Before I saw this, I thought that these were magic trousers that did not tear, and also did not burn in fire and did not sink in water;) But my eldest hung on the fence.....
1. For repairs you will need: “Moment” rubber glue (or other universal glue), scissors, any plastic bag, toothpicks
2. The main task is to bring the torn edges of the membrane fabric as close as possible to each other, but not overlapping. To do this, you need a layer of polyethylene, which we place BETWEEN the membrane and a thin fabric lining (in my case it remained intact). Accordingly, I essentially have two cuts, so I cut two strips from plastic bag much wider and slightly longer than the cut. First, we lay down one strip and, using a toothpick (or something thin), spread the polyethylene and the edges of the membrane with glue. We bring the edges together butt to butt. (quite labor-intensive, because the glue sticks to your fingers and dries quickly). We repeat the same operation with another incision. 
3. Glue the corner of the cuts together last. There are two difficulties in this operation: to have time to bring the edges of the fabric together before the glue begins to grab them tightly (if you don’t have time, take out a strip of polyethylene, cut out a new one and start all over again) and not to stain the pants with glue around the cut (then it doesn’t rub off well)
The result of the repair is this: 
PS: the strength was tested on the slide on the same day - beyond praise;)
PS2: They say that there are magic patches for the membrane and such patches and even repair kits are sold in magic stores “for hunters and fishermen.” However, I didn’t see it.
Membrane roofing is a modern and, perhaps, the most advanced solution for installing a soft roof. The combination of reliability, increased resistance to climatic and atmospheric influences, elasticity, and the ability to maintain quality characteristics within a wide temperature range puts this material among the most advanced and high-quality.
The use of polymer membranes in the device soft roofs is already a guarantee of the quality of the coating and its durability. Repair of membrane roofing subject to the right technology Laying the coating is required much less frequently than with other materials. Its maintenance-free service life ranges from 30 to 60 years.
The biggest advantage of such roofs is considered to be resistance to extreme temperatures, which allows the membrane to be used in a wide variety of conditions.
What types of membranes are there?
The roofing membrane is a film polymer material. It is quite difficult to name its exact composition, since the components may not be the same from different manufacturers. To obtain higher quality samples, it includes modified bitumen, fiberglass, various plasticizers, and more.
Today the market offers three ways to install such a roof:
– it is based on plasticized PVC, reinforced with polyester mesh for strength. Its plasticity is provided by volatile plasticizers, this is about 40% of the composition. by welding the sheets with hot air into a single sheet. The work is performed using special equipment. It is resistant to UV radiation and fire. However, bright colors fade somewhat over time, and the material is not resistant to oils, bituminous materials and solvents. Another negative factor is the release of volatile compounds into the atmosphere by the fabric.
TPO
– the base is made up of thermoplastic olefins, which are reinforced with either glass fiber or polyester (unreinforced products are also available). Due to the absence of volatile plasticizers in the composition, it is not so elastic, which makes installation difficult. It, as in the case of polyvinyl chloride, is performed by welding the sheets with hot air. The service life of the resulting coating reaches 60 years; it is highly durable and reliable even at low temperatures. Installation can also be carried out in winter.
EPDM – the synthetic rubber underlying it is reinforced with polyester mesh for strength. The product is characterized by the highest elasticity and relatively low price. mainly on glue, and although it provides sufficient strength to the connection of the EPDM coating, the joining seams nevertheless remain “problematic” from the point of view of water leakage.
Advantages of membrane coatings
- Durability. The service life is about 60 years.
- High installation speed, since the coating is laid in one layer - work productivity is approximately 600 m 2 /shift.
- The ability to choose the width of the rolls allows you to cover roofs of various configurations, with the least number of joints.
- High-quality and uniform seam, which is ensured by hot air welding.
- High elasticity, frost resistance, UV resistance, operational and chemical resistance.
- High fire safety class - up to G-1.
- Exceptional lightness of the coating, which does not additionally overload the supporting structures.
