We’ve written a couple of posts about taking care of your camping and hiking gear (here, here and here). Today I thought I would talk about a fairly common part of gear and clothing that can cause issue. Drawstrings can be found on clothing, packs, stuff sacks and sleeping bags. It’s easy to have a drawstring pull out of the casing if you aren’t careful.
An ounce of prevention
An important tip is to check the ends of the cords regularly to be sure that the ends haven’t come untied. Most cords have knots tied in the end or a cord lock to prevent the cord from being pulled out. A cord lock allows you to hold a cord in a position without having to tie a knot. Below are some examples of cord locks.
Another example of a cord lock is seen it this image. This one has a small loop that is used to secure the cord lock to the article (in this case a jacket) so that it can’t be lost even if the cord comes out. You can see the small loop of webbing holding it place. There is also a small tab on the cord that makes it easier to grab if you are wearing gloves.
Oops! The drawstring came out!
So what do you do if the cord does come out? Putting it back in can be challenging. It you are at home, there are some tools that can make it easier. A bodkin is pair of tweezers with a small ring that helps secure the cord or elastic while you are threading it through the casing. There are simple plastic threaders (like the yellow one) that work well for either cord or elastic. You can purchase a set of assorted threaders. They even make ones about 20 to 24 inches long, but I don’t own one of those.
Now if you are out camping or traveling, you may not have something like that with you, but there are are a couple of common items that can make it easier to fix. Safety pins and straws can both be used to help thread the cord back into the casing. Both are used to provide something you can hold onto as you thread the drawstrings or elastic back through the casing.
Leave a Reply