Don't Forget the Duct Tape: Tips & Tricks for Repairing & Maintaining Outdoor & Travel Gear (Don't Series)

* What to include in your hiking or travel repair kits
* Duct tape dos and don'ts
* New sections on caring for technical wool garments and repairing softshell fabrics, single-wall tents, hydration systems, and more

Whether you need to remedy a leak in your tent, repair flapping boot soles, nurse a cranky stove back to life, unclog a water filter, or revive gunked-up Velcro, you'll find the solution here. And it can all be done with an inexpensive 12-item repair kit that, once assembled, won't weigh more than a pound or two-worth its weight in gorp!

As you'd guess, this pack-it-with-you pocket guide includes many ingenious uses for that most versatile of tools: duct tape! Here's just a few of many tips:

Tip: Make a sturdy zipper pull by threading a thin strip of duct tape through the slider, then wrapping the tails with more duct tape.
Tip: For a more stable stove, cut a square of old closed-cell foam pad sized to fit the base of your backpacking stove. Wrap the foam generously with duct tape for insulation and you have a stable cooking platform that works great in the snow.
Tip: When re-gluing a boot or shoe sole, a few turns of duct tape can keep the toe
area secure while the glue dries.

KRISTIN HOSTETTER is a former gear editor for Backpacker Magazine. She writes a bi-weekly column on gear for The Seattle Post Intelligencer.