quick fix that’s transparent and extremely strong – read on for the review.
Bringing up outdoor children is a prerequisite for the mess, mud, dirt and damage that goes hand in hand with family outdoor adventures. Kids grow so quickly that we can’t always spend a fortune on new kit so when it gets damaged a decent repair is a thrifty solution.
We recently did a stunning 3-mile walk to Linhope Spout in Northumberland where yet again Mother Nature was out in forceful abandon, showcasing her treasures at our every step. Read all about it in waterfall addiction; it’s well worth a visit.
That’s Torn It
The next day however I noticed that the sleeve of Caroline’s coat was badly slashed in 3 places. We don’t know how it happened, possibly on wire or barbed wire fencing as the slits were straight and knife-like.
The coat was less than a month old and in thrifty Wild Mummy style had been bought a size too big to last more than one season. The shop it was bought from couldn’t recommend a repairers nor could other local outdoor shops. I contacted Joules directly but they don’t offer repairs nor could they send any material for a DIY patch (though they did offer up to £20 towards a repair) and the local tailor offered to do a large patch repair in black polyester lining fabric.. Mmm? It seemed the coat was a gone-er.
2018 update – finally found somewhere that could have repaired it! Scottish Mountain Gear – see link below. Otherwise try…
Tenacious Tape
Somebody recommended McNett’s Tenacious Tape (order with this link now or scroll for more buying options!) which I immediately ordered online, prepared to try anything.
Every outdoor parent should have a roll of this tape!
At around £6 for a couple of metres it’s a transparent and extremely strong waterproof tape and a tenacious little sticker, as the name implies.
How to Repair a Coat
- Cut tape to size. It must fit beyond the tear at least an inch on all sides
- Remove sticky backing
- Carefully place on damaged fabric, holding the tear together as you do
- Stick it down – there are no second chances here; one touch and it’s fast
- Rub in circular motion from the centre outwards to fix in place
Before and After
On smaller repairs this tape would be virtually invisible.
Pros
- Transparent therefore suitable for any colour fabric
- Durable and waterproof – I’ve not washed the jacket yet so will report below in future
- Extremely sticky
- Versatile – can be used on waterproof clothing, rain gear, tents, mosquito nets, sleeping bags, backpacks, fly sheets, gaiters and watersports gear
- Portable – not much larger than a lipstick container so easy to pop in a pocket
- It also comes in Patches
and there’s a version especially for Gore Tex
Cons
Perfect for small holes, tears, rips and slashes but as our rips were several, long and close together we had to use huge pieces of tape to get the inch margin all round which made for a large, somewhat inflexible repair. However, on the inner sleeve this particular repair hardly shows despite the amount of tape needed and is far better than having to buy a whole new item of clothing that may only last a year.
It’s probably not that environmentally friendly but repairing damaged items rather than binning them surely makes up for it?
I can totally recommend this excellent tape and urge everyone to get a roll for almost any outdoor kit emergency.
For more books and outdoor gear reviews browse Kids of the Wild’s reviews section
Get the Gear
Click images to purchase via Amazon.
Tenacious tape pre-cut patches
Tenacious Tape 50cm roll
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2018 Update
I really should be paid for these reviews! A year on and the coat is still going strong after almost daily wear and several washes.
I have just re-repaired an area where the tape was coming off so it doesn’t look as smooth as it did at first but given that the damage occurred within days of buying the coat and it’s still being used in it’s second year I am more than impressed.
Scottish Mountain Gear repair all sorts of outdoor gear and their repairs manager confirmed to me that they could have repaired the coat with the closest colour match possible if they couldn’t get the exact original colour. Great to know and one to add to the contact list.
#CountryKids
What a find! ThInk we will be getting a roll or two of this. Great discovering and thanks for sharing!
I know, I couldn’t believe we’ve not seen it before and it did a brilliant job. I imagine Mr Whatley of the Wild could find many uses! xx
Oh wow, I need this in my life having just superglued a tear in our little lady’s coat to stop it “running” any further. It’s all the prickly bushes here that get us! #countrykidsfun
This sounds fab! definitely have to get a roll, if not then for other half as he always gets rips and takes! 😉 #countrykids
It’s great stuff. I have since washed the coat, turning the repaired sleeve inside out for protection and it survived intact. Can’t recommend it enough x
If only I had learned about this tape yesterday after we recycled M’s coat after getting snagged on a fence. #countrykids
Shame about the coat, it’s why I was so thrilled to find it. Thanks for reading
What a fab product, I might have to pick some up for here on the farm my lot are forever accidentally ripping their coats. It’s great that’s it’s barely visible, the kids would never notice if I fixed up their bits and pieces without them knowing! Such a fab discovery and great that you’ve shared it for everyone to see, let’s hope it’ll enable lots more outdoor fun.
Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids
Do you think it would work on Joules canvas waterproof jacket?
Hi Catherine, I’ve not used it on canvas fabric and I feel instinctively it might not stick so well but I could be wrong. Is it wax jacket type canvas or more shiny? I’m sure it would have some benefit and maybe apply it to the inside of the jacket not the front initially. Let me know what you decide, I’d be interested to see how you get on. Wild wishes for a n expert repair!
It’s a Joules Coast Waterproof and is 100% cotton but seems to be shiny on the inside. It’s also black and white stripes so the repair would need to be on the inside. I’ll give it a bash and let you know how it goes!