The Joys of Fixing Your Own Gear!
Now, as some of my coworkers have crassly observed, I’ve “been around since they invented dirt.” But, in that time, I’ve learned a thing or two and one of them is “gear doesn’t usually last forever.” It wears out, it breaks, it quits working properly. So what do you do then? It seems to me that today, more and more folks either throw it away or give it to someone else to fix. Why do you suppose that is? Part of it is that we’re busy and part of it is that, relative to income, gear prices have come down. Another explanation recently came to my attention. Matthew Crawford, in his book Shop Class as Soulcraft, points out that by the early 1990s many schools had eliminated shop classes to make room for computer and other types of classes, to prepare students for the “information or knowledge economy.” Are we, as he posits, creating an “educational monoculture,” where we learn to work with our heads, but not with our hands? At one time, most homes had a workshop or a workbench. When something broke, you fixed it, or at least tried to fix it. Seems we’ve gotten away from this do-it-ourselves culture and perhaps, lost track of how to fix things when they break. Most boating gear isn’t all that complex. Fixing it isn’t like auto repair (looked under the hood of a car lately?). Replacing drywear gaskets, patching a rip in a splash jacket or sprayskirt, replacing a valve – is not rocket science. And it’s a pleasure, even soul satisfying. Hell, I work at a company with a great returns policy and a repair department, and I still do repairs on my own gear. It produces a real feeling of satisfaction to keep extending the life of the things I use in the outdoors. Some of it doesn’t look so pretty anymore, but I can take pride that it still works. Recently I got a good laugh from what a coworker said to me. I’ve got a quart stainless Stanley thermos that I mostly use on raft trips to keep coffee hot in the mornings. I’ve had it for probably 40 years; the outside is battered, rusty and looks like it was uncovered in an archeological dig, but it works like a charm. One day I brought in to share some Cajun chicory café au lait. My coworker said, “Oh my, that thermos makes me feel so guilty!” I asked her why and she said, “Because if I had something that looked like that, I would have gotten rid if it a long time ago!” Which brings us another reason for fixing our broken gear; it’s the “green” thing to do. It keeps stuff out of the landfill and saves natural resources. And it saves you money. With a bit of time and repair materials, you can cheaply fix a lot of your own gear. A feeling of pride and satisfaction, protecting the environment, saving money – what’s not to like? So what’s keeping us from doing it? In a lot of cases, it’s just not knowing how to go about it, how to get started, what tools and materials to use. To help folks get started, we’re going to begin a series of how-to articles on simple repairs that are within the scope and skill level of just about anyone. Stay tuned for future issues of the e-News on “The Joys of Fixing Your Own Gear!” As always, I enjoy hearing from you. Drop me a line at editor@nrsweb.com. Boat Often & Boat Safe! -Clyde As a old man who just again fixed his fifty year old house door with a spring from a Jergens Lotion pump, I can appreciate your attempt to get through to the "throw it away" generations." But as far as reaching people who for the most part, cannot even change a tire on their autos, you are going to have a tough row to hoe. Kinda like our parish priest who was wondering if his sermon went "over the head" of the congregation. I told him no, it did not go over their heads father, it hit them right in the head, and just bounced off. Take care. Good luck. God Bless, Wallace Barbay Thanks for the article. I Googled the book "Shop Class as Soulcraft" and read several reviews and excerpts. You see, I'm a high school teacher who constantly laments the decisions to do away with "hands-on" education. The leaders have really screwed this up over the last 20 years. Young men need to be actively engaged in learning. They need to be able to use their hands along with their minds. Jack Reece Thanks for the note about fixing gear I'll read the full text in a minute I VERY much appreciate the attention you staff pays to interaction...answering questions, finding out if they don't know, encouraging...and even sending POST CARDS! Gotta love that Emily, but she's not the only one! I recently applied several D Rings, Handles and D-Ring/Handle combos on my Otter. Staff was very helpful. The day was very warm and dry, and I either neglected to throughly wipe one spot--or didn't sand it properly. The bottom 2" of the D Ring/Handle didn't stick. Rather than take the whole thing off, I re-treated the area under the patch sand/Toluene wipe/2coats glue/press/roll. Staff asked me to get back to them about how it went. 1. The repair was successful. It was just a bit tricky to keep the 2 parts separate while the glue got tacky. It would be best to have TWO people work together on this. 2. I used a "screen roller" I had on hand. Plastic tool to press the screen into the groove of a window screen. Works like a charm, and they're inexpensive. They usually have a channel side and a flat side--a roller on each end. The flat side works well to press the two sides together and to work out bubbles. Thanks for running a great shop! Evan Massaro I look forward to your articles on repairing your own gear. In many cases it’s just needing to know how to do it and what materials to use. Also some of the newer materials require new techniques. It used to be that if you had a canvas tent with a rip, a needle and thread or a “speedy stitcher” and some goop to fill in the holes were all that was needed. That doesn’t work well with lightweight fabrics and no one has a sewing machine any more. Keep the articles coming. Lee M. Yancey Thanks for the great feedback on my Editor’s Corner piece! I look forward to hearing from more of you as the series unfolds. One point I’d like to make is that this isn’t just about some bunch of us old farts sitting around talking about “how it was back in the old days, when we always walked to school five miles, through three feet of snow and it was uphill both ways.” I think it is true that many of us from an older generation may be more inclined to fix things. Heck, my folks were part of the Great Depression Generation; they knew firsthand the need to make things last. However, I find that many people in the younger generations, especially the outdoor folks, are just as handy around a repair job as us old timers. I know that’s true of the young folks I work with here at NRS. Regardless of age or generational differences, I hope these articles on gear repair can offer a service to our readers. And I really want to hear from the rest of you. Pros, cons, personal experiences with repairs, suggestions, etc. Above, Evan gave a nice tip about using a screen roller as a tool for pressing down a patch. I had never thought of that for boat repair. So, drop me a line to editor@nrsweb.com. Thanks, -Clyde |
