Inside of pilot peeling

[saikyo]

the inside of my black ballistic Nylon pilot is starting to peel.

Not the area with the dyneema, but the area inside the large back zipper pocket that is just below the zipper and above the dyneema. It looks sort of brown and in some places it has peeled off and the nylon underneath is exposed. It looks ugly, but it's inside the bag so I'm the only one that sees it.

Anyone else experienced this?

[ceb]

I can't imagine what could be "peeling" but why don't you take a picture and send it to Tom Bihn customer service.

[garrily]

Sounds like delamination. I had it happen once on a rain jacket and the manufacturer replaced it for free (Marmot).

[saikyo]

Here are some photos.
https://harvey.smugmug.com/Tom-Bihn/i-HSnpJms/A

I sent them to customer support as well. Let's see what happens.

[tpnl]

Looks like the urethane waterproofing lining has delaminated as @garrily mentions.

Sorry to read you have this happening.

[adalangdon]

Here are some photos.
https://harvey.smugmug.com/Tom-Bihn/i-HSnpJms/A

Oh, dear. I'd meant to respond to this earlier; you're not alone. (It sounds like the same problem to me, anyway.) I haven't had problems with mine or any of the other ballistic fabrics, so it might be that you got a bag made from a not-so-great batch of fabric? I'd definitely contact CS to see if they can do about it. Good luck.

[saikyo]

I contacted customer support and they are going to totally hook me up.

I should have expected this level of customer support and contacted them earlier!

[saikyo]

This is so weird.

They sent me a replacement, and the same thing is happening to the replacement... Will contact them again.

[Muni_Jedi]

Is there something about the way you store or use the bag that may be causing or exacerbating the problem. It's odd that this would happen so quickly.

[jess]

This is happening to the inside of my Nordic Swift too. It's so sad I but guess it's just what happens over time.

[Muni_Jedi]

@jess You can send your Swift my way. I'll be sure to keep it comfortable and provide adequate hospice care for its remaining days.

[jess]

@jess You can send your Swift my way. I'll be sure to keep it comfortable and provide adequate hospice care for its remaining days.

Awwww you're so sweet to offer but I would never be so heartless to send away a devoted member of my bag family just because they were getting on in years. I love my mature bags as much as their new younger siblings <3

[Muni_Jedi]

Can't blame a brother for trying.

[Darcy]

(saikyo, we received your email -- thanks for that, and we've just responded!)

jess and Muni_Jedi are both on to something here --

Though we use the highest quality fabrics, finished to the highest standards in the industry, the clear urethane coating (the "waterproof" coating on the interior of the fabric) is often one of the shortest-lived of all components, in our bags as well as in those of other manufacturers. Occasional batches of fabric will have coating that becomes opaque or white over time. We've found this can be a result of the climate in which a bag is used and/or stored (particularly humidity), or to chemical reactions to certain soaps or cosmetics carried in a bag or used to clean it; or, sometimes it just happens. Generally, this clouding of the clear urethane coating is purely cosmetic.

It's also worth noting that some peeling or degradation of the urethane coating can be expected as a bag ages. This wear is typically apparent after some years of use, and though it can have a minor effect on a bag's waterproofness, we consider it within the realm of "normal wear and tear".

Peeling or abrading of the urethane coating can sometimes happen prematurely if a sharp or pointy or oversized object is regularly carried in a bag, causing pressure/wear on a particular point of the bag.

[Kaz]

.... the clear urethane coating (the "waterproof" coating on the interior of the fabric) is often one of the shortest-lived of all components, in our bags as well as in those of other manufacturers.

Thanks for this info on urethane coatings, @Darcy. What you say tracks completely with my experience of other manufacturers' bags. A while after we moved from Cleveland, Ohio to the tropics of north Queensland, Australia* the interior coatings of our some of our outdoor-fabric clothing and non-TB goods like packs and packing cubes began to perish--sometimes delaminating, sometimes clouding, sometimes becoming sticky and unpleasantly smelly. Turns out that this was the tip of the iceberg: many materials perish fairly quickly in this harsh climate. While generally this is a problem, there is a silver lining with regard to our mountains of packing cubes from other manufacturers (I was a convert long before discovering TB): soon I'll be able to justify buying new ones, now from Tom Bihn!

* Although we are in a small area of 'dry tropics,' caused by a rain shadow, that relative concept means it's somewhat drier here than in the 'wet tropics'; it's still plenty humid all year round and monsoonal when we get a proper wet season.