Repair Programs in Outdoor Gear, Explained

Table of contents

What Gear Can be Repaired?

Nemo's Repair Services

Unrepairable Gear

Standout Repair Services

Why Repair?

Why Offer Repair Services?

Warranty vs. Repair

Better Trail's Sustainability Criteria

When you buy through our links, we may receive a commission.

It’s an unfortunate fact: Folks who spend a lot of time outdoors tend to love their gear to death. From the backpack you wear on every ski tour to the tent you take on a thru-hike, your go-to equipment is bound to snag on a tree, lose a buckle, or otherwise degrade over time. Thankfully, an increasing number of outdoor gear brands offer repair services to help keep your gear in fighting shape. These programs are mostly intuitive, simple, and decrease your environmental impact by keeping your gear out of the landfill. Here’s a rundown of some of the repair services offered across the outdoor industry, and why we include them in our sustainability criteria.

What Types of Gear Can be Repaired?

Most minor gear failures should be repairable. Here’s a rundown of the fixes that comprehensive brand repair programs typically cover. We’re also including some gear care tips from the Better Trail team and Andrew Baxley, the warranty and repair manager at Nemo Equipment, to help you keep the gear you love in commission longer.

Most apparel failures are relatively easy to fix and can be repaired by any service with a sewing machine. Shirts, pants and the like don’t always need to be repaired by the brand that made the product. Brand repair services or your local tailor can often handle button or zipper replacements, seam repairs, and rips and tears.

Replacement zipper on Patagonia Houdini repair

Small holes in down jackets are easy to patch with a strip of Tenacious Tape or similar adhesives, but brand repair services can replace entire panels of fabric or sew a patch onto your jacket for more involved fixes like large tears. It’s essential to patch a tear in a down jacket before down starts spewing out—very few services put down back into your jacket. Zipper replacements are another common fix offered by most repair services. Pro tip: If you use a piece of Tenacious Tape to patch a jacket, cut rounded corners to avoid peeling over time. Keep in mind that washing your down jacket regularly is essential to keeping it warm and grime-free: many folks use Nikwax’s Down Wash Direct.

Outwear such as rain jackets, ski shells, and ski pants can be patched or re-waterproofed if you notice the elements soaking through. Comprehensive repair services typically offer waterproof patches for rips and tears as well as waterproof zipper replacements. You can also wash waterproof gear with specialized detergents to renew its durable water-repellant (DWR) coating. Nikwax’s Tech Wash is a popular choice. While some companies, such as Arc’teryx, supply this specialized wash for you in-store, most brands don’t—though your local gear shop or REI Co-op might. It’s essential to regularly wash and dry your gear to keep grime out and prolong the life of both the DWR and the garment.

Backpacks experience a lot of wear and tear; as a result, buckle and hardware replacements are among the most common repairs. Depending on the buckle’s design, you might be able to replace it on your own using a no-sew buckle, but in some cases, a buckle is sewn on and involves a more extensive fix. In this case, a brand’s repair service can typically remove and replace the buckle and webbing if needed. When rips occur, backpacks can often be patched or re-paneled depending on the construction. Backpack zippers can also be replaced. As with most gear, keeping your zippers clean is essential to ensure functionality and avoid replacement.

When it comes to tents, a lot can go wrong. Luckily, fabric and mesh tears can be repaired by patching or re-paneling the tent, depending on the severity of the tear. Poles can break in the wind or during setup but, fortunately, most gear repair services can replace pole segments and shock cord rather than sending you an entirely new set of poles. (Often, you can even do segment or cord replacement at home.) Other minor tent repairs include guyline, zipper, and buckle replacement, which are typically simple fixes. If you use your tent a fair amount, it's a good idea to wash it once per year—more if it gets muddy—to maintain waterproofing and keep zippers running smoothly.

Popping a sleeping pad ranks high among any backpacker’s worst fears. Luckily, pad patches are often easy to use and can be applied in the field or by a gear repair service. Baxley notes that he would love to see more people patching their own pads, as it's a simple process. “We send out quite a few pad repair kits that have the glue, patch, and everything needed to support the customer doing it on their own,” he says. Valve replacement is a more involved fix that most gear repair services can do. Pro tip: If you’re patching a pad in the field, inflate it in water so you can see air bubbles coming out and identify the leaks.

