This page is always under development. As of July 2009, I have nine repair shops listed below .....

Do you own a treasured old sleeping bag, tent, parka or pack that needs a broken zipper fixed, a tear mended, or just some overall refurbishing? .....Places that specialize in quality repairs of the outdoor gear we love are remarkably hard to find. One of the best is now closed (Mountain Mend in Boulder, CO).

1. Seattle's Rainy Pass Repair was recommended back in a 1996 article in Outside Magazine and is still very much in business. I have personally visited this business (early 2010)....Here's a quote from the 1996 article: "Outdoor specialists such as Boulder, Colorado's Mountain Mend(303-443-1925) and Seattle's Rainy Pass Repair (800-733-4340, www.rainypassrepair.com) fix tents, packs, sleeping bags, and outdoor clothing at a surprisingly reasonable cost. Patching a tear runs about $15; replacing a zipper, $30. And for $8 an ounce they'll supplement matted loft with fresh goose down." (My note: these were 1996 prices, and higher now)..." Of interest is that Rainy Pass actually has a "down room" for down repairs that is very similar to the set-up that Roy and Alice Holubar used back in the 1950s to fill their marvelous sleeping bags--Rainy Pass uses a specially modified old Kirby vacuum cleaner running in reverse to blow the new down into its place in a garment or sleeping bag!

2. from John Rutkowski (Formerly a Holubar employee, 1976 onward....John says, "FYI, I am the founder of Mountain Mend. I started it back in ''79 and sold the business in '83 to Kevin Furnary. It has gone through many hands since then. I don't think it's still in existence. The web site is no more." Update: a recent confirmed email tells us that there is now a "Boulder Mountain Repair" in Boulder, run by "Ron," and welcoming old gear: Boulder Mountain Repair moved recently to Lafayette, CO (just east of Boulder).

Boulder Mountain Repair - new location
1224 Commerce Court
Lafayette, CO 80026
303.499.3634 (not ...3534) ....303-499-3534. They’re in the Table Mesa shopping center, near Neptune Mountaineering in south Boulder.

3. from Joe Erhlich,
I usually recommend Specialty Outdoors to my consumers.Contact person is Penny S. at 509-448-0346....
http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/

I hope that this helps.
Best regards,
Joe Ehrlich
Consumer Relations, Mountain Hardwear

4. Hi Bruce,
Here's the place to go in the Twin Cities. Thrifty Outfitters is located above Midwest Mountaineering http://www.midwestmtn.com/ in Minneapolis. Thrifty does good quality repairs at bargain prices. I've mostly used them to fix broken zippers on tents. Thrifty and Midwest are by far the best outfitters in this area. I think they got written up in Backpacker some time ago.

Best regards,
Alan Wenker.

5. The Wilderness Workshop--- a correspondent writes, "It's Bruce Gilman down in Southern California. Here is another shop that does quality gear repair:
Wilderness Workshop
6916 N. Figueroa Steet
Highland Park, California 90042
Telephone: (323) 256-0723
They've worked on my Camp 7 North Col sleeping bag, my Snow Lion
expedition parka, as well as my Seirra Designs 3-man tent (Pleasure
Dome), and their work is outstanding." ....More recently, a different correspondent reported this shop doing a fine job replacing the stiff, worn-out shoulder and hip belt padding in a classic Trailwise Model 72 pack.

.

I entitle the image to the left "Filthy Collar Syndrome." Here's an otherwise fine vintage Sierra Designs down parka, but the collar area is very heavily stained with what I like to call "neck oil." A shop like Rainy Pass Repair can deal with this issue for you. Or you can laboriously use a toothbrush and some "Shout" laundry spot remover and get most of it removed at home!

6. Bob Howe, tent designer suggests: "...Hi Bruce, first people should check to see if the company that made the gear is still in business. Most offered lifetime warranties and should honor them. Also, there is a pretty good repair shop called Narains in Berkeley, next door to REI. Of course there's always REI itself for many repairs." Narain's Outdoor Sewing & Fabric at www.campingrepair.com (Billy Singh).
1275 San Pablo Ave, Albany, CA 94706
(510) 527-2509

7. Especially for TENTS and POLES, reader David M. reports excellent experience with TentRepairServices.com, in Camden Maine for many years. These are the dedicated people who prior to 1994 actually were the tent repair department of Moss Tents!

8. John H. in Portland, Oregon reports that Fink's did a great zipper repairon his old Holubar Ultimate expedition bag, and also would have outright replaced the entire zipper if needed! 18 months later, he told me he is still very satisfied with the repair.
Fink's Luggage & Repair Co.
517 SW 12th Ave.
Portland, OR
503 222-6086

9. Finally, another long-established place near Portland, Oregon ought to be mentioned. For the full story, click here to go to my coverage of "Johann's," which originally was a mountain store started in 1964 by Mountain Guide Edward Johann, but which has always done quality repairs and modifications to outdoor gear.

Please Note: All Material on this page, and in all my "History of Gear" webpages, is copyrighted, and no usage of my material is permitted unless explicit permission is granted by me, Bruce B. Johnson, owner of OregonPhotos.com.