Time has come to reglue my Black Diamond climbing skins. I often use the tube glue from Colltex but it doesn’t seem to work well. Luc had his done by the shop where they used the Colltex roll (glue on greaseproof paper) but they did a gash job. However ironing glue on seems to be the best back. I thought about Luc’s problems and it seemed to me that they didn’t use enough heat and pressure. The idea must be to warm the glue to a liquid state and have it penetrate the surface of the skin (bit like waxing skis), in Luc’s case the glue had not been heated enough so peeled off the skin and I don’t think enough pressure had been applied.

It is a tricky job though, and messy. I had 68mm stripes for 80mm underfoot. I laid out the strip down one edge. You can’t cut the strips with scissors, you need a sharp craft knife so down the uncovered edge I stuck little bits of strip edgewise down the skin. I then set the iron on cotton (quite hot) and began ironing, when the backing paper wrinkled I peeled it off. I then reironed the whole skin with some backing paper applying pressure and heat. This melted the glue into a single layer and pressure seems to have made sure the glue had seeped into the backing material. I then stuck the skin to a mesh “cheat sheet”.

Anyone got any other thoughts?

This has been discussed several times on TelemarkTalk forum.
(although the name says “telemark” because historically that’s the equipment most American backcountry skiers used, I think somewhere around half of posters there now ski on Alpine Touring / Randonnee bindings. TelemarkTalk is to some extent a refuge for American backcountry skiers who don’t want to deal with the TGR style).

Here’s the
thread from two weeks ago
Note recommendation of Black Diamond glue renew strips.

longer thread a year ago

Ken

The split skins are excellent, I’ve just split a pair but left the tip and tail joined so hope this will make storage and regluing easier.  I used a heated paint scraper to remove glue but it is very messy.

I’ve used the BD glue renew strips after using a heated scraper to remove the old glue. I’ve tried other glues too. In the end the results have not been that long lasting, IMO it’s better to buy a new set of skins. I’m sure with practice better results can be achieved. I don’t have the patience though.