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> You don’t buy your jeans and jackets by looking for their letters on that pull. Likewise, you almost certainly wouldn’t nix a garment purchase because the zip
by nindalf 4y ago
> You don’t buy your jeans and jackets by looking for their letters on that pull. Likewise, you almost certainly wouldn’t nix a garment purchase because the zipper isn’t YKK.
This is partially true. YKK has tremendous brand loyalty among people buying expensive backpacks. If you’re spending $100 or more, it gives you a lot of peace of mind to know that the zipper won’t fail.
I ended up buying one last month. One of the reasons was that it promised YKK AquaGuard zippers for the laptop compartment.
- pastrami_panda 4y agoDo note that a decent waterproof rain flap is probably more important if you need actual waterproofing for persistent rain. Since AquaGuard isn't waterproof, it's water resistant, just like all zippers I've seen in the wild.
- nindalf 4y agoYou’re right. This isn’t going to last hours in a monsoon. But then again, neither would I. The water resistance means I can walk towards shelter instead of sprinting towards it.
- rckoepke 4y agoCheck out TIZIP SuperSeal zipper -- it was used on some "dry suits" I wear for offshore sailboat racing in cold-water environments and is truly water-proof. It's advertised to be water-proof up to 700 millibar of pressure differential, which is equivalent to 23 feet of water depth. This zipper does require maintenance in the form of regular lubrication using, for example, a food-grade silicone grease/lubricant like the ones used for slushie/daiquiri machines. I've looked into getting it worked into bags from Montrose Rope and Sail in Scotland when I worked in offshore industrial environments, but they don't have the equipment to do the "vinyl welding" necessary so you'd have to buy the bag without zippers and then find someone else who could do that welding.
- ABeeSea 4y agoThere is nothing that will make you appreciate the quality of a zipper more than having the zipper on your luggage break while in the airport. And that is the day that I learned the Miami airport has a service that will basically use industrial strength cling wrap to seal your luggage.
- kohlerm 4y agoOr the zippers slider breaking into 2 parts on your relatively expensive Ski Jacket in a remote location at the beginning of the vacation. Happened to me, luckily I had a (cheap) fleece jacket with me with the same zipper size and I was able to fix it.
- amenghra 4y agoNot a broken zipper but a good trick to know for fixing a broken backpack buckle using two carabiners: https://youtu.be/iIilqYI1JNY https://youtu.be/iIilqYI1JNY
- snowwrestler 4y agoThose aren’t carabiners, they are small quick links and it’s very unlikely anyone is going to be randomly carrying those in the backcountry. The simplest solution to a broken backpack buckle is another buckle. If you’re going to carry something, carry those. They’re light and cheap and should be part of the repair kit for backcountry travel. You can also simply thread the strap through the webbing loop and tie it off. Hard to get the length exactly right but works in a pinch.
- gumby 4y agoA lot of airports have them when they have flights to destinations where luggage is frequently broken into.
- gaza3g 4y agoname and shame?
- fmajid 4y agoNon-YKK zippers are a canary: what other corners have been cut? Unless they’re RiRi, of course.
- hackernewds 4y agoWhat is a riri?
- nindalf 4y agoA brand of zippers - https://www.riri.com/products/riri/ https://www.riri.com/products/riri/
- schoen 4y agoWow, I think that's the most beautiful photo of a zipper I've ever seen!
- ZephyrBlu 4y agoThey're also really nice to use!
- ThePadawan 4y agoIt's so beautiful, it makes me think it might be a render - after I learned how many "photos" in IKEA's catalogues are actually just using physically-based rendering extremely well, and not being to tell at all, that thought keeps popping up.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- rosnd 4y ago> Unless they’re RiRi, of course. Or Lampo, or Raccagni.
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago
- hammock 4y agoYes. I check the zipper brand. I also look for molded plastic zippers (vislon) as opposed to coil zips because they are way more durable
- dotancohen 4y agoThank you! My current everyday pouch has coil zips because I simply could not find a pouch with the other qualities that I'm looking for, that had an actual solid zipper. And I've had so many of these coil loop zippers fail over the years that I actually considered replacing the zippers before even using the pouch daily. Surely I'm not the only person so pedantic about the quality of their equipment.
- meristem 4y agoDepending on the failure you can get kits to fix it.
- dotancohen 4y agoI've sewn in new zippers in the past. My last one was such a great pouch, I've actually saved it and might replace the zipper after my current pouch is worn through. We'll see in a few years!
- 0x38B 4y agoI like Vislon as well, but each has its strengths: > That said, Nylon Coil zippers are “self-healing,” meaning when the zipper accidently opens or closes incorrectly and skips a tooth, these misalignments are easily correctable by merely zipping the slider over the problematic area. On the contrary, misalignments on a Molded zipper usually indicates or results in a damaged tooth, which oftentimes renders the entire zipper inoperable and requires a full zipper replacement. (1) Like HDD vs. SSD failure, the latter can be sudden. 1: https://perfectex.com/molded-plastic-vs-nylon-coil-zippers/ https://perfectex.com/molded-plastic-vs-nylon-coil-zippers/
- bobsmooth 4y agoBy chance was it the LTT backpack?
- nindalf 4y agoIt was Aer.
- throwaway0a5e 4y agoIf you're spending $100 on a backpack you can afford the extra $3 that's baked into the price for a nice zipper. Peace of mind is a luxury good. People in the bottom of the market for any given class of product don't want to pay for it.
- JadeNB 4y ago> If you're spending $100 on a backpack you can afford the extra $3 that's baked into the price for a nice zipper. Either $100 for a nice backpack is conservative, or I'm way overpaying for backpacks.
- dwringer 4y agoI'll go so far as to say that lots of people do check the zipper when buying any clothes with a zipper, and usually put it back if it isn't YKK. I picked up this habit decades ago shopping with my mom and great aunt, but they acted like it was common knowledge. In years since I've met others who do the same. In my experience, most zippers that don't say YKK will break within a couple of years - backpacks or not.
- Bad_CRC 4y agoYou made me check my backpack's zippers... YKK.. everything is ok.
- tssva 4y agoMy daughter is an equestrian and the quality makers of riding boots, half chaps, etc. all mention their use of YKK zippers in their product descriptions.