Gear Care and Maintenance

Recent Gear Care/Maintenance Product Reviews

Barkay Products Slim Sew Sewing Kit

Very compact sewing kit in a hard case. There's probably no smaller sewing kit that you could put on a carabiner or keychain. I assemble these kits and make some of the parts by hand. You could find much larger kits in a dollar store for less money, and you could find those cheap kits that come in flexible plastic envelopes, but the closest you'll get to the Slim Sew would probably be if you made your own from a pill bottle on a key chain. Those pill bottles are thicker though. You could also… Full review

Nikwax Tent & Gear SolarProof

Just a scam, IMHO. Applied per instructions to a 3-person tent fly with zero effect. Water immediately passes through the fly. It's a waste of money on a lame claim from this company. I'm done buying any Nikwax products. I've moved to McNett's Gear Aid line and they are the shizzzz!  Full review

Nikwax Down Wash

It works to clean down bags and garments safely, but is more costly than Gear Aid Revivex. Tried it and find it's effective to clean, but at three to four times the cost of Gear Aid ReviveX Pro Cleaner. Full review

Gear Aid ReviveX Pro Cleaner

Best bang for the buck. Previously, I've used Nikwax for down and thought I'd try McNett's Gear Aid. I won't be using Nikwax any longer and here's why: GA goes waaay farther, like about four to eight times what NW does making it that much less cost. Having used the 3-4 ozs. of Nikwax that's recommended for a down bag and finding that it does the job fine, I tried Gear Aid. They say it's concentrated four times more and using it made a believer of me. Literally, 1.5 ozs. cleans a down sleeping bag,… Full review

Gear Aid Tenacious Tape Fabric Repair Tape

This is the best. I've used this to repair tears and holes in my $100 bicycle seat, Cordura panniers, backpack, down jacket; all with total success and no failure. Even the adhesive is impervious to water. No better product is available. I highly recommend it for any fabric repair you want to be permanent. You won't get it off after a few months. Full review

Nikwax Nubuck & Suede Proof

The only thing as effective as Nixwax Suede is doing absolutely nothing. Applied the first time, no effect. Water absorbed as usual.  Applied the second time, no effect. Water absorbed as usual.  This product has ZERO waterproofing qualities.  Full review

Otter Wax Fabric Wax

This product works as advertised. It will waterproof new fabric, will coat existing waxed garments, will seal seams and dreams. Perfect and affordable for the gear conscious enthusiast who thinks gear longevity is a personal choice. This type of product has been with us since the Neolithic epoch and gladly these folk provide the best and affordable product. Full review

DryGuy Force Dry Shoe & Glove Dryer

Combining low heat with air movement speeds drying greatly. Packs down reasonably small when not in use. The DryGuy Force Dry boot and glove dryer is a vast improvement over the air only boot dryer I have been using for the last 25 years. By introducing 105-degree heat along with air flow the Force Dry has cut my boot drying time in half. The heated air does a much more thorough job of fully drying boots, shoes, and gloves without causing any damage. By getting my equipment fully dry I no longer… Full review

Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP

Outstanding performance. Gives new life to old leather. I'm really impressed with this stuff. I've been wearing leather work boots for decades now. They get a lot of abuse including drops of molten metal, slogging through mud, water and animal crap, lots of abrasion and impact, etc. Usually the leather starts to deteriorate after 12-18 months.  Now, I clean my boots really well with a saddle soap and then apply LP every six months or so. My current pair of work boots are three years old and going… Full review