fix it...sticky backpack

[kaite]

can anybody recommend some spray or paint, ..silicon perhaps.. to apply to the inside of a nice pack that is quite sticky.... i n a deteriorated inside coating sort of way?

[Gadgetgeek]

without knowing what the original pack materials are, its a bit of a gamble. you could either end up cleaning off the old coating which may more may not be ideal, or making a bigger gooey mess. What sort of pack?

[kaite]

I bought the pack in a secondhand shop, it is "Head brand, ad.justment, 9000.map". Though I found Head products I didn't find head hiking packs on line. It is narrow and longish and feels comfortable, probably about 45 litres, is in very good condition other that the coating on the inside has gone sticky, which have seen on packs before. The pack is made of a synthetic canvas, kind of waterproofed on the inside. It is not gooey and i can use it with a liner as it is but just checking my options.

[johnk1]

Hit it with some talcum powder Katie. Should fix the problem. Shake out any excess.

Cheers.

John

[kaite]

thanks John, will do that unless someone has a great waterproofing trick.

[Orion]

Have you thought about washing it? If you pull out the frame you can probably turn the whole thing inside out and get aggressive with hot water, detergent and a brush. Maybe even running it through a machine. If its the coating that has deteriorated there's not much to lose in scrubbing it off. Those decaying PU coatings usually stink too.

I washed a pack once. It had been exposed to poison oak so I really scrubbed it with detergent and used a lot of hot water. I was blown away by how much dirt came out of that thing. It weighed less after the washing.

[GPSGuided]

When synthetic material degrade, it's a thankless task to try to remove it. How about putting in a plastic liner to avoid regular contact with the goo?


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[kaite]

thanks for replies! Probably am more inclined to use talc or liner or both than scrubbing... i am a lazy person....as i know what the stickiness is, it doesn't bother me too much, its more that i would have liked to recondition of the waterproofing if there was a simple way... which well might be a garbage bag as liner...

[cams]

thanks for replies! Probably am more inclined to use talc or liner or both than scrubbing... i am a lazy person....as i know what the stickiness is, it doesn't bother me too much, its more that i would have liked to recondition of the waterproofing if there was a simple way... which well might be a garbage bag as liner...

I think the way Aarn use liners in their packs is awesome. The silnylon pack liner has velcro around the top that attaches it around the inside top of the pack. Pretty simple idea, but IMO makes it so much more user friendly than a pack liner floating around inside the pack. So along these lines, maybe grab a sea to summit waterproof pack liner or drybag, add some velcro around the top of it and the pack, and make it a permenant liner.

[Bushman_Craig]

A late reply...

Personally I think you're better off using dry bags to waterproof your gear and then hitting the deteriorated proofing with talc as suggested to take out the stickiness.

If you absolutely had to re-waterproof the interior of the pack, then you can do so easily enough after an inexpensive visit to your local hardware store.

I discovered this while attempting to re-proof a deteriorated vintage canvas texture vinyl factory softtop for my 40 Series Landcruiser 4WD (you could see daylight through dozens of tiny pinholes and cracks in the vinyl).

Pick up a litre of white spirit (around $10) and a tube of clear roofing silicone. Pour the whole litre of white spirit into a clean plastic bucket, then squeeze in the whole tube of roofing silicone. Stir well and you'll notice the silicone dissolving in the white spirit. Once it has fully dissolved, it's ready to use. Turn the pack inside out, hang it up somewhere outside and begin applying the mixture to the seams and fabric inside your pack with a suitably-sized paintbrush.

This procedure is best carried out on a warm and sunny day to avoid any bubbling, flaking or blistering of the silicone. It worked extremely well on the 4WD softtop and I have used it in the past to re-proof the failed taped seams on an old rain jacket, so waterproofing a pack should be child's play. Any weight gained by the procedure will depend on how thickly you slather on the mixture. Once dried, the fabric will feel more silky than sticky, which sounds like exactly what you're after,