Hoping someone here might have knowledge about the best/most suitable thing to use to repair a seam in my slicker(polyvinyl chloride?) A portion of the(heat-sealed?)seam on the back of where one sleeve attaches to the torso of the slicker has pulled open. In one spot, the "plastic" did not give, meaning there is a small(about 1/4" at the widest point), triangular 'hole' in the slicker itself; otherwise, a 'woven' backing on one surface of the original seam is revealed. I have on hand: sport shoe repair, super glue(which says not to use it on polyethylene), and weatherstrip adhesive--would any of these be suitable for repair? If so, which, or which would be BEST?  If not, what WOULD be suitable?  The slicker is in the best of condition otherwise, so I don't want to toss it-but I don't want water trickling down my arm, either!! I am going on the Lincoln Country White Oaks-to-Lincoln ride this coming weekend, and if ANYTHING will finally get it to rain in NM, it is holding something like this ride!! So, I want my slicker to be in good working condition!!

  All tips will be appreciated!!

  Thanks,

  Margo

On a slightly different subject. how do you guys protect yoru slickers while on your saddle?

I saw some cow handlers up in the Utah mountains use an leg off an old pair of jeans.  They cut the leg off and stuffed the slicker inside the denim jean material. and then tied it on behind the cantle. That way when they rode through the willows and brambles it didn't hang up and tear the slicker. The denim material protected it.

I read an article in Western Horsemen (last year?) about how to fold a slicker and stow it behind your saddle. I have used this several times and it works ...well pretty slick!

Hard to describe with words, but you basically fold it lengthwise starting with the arms, fold over once from each side, then tuck the tail toward the middle, and fold over again lengthwise. It should be about the right length at this point...maybe a little bit long. Tuck in the collar loosely (maybe with a little tab of it sticking out) . Then roll-fold the last bit along the long axis. Orient the "collar" end toward you best side (right?). You grab the little tab of collar and shake it out with one hand and put it on without getting off.

This works pretty good if you have a good solid horse or mule and want to keep moving. If that slicker is stuffed into a small bag, you're leading a string of mules, and you are riding a narrow mountain trail with no place to fuss around it can be very handy.

Well Margo - I hope you got your slicker repaired and that you didn't need it on your ride.

When i am repairing anything like that, I always use some type of "fabric" on both sides of the repair. Then glue between the pieces of material.

As someone else pointed out, duct tape now comes in a wide variety of colors, so after putting 2 pieces of material together, applying duct tape over it would reinforce the glue. 

Another tip for repairing. always round the corners of the "patch". This prevents it from catching on other things and pulling up.

Stowing a poncho/ jacket behind the cantle. Using a blue jean leg that you've sprayed with waterproofing is an inexpensve solution. I buy extra stirrup hobbles whenever I find them on sale and then punch holes in the entire length of the leather. The stirrup hobbles can then be run through D-rings on the saddle and buckled tightly around most anything. One on each side, behind the cantle works very well. Loosen one side and yank the poncho out of the "sleeve".

Update: what worked was a product called "Aquaseal", that I'd bought to repair a tear in some boot overshoes. I just applied it to both surfaces, then used a row of clothespins to keep pressure on it for 24 hours. Worked fine; it indeed rained-during the night at camp on Thurs., during the ride on Friday(luckily, only a light rain, but we wore our slickers for about 2 hours-and no leaks in mine!!), then a downpour 30 min. after we got into camp on Sat.-a sudden downdraft nearly took out the cook tent-AND blew over 2 of the 4 portapotties, onto their doors(thankfully, there wasn't anyone inside at the time-AND, they hadn't been used much yet!!!) Still had a great time-thanks for all the responses, too!

  Anyone here been on any of the rides down in the Big Bend? Overheard the camp cook (Wally, from Hobbs, NM,of "Three Amigos"?)say that he'll be doing the cooking for a ride down there in Feb., I think-any experience with this ride? I would REALLY like to find another one or two within reasonable driving distance(if there will be any such thing, with what's happening with fuel prices-pretty hard on us fixed income folks....)Would love to hear your experiences/ opinions if you've been on a ride/rides in the Big Bend.....

Regards to all,

Margo