14/11/2014
Tip of the week, Green Square/Level 1, all abilities!
This week's tip *celebrates* (??!) the first snows in the canyons and subsequent onslaught of the winter season. Nothing can ruin a holiday road trip faster than a blown out jacket or sleeping bag zipper. So this week's tips are all about keeping your puffy happy so it can keep you happy. Zippers, like anything with moving parts, can get played out or chewed up over time. Follow these ips and you may extend the life of yours.
Tip 1.) Avoid forcing a stuck zipper and proceed immediately to ...
Tip 2.) Okay, this may seem a little odd, but, to get a head-start on zipper health, do this simple thing: EVERY time before you zip, blow out the zipper pull. This helps keep the sand and crud that eats teeth out of the pull and a titch of spittle makes it slide a bit easier.
Tip 3.) Never leave home without some form of pliers, preferably needle-nose as those are also handy for fixing cams (along with paper clips, but we'll deal with that one later!) and better yet are the articulated NN. Regularly (ideally before your zipper is shot) GENTLY (almost imperceptibly) and evenly squeeze all sides of the pulls and stays. If your zipper is already shot, this may be a miracle fix! If you over-squeeze, slide the handle of a thin utensil, dime or credit card into the gap. But operative words here are "almost imperceptible"—proceed in small steps.
Other tips:
-Use a safety pin on your sleeping bag (or dicey jacket) to prevent your zipper from ever coming undone.
-Some folks swear by using soap or lip balm to help zipper slide. These both work great, but you'll need to clean zipper after or you'll collect the sand and detritus that will make sitch worse down the line.
