Death of the Equinox?

[John Kasaian]

I have a Jansport Equinox day pack which has admirably served to carry my 5x7 Speeder kit for what? Ten or so years? Maybe longer.
For fun I was going to try for an "Impressionistic" shot of a fine looking ketch rounding the light house at the end of a breakwater---a perfect job for a handheld Speed Graphic so I shouldered my Equinox and scrambled out onto the breakwater to what I though would be a good location and set the day pack down on a flat rock to remove the camera and a film holder when...the pack fell over.
It wasn't a "fall" that could cause any damage other than some sand (quite a bit of sand actually) somehow got inside the day pack.
So I took everything out, turned the pack upside down and shook as hard as I could. I got a small handful of sand out, but almost as much remained inside the bag, stuck to the (PU ?) coating lining the bag. I mean stuck---like sand paper!
I was hoping someone here knows how to remove sand imbedded into the lining of my day pack, as I cant figure it out. Whatever I do to wipe it out just seems to grind the sand deeper into the fabric!

[feppe]

Use a vacuum cleaner. Don't use the nozzle: use the tube only so that it gets stuck to the fabric. Pretty sure you'll get every last bit of sand out that way.

[John Kasaian]

Use a vacuum cleaner. Don't use the nozzle: use the tube only so that it gets stuck to the fabric. Pretty sure you'll get every last bit of sand out that way.
Thanks! That worked after going inch by inch over the entire insides with the hose and no attachments.
It is a very well designed pack apparently not made anymore.

[feppe]

Glad it worked!

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Polyurethane coatings give up the ghost due to UV exposure after some number of years, 10-15 years being usual. It then stinks like cat pee (hence the "PU"), gets tacky, finally sloughing off in patches and shreds that can stick to lenses. When it gets this bad (sounds like yours is close) I'd suggest first laundering it with strong detergent and then scrubbing off whatever coating remains with a stiff brush. Rinse, dry thoroughly and respray with Kenyon or Benjamin Moore Urethane varnish.

A pack has really got to be beloved and not otherwise worn out to go to all this bother. I've got a 25 year old Gregory Rock Creek pack that's gotten this treatment several times already, it's been a killer pack. Then there have times with others it would have been easier to get a new pack, especially with the smaller rucksacks where after a few years the strap attachments are weakening or the seams are on the verge of ripping out.

[John Kasaian]

Polyurethane coating give up the ghost due to UV exposure after some number of years. It then stinks like cat pee, and gets tacky, finally sloughing off. When it gets this bad (sounds like it's close) I'd suggest laundering it with strong detergent andjthen scrubbing off whatever coating remains with a stiff brush. Rinse, dry thoroughly and respray with Kenyon or Benjamin Moore Urethane varnish.
Actually there is a lifetime warranty from Jansport, but they don't catalog this one anymore so I don't know what they'd replace it with. When is starts to stink, I guess I'll find out.