My backpack zipper gave out halfway through a 3 week trip in Vietnam

I was in Hanoi last month when the main zipper on my trusty old Osprey jammed and then just ripped right off the track. Managed to find a street tailor who stitched in a new zipper for about $3 but it took two days and I had to use a garbage bag to carry my stuff in the meantime. Anyone else had to get emergency gear repairs on a trip and did it end up holding up okay?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakotawood26d ago

Man I heard something similar on a travel podcast once - a guy had his boot sole come off in Peru and a cobbler fixed it with tire rubber that ended up outlasting the damn boots.

william_henderson20d ago

Totally get that, same thing happened to me in Thailand with my hiking boots and the fix lasted years longer than the originals. Those random local cobblers are straight up wizards with rubber and glue.