[pct-l] Tents and Ants: a Cautionary Tale

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon,  Robert,

It’s too late for you, but others needing round patches can buy hole
punches for leather in many sizes.  The source fabric can be folded into
many thicknesses then just whack the punch with a hammer.  Then instead of
throwing away the “doughnut hole” as in cutting leather, just save it for a
patch.

See "Round hole drive punches" at http://eleathersupply.com/punches.shtml

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 11:54 AM, Robert Henry <rrh.henry at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here's a follow up on how I repaired the tent  The manufacture sent me
> swatches of original silicon-nylon material to patch the top and
> bottom of the tent.  Per their recommendations, I bought sil-net
> adhesive made by "Gear Aid", as sold here by REI
>
> http://www.rei.com/product/705425/gear-aid-silnet-silicone-seam-sealer-15-oz
>
> I cut by hand round patches about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter.  I set
> up a work table on some sawhorses, including a light table from an old
> window, illuminated from below.  Working from the inside of the tent,
> I painted one side of a patch with the silnet, and then glued the
> patch to the inside of the tent right over a hole.  I'd swab the
> excess glue up with a paper towel. The glue had a working life of
> several minutes, and a dry time of about 4 hours.
>
> It took my brother and I about 12 hours of work to patch all the
> holes.  The slowest part was cutting the round patches.  The material
> doesn't unravel, and we had a good sharp pair of scissors.
>
> On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 4:21 PM, Robert Henry <rrh.henry at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Last Friday (yes, it was Friday the 13th) I camped in the
> > oak/ponderosa forest about 8 miles north of Burney Falls State park.
> > I hauled into a campsite at dusk, gave it a perfunctory once over, set
> > up the tent, and went to sleep.  I awoke wondering if it was raining
> > out, and a quick glance showed stars, so went back to sleep.  When I
> > got up to go p** later that night, I was beset by ants, and got
> > stung/bit many times.  I suspect ants were dropping off of the trees
> > overhead.  I crawled back into bed.  I got up at dawn, was again beset
> > by ants and now mosquitos, packed up the tent quickly, and headed off.
> >
> > That night I set up the tent and noticed about 50 holes in the tent,
> > each about 2mm in diameter, with a small cascade of live and dead ants
> > coming out of the tent.  The ants had either chewed or stung or burned
> > (with formic acid) holes in the tent, either during that night, or
> > when trapped in the rolled up tent.
> >
> > Shake out your tent before packing it up, and don't camp under
> > oak/ponderiosa trees.  Better yet climb into the higher life zones
> > where there is fir, as that doesn't seem to host these kinds of ants.
> >
> > The culprit ants are black, are about 5mm long, and will bite/sting at
> > the slightest provocation.  The big black carpenter ants, 10mm long,
> > have never been a problem for me, and crawl over me without concern.
> >
> > I'm now faced with a tedious repair, as the holes are widespread.
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