Schnozzel bag repair
Schnozzel bag repair using RTV silicone rubber for DIY sealing of leaky seams of this bag that is used for clean inflation of down-filled sleeping mats.
Background
As a concession to older age, my Exped down mat is a must-have item for overnight backpacking camping whether on the ground or snow. The mat has had a lot of appreciated and careful use. The schnozzel bag (or similar) that is used to inflate the mat is essential to prevent the alternative breath of Sapiens from damaging the downfall. It is time for an ode:
Huff and puff old lilo with air, moisture and spit till full, No longer with membranes and delicate downfill, A bag of clean mountain air straight from the bush, A clever device when squeezed, from which air may push, Save breath for wise words, and prevent the downs downfall.
My schnozzel bag was just great when new and a friend who shared my tent and I used to compete to be the quickest to inflate our Exped sleeping mats by essentially ‘catching two big bags full of breeze. I started to lose the completion over the years and found that my schnozzel bag was leaking. So this post is about DIY repair of the leak/s with RTV silcone rubber. It is a continuum of my passion for repairs and creations that can be made with this versatile and near-indestructible rubber adhesive.
Being a hopeless speller, I thought I would search the web to find the proper spelling of this funny word schnozzel…or schnossle……did it finish with ‘le’ or ‘el’? Well, both are used. I’ll settle for schnozzel as that comes from a US Exped site. However, schnozzle is used on Andy’s Australian site. And by the way, it makes a poor pillow (it bucks your head off and slowly deflates) and it is too delicate to use as a pack liner and will rapidly become very leaky if you do.
DIY schnozzel bag repair
Using my cheek to feel the gentle jet of air I found that the air leak was difficult to detect. I think this was because there were many small leaks distributed along the sewn seam.
Outside treatment. For the most obvious leaks, I started by smearing a thin layer of acetic cure RTV silicone rubber onto the outside of the bag. This was done along small sections of the seam that joined the bottom of the bag to the wall where the leaks were most obvious. This greatly improved the situation, but the deflation was still so rapid that pressure testing was difficult and frustrating. Consequently, I smeared the whole seam regardless of sensing any leaks. This improved things greatly, but I still could sense slow leakage as the closed bag slowly defeated under its own minute weight. So I would need to do better to, once more, become competitive in the down mat inflation race.
Inside treatment. When I turned the bag inside out, the cause of the leakage became more obvious. The seam tape that covered the sewn seam was falling off in numerous places along the entire seam and more so where the bag had been folded. I have reported on similar tape failures on tents and in all cases there is a dilemma about; re-adhering the damaged sections, removing the tape and replacing it with a long lasting alternative or substituting it with silicone rubber only.
For the schozzel bag repair, I chose the re-adhering option as the more radical ones could be used if this failed in the future. Also, the outside treatment was not perfect, but it made the bag serviceable once more, even if not competitive.
I found that I could dip the spatula tip into the rubber and the rubber could be quickly applied to both the tape and the bag by running the spatula in the void between the fabric and the tape. This action distributed the rubber glue well and also it could force the tape to separate where the previous bonding was poor.
Conclusion about the schnozzel bag leak repair
RTV silicone rubber can be used to make, easy, neat and effective repairs on leaky seams tapes on the inside of a schnozzel bag. Alternatively, for a quicker repair, the rubber can also be used to directly seal seams, from the outside of the bag, to make a simple and satisfactory repair.
Having returned from a five-night backpacking walk in our alpine regions, I can report that my schnozzel bag performed perfectly and I was competitive in the down mat inflation race once more.
Tim
More on adventure gear glueing
If you are a DIY adventure gear nerd like myself, you may be interested in my other glueing posts. However, before them, I thought a little ode about the fluid meaning of ‘nerdism’ would be fitting.
I tinkered in my shed like a passionate knurd, Or should I use gnurd, a more gnarly word, Or nurd, another old and similar pejorative, Meaning of all, now have morphed into positive narrative, So with obsession and a touch of pride I embrace the term nerd.
Glued repair to adventure gear
RTV silicone rubber, Oogoo, Sugru, Kintsuglue and Tommy tap comparison
Glueing instead of pinning for sewing backpacking tents