Sleeping bags typically have fewer failure points than sleeping pads and backpacks. However, they’re often made with thin, low-denier materials and can easily rip. Patching a sleeping bag before the fill material starts to spew out is essential to preserving your bag, as not every repair service can refill a bag’s insulation. Zipper replacements and more extensive patching are among the most common sleeping bag repairs. Washing your sleeping bag regularly—according to manufacturer guidelines—can be an excellent way to prevent sticky grime buildup and the need for a zipper replacement. Proper washing also ensures that your bag stays warm: Since fill materials can compress over time, washing and drying can reinvigorate and add loft back to the bag. Like down jackets, Nikwax’s Down Wash Direct is a safe choice.

Nemo Equipment's Repair Services

We talked to Andrew Baxley, the warranty and repair manager at Nemo Equipment, to learn about the company’s repair services. Baxley told us that Nemo’s repair team can fix at least some part of all of its products. He listed some of the most common repairs he sees in the warehouse: “For sleeping pads, we repair holes in the fabric most of the time. We can do valve repairs as well. We repair mesh rips in our tents, fabric rips in our tents and sleeping bags, and furniture repairs.” The company also sends parts for users to do minor repairs: “We'll send out shock cords so that people can restring their tent poles if they start to stretch out. We'll send out segments of tent poles so they can replace just the segment rather than the whole pole.”

What Makes Gear Unrepairable?

Some gear just isn’t salvageable. Baxley has seen many repairs come in the doors of Nemo, and he explains that repairability comes down to whether the integrity of a product can be kept intact. For example, when a tear in a tent crosses multiple seams, it becomes much more challenging to fix because the integrity of the tent may be compromised by additional stitching. He says that products with welded seams—in which fabrics are fused together using heat, pressure, or adhesives rather than stitching—can be difficult to fix. Welded seams are commonly used in sleeping pads, rain jackets, and some backpacks. When ripped stitching is involved, though, “it’s almost a no-brainer that we can repair it.” Some relatively common issues that Nemo cannot repair include delamination of waterproof coatings on tents and reinserting down insulation into sleeping bags. That said, it’s still worth asking if a repair is possible for your damaged product before consigning it to the landfill.

Broken Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z trekking pole

Companies have different parameters for what they consider to be unrepairable. Some brands specify exactly what they will and will not repair—for example, Patagonia publishes a list of unrepairable items on its website, with products ranging from “socks and gloves” to “shorts liners/elastic waistbands” to “baselayers.” Patagonia specifies that it won’t repair delaminated items, pilled fleece, more than six holes or tears, threadbare items, or more than three broken zippers, among other things. Arc’teryx, on the other hand, assesses gear on a case-by-case basis and doesn't list specifics on its website beyond denying repairs on the basis of “age, condition, or nature of the damage.” When making major purchases, we recommend that you look at a company’s repair policy to see if your item can be repaired in the event of damage.

Brands With Standout Repair Services

Here’s a rundown of some of the best repair services in the outdoor industry. Remember that before sending a product in for repair you need to fill out a request on the brand’s website and clean it before shipping—most companies won’t repair your gear if it’s too dirty.

Nemo’s team can fulfill repairs on nearly all of its products. It offers a variety of complex repair options, ranging from re-paneling tents to sleeping bag valve replacements. While many companies offer repair options for softgoods, Nemo is one of a small number of companies providing comprehensive hardgoods repairs. The company repairs products at two U.S. repair facilities and two third-party facilities in Canada and Europe. If you prefer to make the repairs yourself, the brand will send you replacement parts and provide a variety of how-to tutorials to guide you through it. Non-warranty repairs typically cost between $30 and $150. You are responsible for paying shipping costs when sending your gear to Nemo.

Patagonia offers some of the most comprehensive repair services in the outdoor industry. (Even so, be sure to check its updated list of unrepairable items before requesting a repair.) Patagonia prioritizes the integrity of its garments over appearance when fulfilling repairs, so color matches are not always exact. The company charges $15 for round-trip shipping for all repairs, but Patagonia usually covers the repair service itself. It also sells repair kits and publishes repair videos and resources on its website for do-it-yourself fixes. If all you need to repair your gear is a Tenacious Tape patch, Patagonia will send you a patch kit for free via the customer service contact on its repair webpage.

Norrøna’s repair service offers a variety of fixes that we don’t commonly see, including replacing a backpack frame and changing elastic in a hood. Norrøna will also fix broken zippers, holes, and seams on most of its products. Additionally, it can change buttons, hook-and-loop patches, screws, shoulder straps, and elastic pieces on outerwear and backpacks. It lists a full repair menu and price list on its website, with repair costs ranging from $10 and $100, depending on complexity. Norrøna also uses spare parts and fabrics for most of its repairs to decrease waste. Finally, the brand offers to send replacement parts and provides do-it-yourself tutorials for at-home repairs.

