Repairing Buckles and Cord-Locks on Gear

The hardware on gear and packs

Packs, jackets and outdoor gear carry a whole family of closures that can fail on their own – often without anything else being wrong with the garment or pack. Plastic is the most common weak point: it goes brittle from cold and UV, so a buckle that survived the summers tends to crack when you click it shut on a cold autumn day. The usual parts are:

• Side-release buckles: the two-part buckles on shoulder, chest and hip straps that click together.
• Ladder-locks and strap adjusters: which tighten and loosen the webbing itself.
• Cord-locks (toggles): the spring button that holds a cord in place on a hood, hem or cuff.
• Cord tips and ends: which stop the cord fraying and make it easy to thread.
• D-rings and hooks: smaller attachment and clip points.

Most of it swaps without sewing

The good thing about this hardware is that much of it can be changed without touching the garment's stitching – if the webbing has an open end, or the buckle is a type that threads on. There are two main kinds of side-release buckle:

• Closed type: the webbing is sewn into a closed loop through the buckle. Then a bar-tack has to be unpicked, or an openable buckle is used instead.
• Openable 'repair' buckle: made precisely so it can thread onto a sewn loop without unpicking anything – often the simplest route to a lasting fix.

Replace a cord-lock (toggle)

A cord-lock is nearly always easy to change, because it threads onto the cord without sewing:

1. Squeeze the spring on the old cord-lock and pull the cord out.
2. If the cord end is frayed, cut it square and seal it – gently melt the end on synthetic cord, or fit a new cord tip – so it threads easily.
3. Thread the cord through a new cord-lock in the right size for the cord diameter.
4. Tie a stopper knot in the end so the cord-lock cannot slip off.

Replace a buckle

A snapped side-release buckle is replaced with a new one in the same width as the webbing – too narrow or too wide will not hold. If you have an openable buckle, you avoid sewing:

1. Measure the width of the webbing (for example 20, 25 or 38 mm) and find a buckle that fits exactly.
2. If the buckle is sewn in, carefully unpick the bar-tack and thread the old one off. Otherwise, use an openable buckle.
3. Thread the new buckle onto the webbing the same way round as the old one, so the adjustment still works.
4. Secure the webbing again with a solid bar-tack where it takes load, so it does not slip under strain.

Check your gear before the season

Hardware tends to fail just when you need it most – a cracked hip buckle on a loaded pack, or a cord-lock that will not hold your hood in wind and rain. Go over your gear before the autumn and winter season:

• Click every buckle shut and look for hairline cracks in the plastic, especially at the arms.
• Check that the cord-locks hold the cord when you pull on it.
• Look for frayed webbing and cord ends that are about to unravel.
• A field fix – a knot, a safety pin or a spare buckle – gets you home, but a lasting repair matches the right hardware and re-secures the webbing.

Have the hardware fixed by us

If the buckle is sewn into a closed loop, or you want the hardware matched and secured so it takes full load, you can send the garment or pack to us. We replace buckles, cord-locks and other fastenings and re-secure the webbing where needed. We work across Norway, you order online, and you see the price before you order.

Frequently asked questions