Gear Care and Maintenance
The best gear care and maintenance, reviewed and curated by the Trailspace community. The latest review was added on August 10, 2021. Stores' prices and availability are updated daily.
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In order to show you the most useful information, we have omitted some unreviewed products. View all gear care and maintenance »
Recent Gear Care/Maintenance Product Reviews
Silco RTV 4500 silicon
RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanizing) VOC (Volatile Organic Compound - compliant) silicone has so many uses that this is in fact as much a review as it is a tip for repairing outdoor equipment, and especially cooking hardware. Recently I (inadvertently) damaged my Sea To Summit 1.4L X-Pot while cooking breakfast during a camping trip. The X-Pot is a collapsible cooking pot that has a hard anodized aluminum base combined with food-grade, heat-resistant silicone walls that comes in various capacities… Full review
Sea to Summit Field Repair Buckle
These are a quick fix repair buckle for backpacking, kayaking, and hiking gear. These come in different sizes from 15mm (5/8 inch) up to the larger sizes. Hard to find in the outdoor store, I snapped up a set of the Side Release in 15mm and a ladder lock also in 15mm. Was I impressed? Yup! My tent/backpack repair kit now contains these small wonders. side buckle ladder buckle replacement buckle I have looked for these when I saw a video of them a while back. I have needed replacement buckles… Full review
Nikwax TX.Direct Wash-In
It worked the first time, but not the second time... I bought this to bring back the waterproofing in my jacket and it seemed to work, so I applied it to my kids' coats and then it seemed not to work. I thought maybe it was the fabric but when I applied it to my coat the next year it didn't work. I am not sure what I did differently; the back says use 100ml per article. Maybe I didn't? Synthetic Wash Cycle, which I don't have. Did I pick one that is too delicate or too rough? It also says use water… Full review
KIWI Camp Dry Heavy Duty Water Repellent
Not sure if it works, and it will discolour fabrics. I bought this to waterproof our tents in 2019; one tent was only a few years old, very large, and the other was quite old and small. I bought four cans and it took almost one to do the small tent and the rest didn't get all of the large one. We took them camping for three days of rain, sometimes heavy rain, and the small tent was swamped—completely swamped. The kids had to sleep in my aunt's camper a few sites down. The large tent had… Full review
Nikwax Tent & Gear SolarProof
I tried a number of products to restore the water repellence of my gear and this stuff did the job. I have a winter coat that was waterproof at 15000ml and a pair of pants that were hydrophobic repelling light rain and wet underbrush. After a few washes though the pants stopped being hydrophobic and the jacket began to soak through in harder rains. I tried the Nikwax wash-in stuff and it worked on the jacket the first few washes but then stopped. I looked online for a product and ordered the Nikwax… Full review
Guppyfriend Washing Bag
The Guppyfriend helps prevent your fleece gear from spewing micro fibers into the water supply. The concept is pretty simple—a bag with pores too fine to allow micro fibers out, but water gets in during a normal wash cycle to clean your fleece. Cleaning micro fibers out of the bag is a bit of a chore. I have used this a number of times, and it seems durable. I read a few articles recently about how detrimental nylon and polyester micro fibers are to fish and other organisms that live in the water,… Full review
Nikwax TX.Direct Wash-In
Great as a cleaner. Not good as a repellant at all. Full review
Nikwax Tent & Gear SolarProof
Not only didn't help, but when it rained the material soaked through fabric and came into tent. Used it on a four-year-old, single wall Nemo tent that has light usage. Applied spray as directed, wiped off, and let it dry. Went on a trip two days later. Every time we had rain I had to continuously wipe the inside of the tent and wipe up the puddles that formed at the foot of the tent. So glad our group decided to pull out a day early. I should have left a section untreated so I could see if the… Full review
303 Aerospace Protectant
I began using 303 a couple of years ago on my kayaks after it was recommended by a friend. It does bring new life back to an older kayak and I believe improves their glide and tracking. It's worth the price, but I agree with the other buyers, purchase it in larger quantities and it goes a long way. I originally purchased a small bottle to try and after seeing the results now I purchase it by the gallon and refill the small spray bottle to use it. Full review