Osprey offers free, comprehensive repairs for all its products under its All Mighty Guarantee. Osprey will fix anything that can be repaired, from torn fabric to busted buckles, no matter how old the product is. The brand focuses on functional repairs, so replaced webbing or buckles may be of a different color than the originals. Osprey offers both replacement parts for at-home repairs and comprehensive in-house repair services for more extensive damage. If it can’t repair your product, it will replace it. You are responsible for the cost of shipping your gear to Osprey, and it covers shipping costs on the way back.

For a more comprehensive list of repair services, check out Better Trail’s Repair Service Guide (coming soon!).

Why Repair Rather Than Replace?

Next, let’s address a glaring question. In a world where disposable products are the norm, why should you repair your gear rather than replace it? The U.S. generates around 13 million tons of clothing and footwear waste each year, constituting around 5% of municipal solid waste. According to Patagonia, consumers keep their outdoor clothing for an average of three years. Textiles are a major contributor to landfill waste, and outdoor gear is part of the problem. While repairing gear can’t reduce the emissions associated with making a product, extending a product’s usage can help decrease its emissions intensity over time. In addition to the environmental benefits of repair, keeping your gear in rotation can save you the money and hassle of finding a replacement for your gear.

Arcteryx ReCare repair services center in Boulder Colorado

Why Do Brands Offer Repair Services?

Nemo runs an extensive repair service; in 2023, it fixed over 900 pieces of gear (for a small company, that’s a lot) and sent out over 2,100 replacement parts. Some of those repairs were covered under warranty, while others were fulfilled for a small fee—usually between $30 and $150.

While reducing waste, water, and carbon emissions via repair services are important components of sustainability, why would a small company like Nemo be incentivized to do so? After all, fixing a product potentially means losing the sale of a new one, and repair services can be costly for a brand, with expenses ranging from paying a repair team to operating a facility. “I'd say there are definitely cases where it does cost more to do the repair than it does to replace it. And I'd say that there are times that it's the opposite,” Andrew Baxley told us.

Nemo doesn’t have statistics on the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and waste that comes from offering repair services. That said, Theresa McKenney, Nemo’s director of sustainability, explains that the brand avoids “carbon tunnel vision” in its sustainability initiatives. Nemo doesn’t want its products to end up in the landfill prematurely. “We're not just sending out a replacement for something that could be fixed with a little elbow grease,” she says. Nemo’s repair program also benefits its customers, who can buy products knowing their gear will be repaired when something breaks. For these reasons, Baxley states that repair and repairability are Nemo’s most important sustainability programs.

Warranty vs. Repair Services

Even for small failures, many warranty programs in the outdoor industry replace broken gear rather than repair it. A warranty guarantees that your product will be replaced or repaired if it breaks under a covered condition within a specific timeframe—but most often, replacement is easier, so companies send you a new product. Warranty conditions usually address manufacturer defects or quality issues and not the typical scenarios in which your gear might get damaged. A repair service, in contrast, will usually accept gear regardless of how it was damaged or when it was purchased. Thus, while some warranty programs feature repair service options, a warranty does not necessarily count as a repair service.

How Better Trail Defines Repair Services

When evaluating whether a brand has repair services that meet our criteria, we look for comprehensive programs that can perform both minor and major repairs on most products the brand makes. We also require that repairs be fulfilled at a dedicated service facility, either in-house or through a partnership with a legitimate repair provider. Many companies with comprehensive repair services also send out replacement parts for do-it-yourself fixes, like no-sew buckle replacements or patch kits. We appreciate it when brands do this but do not require it. Finally, the repair cost should be significantly less than buying a replacement product, and repair should be used as the first line of defense for damaged products.

Better Trail Sustainability Criteria repair services

If a type of product—say, ski helmets—cannot typically be repaired, we don’t use repair services as part of our sustainability criteria for that product category. Some companies are outliers and will fulfill repairs on these typically unrepairable items—Danner Boots, for example, offers rebuild and resole services, but we don’t evaluate shoes for their brand’s repair services because most manufacturers don’t offer them.

As you’ve probably gathered by now, gear repair is a large component in the outdoor industry’s push to become more sustainable. Check out our Repair Service Guide (coming soon) for a comprehensive look at what brands have to offer these days, and continue using your patched puffies, packs, and pads with pride.