I loved my old Altus Atmospheric Light raincoat. It has been well used during four long caminos and numerous shorter walks but, like everything else man-made trying to survive in Singapore’s climate, I never expected it to last long. On its 4th birthday last month, I took it out and found that most of the seam sealing tape has pealed off. I tested it in the shower and it leaked badly, not just from the seams, but also straight through the material. I understand that the model I currently have is no longer for sale and I don’t trust the reviews of the few other alternatives so, what can I do?
I answered that last question myself. After a lousy attempt at replacing the seam sealing tape myself, I hit on a formula that worked perfectly. If you love your Altus as much I love mine, and you need to repair it someday, feel free to benefit from my mistakes, trials, errors and research.
Forget about using waterproofing sealing tape unless you have access to a proper machine to apply it with. A tiny craft iron may be usable but it is too easy to melt the raincoat material itself. The Sundely tape that I bought and tried cost US$20 and if anyone wants the 99% that I still have left, I’ll sell it for $1.
Do yourself a favor and buy some Gear Aid SilNet Silicone Seam Sealer ($8). A single 1.5oz tube will do. Also buy some spare small cheap paint brushes (the kind you get with a child’s paint by numbers kit). I bought a pack of 6 in the Singapore equivalent of the dollar store. Also buy Kiwi brand Camp Dry Heavy Duty Water Repellent. One 12oz is plenty ($12). The repairs take time to be done right. Don’t try to do this while your partner is packing the bags and calling the taxi for the ride to the airport. Count on at least a total of two hours of work and a minimum of four days of waiting for stuff to dry!
Sealing the seams
Basically, follow the directions on the tube but keep in mind the following. Remove any loose tape or tape that looks like it could come off soon. I didn’t try to remove any that still looked solidly attached and I thought it would be a bad idea to try to use the sealant to re-stick old tape that was partially loose. I stretched the Altus over an ironing board, using binder clips to hold it flat and taut. I could only work on part of the coat at one time but if you have a bigger work area, you could save some time. I cleaned the seam with a little wipe of isopropyl alcohol before starting. The seam sealant is quite thick but is easily painted on the seams on the inside of the coat. I covered the seams and a little on either side with a thin, fairly flat coat of the sealant. The width of the painted on sealant was about 1cm. Don’t worry about it not looking pretty, it’s on the inside of the coat. After 4-6 hours of making sure the sealant was completely dry, I repositioned the Altus on the board and worked on another section. It took about five re-positionings to finish the seals on the whole coat. The paint brush is impossible to clean between uses but can be re-used a couple of times anyway. The dried sealant is still a bit tacky but it is not wet. The instructions say that you can dust talcum powder on it to get rid of the tack but it doesn’t bother me as is.
Water Repellant
After all the seams were sealed and dry or confirmed secure with tape, I draped the Altus over a step ladder. I used sticks and old rags to shape up the raincoat with outstretched arms so that I could see and spray every square inch of the outside with no wrinkles or hard-to-reach places. The spraying needs to be done outside in a place where it is not so windy and the overspray won’t land in a place where you don’t want silicone. Two light, but complete, coats over the entire outside of the coat, applied 4 hours apart, was all it took. After leaving the coat on the ladder overnight, I hung it in on an ordinary hanger in an airy place out of the sun for the balance of 48 hours. The coat will smell bad for a while but 48 hours later, I cannot smell or see any residue. Testing the Altus in the shower again, it was 100% waterproof in both the seams and the material. Happy days.
The materials I mentioned above was enough to replace 90% of the lost tape on my XL Altus and 50% of my wife’s S size Altus with a bit of each left over. I’m very happy that I haven’t replaced them. In April they will protect us from the weather on the Via Domitia between Vercelli and Arles.
I answered that last question myself. After a lousy attempt at replacing the seam sealing tape myself, I hit on a formula that worked perfectly. If you love your Altus as much I love mine, and you need to repair it someday, feel free to benefit from my mistakes, trials, errors and research.
Forget about using waterproofing sealing tape unless you have access to a proper machine to apply it with. A tiny craft iron may be usable but it is too easy to melt the raincoat material itself. The Sundely tape that I bought and tried cost US$20 and if anyone wants the 99% that I still have left, I’ll sell it for $1.
Do yourself a favor and buy some Gear Aid SilNet Silicone Seam Sealer ($8). A single 1.5oz tube will do. Also buy some spare small cheap paint brushes (the kind you get with a child’s paint by numbers kit). I bought a pack of 6 in the Singapore equivalent of the dollar store. Also buy Kiwi brand Camp Dry Heavy Duty Water Repellent. One 12oz is plenty ($12). The repairs take time to be done right. Don’t try to do this while your partner is packing the bags and calling the taxi for the ride to the airport. Count on at least a total of two hours of work and a minimum of four days of waiting for stuff to dry!
Sealing the seams
Basically, follow the directions on the tube but keep in mind the following. Remove any loose tape or tape that looks like it could come off soon. I didn’t try to remove any that still looked solidly attached and I thought it would be a bad idea to try to use the sealant to re-stick old tape that was partially loose. I stretched the Altus over an ironing board, using binder clips to hold it flat and taut. I could only work on part of the coat at one time but if you have a bigger work area, you could save some time. I cleaned the seam with a little wipe of isopropyl alcohol before starting. The seam sealant is quite thick but is easily painted on the seams on the inside of the coat. I covered the seams and a little on either side with a thin, fairly flat coat of the sealant. The width of the painted on sealant was about 1cm. Don’t worry about it not looking pretty, it’s on the inside of the coat. After 4-6 hours of making sure the sealant was completely dry, I repositioned the Altus on the board and worked on another section. It took about five re-positionings to finish the seals on the whole coat. The paint brush is impossible to clean between uses but can be re-used a couple of times anyway. The dried sealant is still a bit tacky but it is not wet. The instructions say that you can dust talcum powder on it to get rid of the tack but it doesn’t bother me as is.
Water Repellant
After all the seams were sealed and dry or confirmed secure with tape, I draped the Altus over a step ladder. I used sticks and old rags to shape up the raincoat with outstretched arms so that I could see and spray every square inch of the outside with no wrinkles or hard-to-reach places. The spraying needs to be done outside in a place where it is not so windy and the overspray won’t land in a place where you don’t want silicone. Two light, but complete, coats over the entire outside of the coat, applied 4 hours apart, was all it took. After leaving the coat on the ladder overnight, I hung it in on an ordinary hanger in an airy place out of the sun for the balance of 48 hours. The coat will smell bad for a while but 48 hours later, I cannot smell or see any residue. Testing the Altus in the shower again, it was 100% waterproof in both the seams and the material. Happy days.
The materials I mentioned above was enough to replace 90% of the lost tape on my XL Altus and 50% of my wife’s S size Altus with a bit of each left over. I’m very happy that I haven’t replaced them. In April they will protect us from the weather on the Via Domitia between Vercelli and Arles.
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