Best tent repair kits to keep in your travel pack

Discovering a rip in your tent or a broken elastic is always a pain, but it can be particularly frustrating when you’re camping in the middle of nowhere. Happily, there are plenty of tent repair kits available to help you patch up problems while you’re on the move and solve the issue for good back at home.

We’ve rounded up a selection of effective tent repair kits, including tape, mesh patches and replacement pole elastic.

Best tent repair kits for camping

TEAR-AID repair kit

Tent repair tape is a versatile item, so it’s worth keeping in your travel bag as a quick yet effective solution to all kinds of rips and tears. At home, you can also use it to cover car seats and upholstery, as well as boat covers and punctures in inflatables.

To repair holes in the tent fabric, use scissors to cut the tape to size and stick it down. You don’t need to apply glue separately and the tape shouldn’t yellow over time, thanks to its UV protection.

As an added bonus, the tape is transparent, so it’ll blend into any tent fabric and shouldn’t draw attention to the repair.

Gear Aid Tenacious Tape mesh patches

Gear Aid’s Tenacious Tape is a trusted product and popular choice when it comes to tent repair kits. These are the brand’s mesh patches, ideal for mending tent windows, sunshades or areas of bug netting.

The patches will stick to all kinds of screens; just peel off the backing and stick it over the tear. They are also weather resistant, so they shouldn’t come away from the fabric in rain or high heat.

Inside the pack, you’ll find two circular mesh patches, both three inches in diameter. And as the entire set weighs just 23g, it’s well worth adding to your camping bag.

Dometic tent and awning repair kit

• Buy now from Winfields Outdoors (£10.00)

Tape is a speedy solution for tears when you’re in the middle of nowhere, but a full tent repair kit is even better if you have spare space in your pack. This set includes two sticky patches and adhesive tape, as well as two tubes of repair solution, an alcohol wipe and a mini spatula.

You can use this kit to repair holes in almost any materials, and the patches and tape should form a strong bond with the ripped fabric.

Gear Aid Tenacious Tape repair tape

This is Gear Aid’s Tenacious Tape, a staple in many campers’ tent repair kits. Thanks to the extra-strong adhesive backing, this tape sticks to all kinds of materials, including nylon, vinyl, rubber and plastic. It’s a versatile choice, and comes in handy for repairing items like rucksacks, sleeping bags and even hammocks.

As you’d expect, Tenacious Tape is completely waterproof; you can even wash repaired items after 24 hours.

Tent care kit

• Buy now from Regatta (£45.00)

This is a great kit to keep in the store cupboard at home for maintaining your camping gear. It comes with a pack of tear tape, as well as waterproofing spray, tent wash solution and a non-scratch sponge, so it’ll help keep your equipment in tip-top condition.

The items included in this set are suitable for use on all kinds of tents and are free from PFC.

McNett SeamGrip outdoor repair adhesive

A leaky tent can cause all sorts of problems when you’re camping, so having a tube of seam sealer in your bag is a good idea. This one repairs everything from camping equipment and rucksacks to footwear and neoprene items.

The tube comes with a compact brush for applying the sealant along the seams of your tent. Although the adhesive forms a strong bond, it should be flexible once dry, making it easy to fold the fabric when you need to pack up.

6m replacement elastic for tent hoops

• Buy now from Decathlon (£3.99)

The elastic inside tent poles doesn’t last forever, and you’ll need a replacement pack if yours has frayed or lost its elasticity.

This six-metre length of elastic is 2.5mm in diameter and suitable for both aluminium and fibreglass hoops. It’s made from rubber and arrives fixed to recycled cellulose packaging.

Self-adhesive repair patches

• Buy now from Decathlon (£4.99)

This set of adhesive patches is a useful item to keep at home for permanent tent repairs. It contains six separate tapes in three different sizes: two 13x13cm, two 10x6cm and two 6x4cm.

Like many of the best tent repair kits out there, this set of tapes works well with sleeping bags, backpacks and down jackets, as well as camping gear.

The adhesive remains flexible when in place and has good thermal stability, so it shouldn’t budge on warm days.

Coghlans nylon tent repair kit

Containing a no.4 needle and two spools of nylon thread, this tent repair kit gives you the option to sew up any tears in your camping gear. But you’ll also get two self-adhesive nylon patches, two mesh screen patches and seam seal for quick fixes.

You can even mend broken poles with the three spare ferrules and 45-inch shock cord included in the pack.

Plus, there’s a handy zip-lock bag for easy storage, so this set is a convenient option to keep in your home for permanent repair jobs.