Lotsafreshair

You’ve heard of office elves (like Santa’s but better) but have you ever heard of repair elves? Here’s the email I received from the fab team at Remote Equipment Repairs today after sending them my 20yr old Mont Spindrift (cosy -15c 🔥 ) for a zipper repair:

“Got your sleeping bag out yesterday, I decided to wait until this morning to assess it, and you’ll never guess what I found this morning. I left Erica alone in just a T-shirt, well it got pretty cold last night and when I came in at 7, she had found your bag overnight, fixed the zip, and curled up inside for a snooze. So sorry about that! But be assured, she is clean and never sweats 😂, she is just really missing the summer sun and the beach.”

Oh Erica! Thanks so much for your excellent zipper work. You’ve saved the day and my chilly Blue Mts nights. You’re amazing!! Please thank Ray and the whole team too… they should really provide you with more PPC for those chilly nights though 🤪.

Do your hiking clothes hold memories? Mine do — rock scrambles, scrub slides, thorny branches, and the occasional tear that came with the sound effects to match.

Rather than binning gear at the first hole, it's often an easy fix. I patched up a pair of pants recently using a zigzag stitch and a scrap of matching fabric — no fancy machine required, no sewing prize on offer, just something that does the job and keeps a well-loved piece of gear going.

If you've got a torn jacket or pants languishing in the "too hard" pile, I've laid out the full step-by-step.

👉 Full guide (link in comments)