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| My Broken Brenthaven Backpack Zipper Tab |
Hardware:
- Brenthaven Pro 15/17 Backpack, ID# 2340
- Smooth large paperclip
- Heat shrink wrap
I carry my 17″ MacBook Pro around in a Brenthaven backpack that is designed to carry the 17″ Macbook and has a special compartment for it. Brenthaven makes very nice bags but they’ve seemed (along with everyone else) to make things cheaper lately. My first Brenthaven bag had all metal zippers. I was bummed when the zipper of the main compartment gave way when I was zipping it up the other day. It has a lifetime warranty and they are going to replace it but I saw it as an opportunity to try an idea I had to fix it since they asked me to donate the backpack to charity. Here’s the plan:
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| Zipper repair plan |
Step 1: Drill 2 small holes in the bottom end of the zipper (the end that wasn’t connected to the bag). By running the paperclip into these holes it will support the tab and keep it in place.
Important: I wouldn’t hold the zipper tab while you are drilling because you could easily come out the side and drill into your hand. I put the tab in my vice. I actually did have one hole begin to come out the side but it won’t matter because we are going to cover it with heat shrink tubing in the end.
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| Drill 2 holes in the end of the zipper tab |
Step 3: Shape a paperclip to fit in each of the 2 holes, along the sides of the zipper tab and then through the zipper of the bag. I would strongly suggest using a smooth paperclip versus one of those roughed up ones (meant to not slide off the paper so easily) so it doesn’t break when you are bending it—the scores in the paper clip are breaks waiting to happen.
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| Paperclip bent and in place |
Here’s it without the tab:
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| The shape of the paperclip |
Step 4: Cut a piece of heat shrink tubing, of the appropriate diameter, to length. Afterwards I kind of wished I had cut mine longer. Like the old saying goes, “I cut it twice and it was still too short.”
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| Heat shrink tubing in place |
Step 5: Protect the bag from the heat and shrink the tubing. I used an old leather glove to protect the nylon bag from the 500 degree heat of the heat gun.
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| Using an old leather glove to shield the bag from the heat |
The finished product:
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| Zipper tab repaired with a paperclip and heat-shrink tubing |
The final product has the very same feel as the original for the most part. Now you’ve extended the life of a very nice bag.
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Hi! My zipper pull on two of the zippers broke off so I contacted them to get replacement tabs. They sent me 6 (as the other tabs are beginning to bend as well). The problem is that I can not get the opening wide enough on the zipper mechanism to slide the new zipper pulls without bending and breaking the new tabs. Do you have any idea how to get the zipper pull in that small gap?
I would ask them what they suggest. Those zippers are made from cast metal so they tend not to bend much but break instead.
Nice solution, however these bags have a lifetime warranty – you could in the future reach them for a replacement pull. They will mail it to you free of charge.
Thank you George for the tip. I have actually replaced this bag a couple times under their lifetime warranty but what I’m finding is that you don’t get an identical replacement and it is true that they really don’t build them like they used to–the first bag I had was the best one. So I’ve opted to repair parts like this because I really like this generation of bag. Thanks again for taking time to leave a note.