Patching up a torn roof canvas?

AlexInSweden · Mar 14, 2021

Hi Everyone. I’m still pretty new to Cali life and slowly sorting out some cosmetic problems with my T4. The previous owner did a bit of a nasty job patching up some tears in the canvas with silver gaffer tape. Before I consider taking the whole thing off and repair / replace (which terrifies me) does anyone have any tips on what I could use as a nicer patch-up material? I’ve read about various tent repair kits and ‘tenacious tape’ which is available in rolls. Stick on vs Iron on? I also plan to clean & waterproof it if anyone has experience with that too. Cheers! Alex

Dr-Snickers · Mar 14, 2021

Tear Aid is fantastic. Not needed to use it on my Cali yet but have used on both bell tents and nylon tents and it’s brilliantly. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it if my bellows became damaged.

AlexInSweden · Mar 14, 2021

Thanks, that’s good to hear. It looks like more of a vinyl repair tape but it does also mention canvas. One of my tears is along the seam (to the front window) so I hope it will bind despite the surface not being completely flat. It looks pretty stretchy so hope I can push it into the grooves along the seam.

haydnw2 · Mar 14, 2021

I used Tear Aid on some abrasion on our roof, and it seems fairly solid. I've used the McNett Tenacious Tape on various bits of outdoor equipment (jackets, rucksacks, etc), but not the Cali canvas, and it's always been bombproof. Make sure patches are curved, rather than having sharp corners, and stick it to both sides (inside and outside).

ThomasHJ · Mar 14, 2021

AlexInSweden said:
Thanks, that’s good to hear. It looks like more of a vinyl repair tape but it does also mention canvas. One of my tears is along the seam (to the front window) so I hope it will bind despite the surface not being completely flat. It looks pretty stretchy so hope I can push it into the grooves along the seam.

I agree with @Dr-Snickers. In the past we repaired cuts in our T4 canvas with Tear-Aid and it worked brilliantly. Just make sure you pick the right type. They have type A and type B and you need type A.

When we still had our T4, I wrote about the repair of our canvas with Tear-Aid in my blog. You can see it here with photos). I have translated most of my posts to English as well, but I see this one is in Dutch only. I will translate it sometime soon. Although Swedish is closer to Dutch then English, for now Google Translate might help. But it speaks for itself. It's not hard.

Dr-Snickers · Mar 14, 2021

ThomasHJ said:
I agree with @Dr-Snickers. In the past we repaired cuts in our T4 canvas with Tear-Aid and it worked brilliantly. Just make sure you pick the right type. They have type A and type B and you need type A.

When we still had our T4, I wrote about the repair of our canvas with Tear-Aid in my blog. You can see it here with photos). I have translated most of my posts to English as well, but I see this one is in Dutch only. I will translate it sometime soon. Although Swedish is closer to Dutch then English, for now Google Translate might help. But it speaks for itself. It's not hard.

...and thanks for confirming which type I need to use. I think I currently have both in my repair kit from previous tents.