Gear Care and Maintenance

Recent Gear Care/Maintenance Product Reviews

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

303 Aerospace Protectant

The best protection available for rubber and plastic. Formula 303 Protectant was originally developed by NASA for use on the Space Shuttle. It looks like milk and has a very slight smell that reminds me of Elmer's glue. It can be quite expensive if you purchase it in the small spray bottles, but is quite reasonably priced by the gallon. It's advertised as sunscreen for your plastic, and I can attest to its effectiveness. Used regularly it will keep your plastic and rubber products free of sun damage… Full review

Nikwax Down Wash Direct

This is an effective product for cleaning and restoring loft to down garments and sleeping bags/quilts. It works for both hand and machine washing. The price for a bottle is steep, but I have found it to be pretty concentrated, with good results using less product than is prescribed. Background: Nikwax Down Wash Direct is a specialty detergent for washing high-quality down products like jackets (puffies) and sleeping bags/quilts. Anyone who is familiar with high fill-power down products knows how… Full review

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

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