Repair or Replace?

If you have another pair of ripped gloves cut a patch and sew it in over or under the tear using waxed heavy thread and a curved leather needle. I've got an old (1956) singer sewing machine that could sew that up in no time. I've got jeans with so many patches sure extents the life of them

 

That's the way our ancestors did ,, repair and use till it can't be repaired no more . They weren't as lucky as us to be able to just go out and buy another pair .

 

My parents were products of the depression my dad would fix everything if it was beyond fixing only then was a new one bought and old parts saved. I do the same. Have an electric barbecue grill heating element went out called the company did not sell replacement parts wanted to sell me a new grill with a discount still cost me 250 bucks. Found a heating element for some other brand and adapted it total cost 36 bucks.

 

Yup,mom was so good at that, she would cutout and sew the back on the front of another pair, she would take the good part of a leg (the back side) and match them up so when she was finished the fronts looked as new. Nothing wrong with being poor, so long as you're not trashy.

I still wonder why some folks need a new car every year, and purchase slashed up jeans?

 

The majority of people these days can hardly wipe their own butts on their own. I have friends that can't do anything something breaks they call a repair man for the most mundane things. when the SHITF these people will be in real trouble if the banking system collapses. Learned how to use a sewing machine from my mom learned wood working, how to wire a house, fix a car, basic construction etc from my dad.

 

I have repaired old jeans with hand sewn patches from saved old denim jeans material. The crotch area seems to rip more easily because old jeans fit tighter nowadays. So wherever they rip, a strategically placed patch provides more wiggle room as well as protects any exposed private areas from the cold breeze. My patch repairs give new life to old jeans. I use those patched up jeans only for yard, land clearing, and vehicle maintenance work. Whenever we are expecting visitors, the Mrs. makes sure I'm not wearing the crotch patched jeans. Something about not wanting to be embarrassed. Heck, everything's covered.....

 

Yea get the same thing from the wife

 

I toss my worn out ones in the toolbox on the utility trailer.
These become loaners to the chronic unprepared.

 

I repaired a shoe for my great grandson and a pair of leather gloves for my brother with a stitching awl and waxed artificial sinew.

 

I second the suggestion, duct tape! I go through gloves at an alarming rate during my land clearing and wood cutting/spitting ventures. You cannot purchase a decent set of gloves anymore that hold up but I can make gloves last 3X longer by using duct tape.

 

leather gloves have a progression.
First use is for firewood processing. Once the splinters make it through, then they become repaired with duct tape and then used for picking up big things like rocks and moving farm animals, then once really trashed, digging in the dirt in the garden, at about that point they are pretty much gone.

 

I have an old pair of steel-toed Wolverine work boots I used back in my Oil Patch days of the 1980s. The Wolverine boot of that era had a very comfortable insole. I had the boot exterior soles replaced due to wear in the late 1990s. The boots were basically retired from 9 years of daily wear after leaving the Oil Patch with the beginning of the 90s, but they were still quite handy as broken-in pull-on work boots that provided good protection for the feet when lifting and moving heavy things.

That second set of soles are now about worn smooth, but the main body of leather uppers are still reasonable despite the cuts and scuffs one gets on them over the years. I took good care of the boot tops with saddle soap and Kiwi Mink Oil every 8 months or so. Sadly, the sole on one of boots finally separated at the toe nearly half off.

I took the pair to a local boot maker who advised me that there was just not enough good leather remaining at the critical points where new stitching and new soles would come together. He also said no amount of shoe glue would solve the situation. Well, those original insoles are still very comfortable. So.....

Like a lot of earlier posters have already mentioned, the time for a duct tape wrap around the front toe of that boot secured the sole to the boot upper well enough for me to continue using that comfortable pair of old boots. Those boots are now 42 years old. The tread is a bit slicker with 1/2 of one boot wrapped in duct taped. I don't use them for much of anything except as quick slip-on foot protectors for random things in the back yard. They aren't the heavy duty workers that they were way back then, but then neither am I.

 

That kind of leather does not stand up to real work very well , I go through them like water and get new ones because they're so cheap.

 

Liquid Tape is my best friend for so many repairs of things...... Holy Gloves being one of them

 

Don't get new gloves on a Friday.

 

And what would the old wife's tale be?

 

I always keep several pair around, new as well used. Good gloves can be had for as low as 12.95 from sportsmansguide. Most are true surplus and come in a size I wear of XL-XXL and will out last 4 cheapies. Being Mil Spec all stress points are reinforced and knuckles are armored.

 

Your post in my Christmas thread got me thinking and I even googled the gloves you posted. They looked real nice then I looked at mine and thought something needs to be done. Thanks for inspiring me to get some gloves that work. I bought some new ones, not like the old ones but they will do for now.

 

I bought mine on Monday because it snowed yesterday. Glad I didn't jinx myself.

These probably won't hold up but they sure are cozy soft. I will be trying my repair/leather-work skills on repairing the old ones.

 

@Motomom34
If you PM me your Size and where to send them ,
Sloth