- The technical characteristics of polymer membranes make it possible to install them all year round without changing technology.
With so many advantages, the only inconvenience of membrane coating is its price. They cost one and a half to two times more than their competitors.
Roofing methods
Depending on the roof structure, installation is performed in one of three ways.
Mechanical
– used for roofs with a large angle of inclination. Fastening is carried out using special fasteners, and the joints are hermetically sealed with special equipment.
Ballast– suitable for roofs with a slope of less than 10⁰. Ballast can be, say, crushed stone.
Adhesive– used for roofs of buildings located in areas of high wind loads. The canvas is simply glued to the plane.
How to repair a membrane coating
Although over the entire service life the membrane shrinks within 0.5%, however, this may be enough to cause stress and depressurization in seam joints. The coating can be significantly damaged when performing various types of work, installing additional equipment on the roof, or carelessly clearing the roof of snow and ice.
To repair seams or repair minor damage, it is, of course, not economically feasible to rent special equipment. Moreover, old membranes partially lose their elasticity, so they weld much worse. Cost increases welding work by 20-25%.
The ideal solution for such cases is modern EternaBond repair technologies, which involve a strong connection of homogeneous membranes. This technology is based on chemical stimulation of adhesion, which ensures solidity adhesive connection, that is, not only tightness, but also exceptional strength of the seam. Externally, it is a rolled tape, on which an adhesive layer is applied on one side - it enters into an active reaction with the structure of the membrane.
The restored fragment can serve at any temperature for up to 30 years.
Fabrics without membranes - insulated jackets and vests.
Optimal damage repair small size(tears, burns, etc.) - sew some kind of chevron over the damage.
It is possible to attach a patch made from the original fabric from the repair kit. The patch can be glued on top, matching the rip-stop lines of the fabric of the product and the patch, using a transparent polyurethane glue(for example, Moment Crystal), but this is not the most reliable option, you need to remember this, and it’s quite difficult to do it accurately.
Membrane-coated fabrics or laminates - insulated jackets, pants and vests.
Possible options:
- from the piece of outer fabric included with the jacket, you need to cut out a small patch and glue it with transparent polyurethane glue (for example, Moment Crystal) from the inside, probably for this you will have to slightly enlarge the original hole so that you can insert the patch inside. Accordingly, the patch needs to be cut taking into account the increase in the size of the hole. It is permissible to glue the patch from the outside; to do this, it is necessary to round the corners of the patch, align the rip-stop lines of the fabric of the product and the patch when gluing, and ensure uniform gluing along the contour to reduce the likelihood of the edges of the patch falling behind;
- in sewing accessories stores they sell decorative “chevrons” with back side adhesive composition, they are glued with an iron. Glue the chevron, respectively, from the outside over the gap;
- there (in sewing accessories stores) you can find a film - reflective or regular, also with an adhesive composition applied, it can be glued both from the inside and outside;
- self-adhesive patches (for example, McNett Tenacious Precut Patches, or Gore-Tex fabric repair kit and the like). As a rule, they work well, but you will have to contrive to seal the tear from the inside, since the fabric of the product and the patch will almost certainly have a different texture.
Softshells with inner fleece layer.
If you seal the damage from the inside, due to the inner fleece layer, the area of the glued patch will be too hard; on the outside, the appearance of the product will change, since the original fabric cannot be used for the patch due to its large thickness. Acceptable from the point of view of maintaining a relatively presentable appearance It may be an option to sew or glue a chevron over the damage.
Membrane fabrics for storm jackets and pants.
Cut out small, neat patches with rounded corners from the included scrap and stick to the damaged areas with transparent polyurethane glue (Moment Crystal, for example). You can try to match the direction of the ripstop cells if there is one on the fabric. Ensure uniform gluing along the contour to reduce the likelihood of the edges of the patch coming off. For more reliable gluing, we recommend holding the patch in a clamp between two boards (or, if in the area of the patches there are not just fabric, but seams, zippers, etc., it’s worth adding plates of something like porous rubber). The harder you clamp, the better... however, this is written in the instructions on the glue tube.
