Premium Members Pascal Combes-Knoke Posted March 30, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 I tried to brace the crack using an 1/8" thick aluminum strip and "Guerilla Glue" epoxy resin but the glue did not bind to the aluminum nor the plastic vest very well at all. The brace actually worked great until it came off after two days of use. Any suggestions on an adhesive that would work well here, JB weld maybe?Should I instead find someone who can professionally repair this? Or maybe Tiffen has some sort of lifetime warranty? I appreciate the advice please let me know what you think! Thanks, Pascal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Carl Wiedemann Posted March 30, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Pascal, I have the same issue on both sides of my Flyer LE abdominal spar (can I call it a spar?). I've left the velcro bound in place as I believe it will keep the fissure from progressing and it will hold the spar together even if the crack some day reaches the other side. You may be able to get a replacement spar from Tiffen (I was able to replace the chest spar on a Pilot that developed an even more egregious fracture and sheared all the way through near the shouder). The conundrum is, if you replace the piece you may develop the the same problem again. I have a 32 inch waist and when I tightly cinch the vest it flexes the material beyond what it can handle without eventually developing fractures. My Flyer vest may not be cosmetically ideal, but there's no loss in function. It's unfortunate that the Flyer and Pilot don't use the same material material as the EFP for the same purpose. I've had an EFP vest for 15 years and there's not a sign of a fracture as the material is much more resilient. Your best bet may be to reapply adhesive velcro in the exposed region and see if the fracture progresses to the point where it's a nuisance However, now that the velcro isn't in one piece you've lost your secondary means of keeping the spar in one piece and functional if there's an eventual break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Robert Starling SOC Posted March 30, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Tiffen should be able to get this replaced for you. Whether it's warranty or not it's fairly irrelevant. I doubt you'll be able to stop that crack from spreading so just replace the waist band. Otherwise you risk it totally failing on a job and an injury or a lost day at work. I used to have the company name for the people who at the time did Tiffen's sewing in LA because I wanted custom work done but I can't find the number and I'm not even sure if they still have that stuff made here in the US anymore. Best of luck! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted March 30, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Is this the vest from the flyer that has the 24lb. load capacity "manufacturers defect"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Victor Lazaro Posted March 30, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Another manufacturer's defect from Tiffen on the small rigs? There are the pole clamps on the zephyr, now the Flyer vest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Robert Starling SOC Posted March 31, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 No product is perfect, just some are more perfected than others. It's all about how a manufacturer stands behind their products and their workmanship. Other than the G-50 debacle Tiffen has always been good with their product support. Stuff breaks, get it fixed and move on. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Pascal Combes-Knoke Posted May 4, 2013 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Is this the vest from the flyer that has the 24lb. load capacity "manufacturers defect"? yup, maybe that's why because I tend to max the capacity frequently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted May 5, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 If of interest to anyone here... http://www.charlespapert.net/gearsale/vests.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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