Bladder Leak
- Thread starter Irafly
- Start date
Divad
Whitefish
So is the nylon sewn around the bladder? And do you know where the leak is?
If you do not know where the leak is I would first check the valve with some soapy water in a spray bottle. Then if that's not it I would inflate and listen to find it. Mark the spot, deflate the boat and pinch the nylon away from the bladder in that area. Cut a small hole and work from there to fix the bladder w/ TearAid and HH66 or HH66 and a couple layers of the see-through shower curtains. Either way if I do tearaid I usually go back over the area with HH66 ontop to add strength and sometimes another patch over the top. Rough up the surface a little before and clean it well with iso. Then glue a patch of whatever extra nylon you have around to patch the access hole you made.
I owned one of those Wilderness Lite tubes once and sold it because I was not a fan of the bladder-less design. 5 extra lbs is worth it in my eyes for a tube with bladders to have something that is repairable trail side, especially for a float you are going to bushwack in to high lakes. Wilderness Lite doesn't sell a patch or recommend trying.
If you do not know where the leak is I would first check the valve with some soapy water in a spray bottle. Then if that's not it I would inflate and listen to find it. Mark the spot, deflate the boat and pinch the nylon away from the bladder in that area. Cut a small hole and work from there to fix the bladder w/ TearAid and HH66 or HH66 and a couple layers of the see-through shower curtains. Either way if I do tearaid I usually go back over the area with HH66 ontop to add strength and sometimes another patch over the top. Rough up the surface a little before and clean it well with iso. Then glue a patch of whatever extra nylon you have around to patch the access hole you made.
I owned one of those Wilderness Lite tubes once and sold it because I was not a fan of the bladder-less design. 5 extra lbs is worth it in my eyes for a tube with bladders to have something that is repairable trail side, especially for a float you are going to bushwack in to high lakes. Wilderness Lite doesn't sell a patch or recommend trying.
After dealing with a couple leaks in a bladder on pontoon boats , want nothing to do with anything but bladder-less. Although we are talking somewhat a bit different . Happened to help a friend patch a bladder-less . A bit of aquaseal , and a little accelerant , sets up quickly , back in business . Plus so much easier to find a leak than pulling a bladder , and then getting the air valve aligned up with the outer shell .
I have an older X-Stream that I haven’t used in years. I may be a solution your problem.
<insert bladder leak joke here>
I thought that when I saw the title.
That really Depends.
I'm not sure that's entirely accurate.
My old Outcast Trinity was bladderless and weighed 7lbs. I am an early WL customer. My WLBP weighs 3.5lbs and definitely has a bladder that I've removed to send the outer cover back to WL for updates twice. WL sells replacement bladders that fit old Wood River Gliderider tubes too; but their nylon outer covers would be suspect now. I've spoken to Phil @ WL (has an account on PNWFF) and they do state on their website that they don't recommend repairs but that likely has more to do with liability. The old Wood River website said liability made them go OOB.
I think the WL bladders are a PU that can be temporarily patched with Tear Aid Type A and PU adhesive, but I would not use a bladder that light repaired in the field on future trips if replacements are available.
Honestly, I'd kind of like a bladderless float tube (tried to get one from Shig Speed before he passed away) but I think they start to get heavy with any real degree of abrasion and puncture resistance.
I never bushwhack, or even hike established trails into high lakes with an inflated WL. In fact I think it was wise to not have D ring attachment points and handles on the outer cover that discourages carrying it very far while inflated. The pump only weighs a few ounces, I can get the deflated tube in an 11 liter stuff sack, and the entire kit fits with everything else I need for a hike in and lashed to a *24 liter-1500 cu in* backpack. On the downside, I do not always use it to fish lakes in the IHW where there are so many lakes so close together because of the time it takes to deflate the tube and pack it back up.
*corrected
Last edited:
Divad
Whitefish
Might have been a different brand for all I remember. Did they make two offerings at once? I bought it like new from a fly club in Montana but it definitely didn’t have a bladder.
I never hiked it inflated though still managed to puncture it in northern Idaho. Couldn’t patch it for shit trailside, which is why I now admittedly despise bladderless for bushwhacking and in general. Seems like a waste of material to have an entire tube be thrown out because a pricked chamber can’t be patched.
I have two smaller float tubes, one with a patch from tear aid + hh66 and it’s been beaten on for a couple years w/o issue. Granted I do always have a square of tearaid just incase.
My 7lb Outcast Trinity and Shig's 3lb custom tubes were welded PU coated nylon. I'm not sure how permanent field repairs would have been but the Trinity came with a repair kit and I do trust Outcast. But it's packed size was too large and it was too heavy. Scadden's 5lb(?)"Air Craft" tube that I don't see on his website now was a light gauge PU raft material but Scadden is so inconsistent on Customer Service and Support that it was a non-starter for me. There may be others that I don't know about or have forgotten about after getting the WL.