Technological details of sewing a jacket!
I needed a jacket for a hike. Light, because it's summer. Rainproof, because, again, it’s summer! And well thought out, of course - you can’t go without ventilation!
The jacket had a prototype (there is no photo in its entirety, but basically everything was made in the same image and likeness) - all the measurements were taken from the finished jacket and it looked like it was sewn... Without this, I would not have been able to do anything!
However, I had to come up with some things myself. On the original jacket there was no ventilation on the back - and zippers under the armpits alone were clearly not enough... + there was only one tie on the hood - which is at the back of the head - and this will also not be enough :)
Reflective elements have been added - the original did not have them at all, but they are actually needed, and much more than the wildly bright colors (and they are also here for a reason)
About the fabric - it is a membrane. I thought for a long time whether I really need a membrane or not? Ideally, it should “breathe” - release hot air from the inside... But in fact, as I was told, only a very expensive membrane really breathes (that is, so that it is noticeable), and at a temperature no higher than 10 -15 degrees. Otherwise, the air inside is not much warmer than the air outside, and the mechanism does not work. Physics... And when it’s warm outside, the membrane (sort of) doesn’t breathe! It turns out like a plastic raincoat - it won’t let water in, but you’ll get sweaty in it!...
Yes, and you need to handle the membrane more carefully - you can’t iron it (more precisely, you can, but with an almost cold iron, so you can’t see the result :)), you can’t warm yourself by the fire (otherwise the entire inner layer will straighten out, and goodbye, miracle properties!) , you can’t wash it with powder (otherwise all the pores will become clogged, and see the previous point...).
Sewing a membrane is generally not difficult. I didn’t baste almost anything - I just pinned along the seam allowance. The only problem was the different quality of fabrics. The green one is very thin, similar to oilcloth. The blue one is a little thicker, and still has the texture of the fabric. The green one stretches more - as a result, there are waves here and there, sometimes even small tucks...
I only had to baste the hood - there are very curved parts there, and I couldn’t get by with pins)
One more technical point -about gluing the seams of the membrane!
If you read on the Internet, then everywhere they write that it is necessary to glue! And under no circumstances should you buy membrane clothing in which not all seams are taped.
And at the store, the consultant told me that it’s more a matter of taste :) You’re not sewing a wetsuit! And water is unlikely to seep into the seams - it still instantly rolls off the surface...
However, I decided to make everything branded, I bought many meters of this tape, but ended up gluing very little))) It turned out to be not so easy... The factory probably has a special machine for gluing, but at home you have to do it it's an iron! Hot iron! Which you only need to walk over the tape itself (through a layer of paper, of course) and under no circumstances touch the areas of the membrane that do not fall under the tape - otherwise the membrane film will melt and stick to the paper through which you are ironing, or to the iron itself, if you touch it accidentally :(
I had to place wooden blocks under the seam so that the iron could only touch the right places. And for the tape to stick, you need to press hard enough and hold it long enough - the bars kept trying to jump out))
In general, I didn’t torture myself further) I only taped the shoulder seams and some on the sleeves - and nothing, the jacket withstood all the rain!
Yes, the fabric itself is not at all difficult to sew and is even pleasant :)
The membrane still has too many limitations to be a definitively “correct” fabric for hiking clothing. The mere fact that you can’t warm yourself in it close to a fire makes me sad... And later it turned out that it absorbs odors (of the same fire) quite well))) Although somewhere in the store they assured me that the membrane does not absorb odors in general, or in as a last resort in a couple of days it is completely ventilated - not true! Miracles don't happen :) I had to wash it
In general, it is best to use this fabric in autumn and winter clothes (ideal for skiers, snowboarders, climbers and winter hikers) with an appropriate set of underwear - thermal underwear + fleece - and then we have a chance to experience all the declared miracle properties :)
And for the summer it’s not so much a “jacket” as a “raincoat/windbreaker” - the water and wind resistance here is almost 100%!
