Adhesives for bush trips

On almost every trip something cracks or breaks and needs fixing, either temporarily or permanently.

We’ve checked out most of the available glues and tapes over many years of camping and, as at mid-2025, settled on a few reliable standbys: super glue, five-minute Araldite and Gorilla Glue and Black Tape.

Super glue offers a quick fix for light-duty breakages and works well on many plastics. It’s also based on what was originally a medical glue, which is why it’s infamous for sticking fingertips together. (Use nail polish remover if that happens.) 

In addition to many other jobs we’ve had super glue last for years repairing a broken plastic bug defector on the front of our Suzuki.

We’ve read first aid tips for using super glue to close clean, minor wounds, but we’ll continue to rely on butterfly strips for that job.

Fast-setting Araldite is our go-to for heavier-duty repairs and we favour the dual-barrelled syringe applicator version to the old two-tube package. The syringe needs some care to avoid jamming the plungers, but ensures a precise volume of epoxy resin and hardener.

The glued join is not quite as durable as that provided by longer-setting Araldite, but is a better solution for camping repairs, where a quick result is often needed.

We’ve been using various Gorilla products for the past few years and we’ve found that the glue, in particular, has specific uses. We’ve found it to work well on mixed surfaces, indulging masonry, wood and aluminium, but not well on many plastics. The instructions clearly state that limitation. 

It’s also designed to ‘go off’ in the presence of some water – ideally with one surface coated with Gorilla glue and the other with a little water – and needs clamping for two hours, to ensure a proper ‘cure’ and also to control and spread its designed triple expansion inside the joint.

Our experience with Gorilla glue means that we do carry a small bottle with us in the camper, for repairs that require gap-filling, but we use it more often around the house.

The stainless steel trim strip came off our microwave oven and was reattached successfully to the glass door with Gorilla glue. A non-expanding glue wouldn’t have worked in this application, because there was a designed gap between strip and glass.

Of all the duct tape brands and qualities we’ve used over the years, Gorilla Black Tape has been the best. It’s claimed to have twice the ‘stickiness’ of most competitors and we don’t doubt it.

You get a clue to that grip effectiveness when you try to tease the cut end from the roll and peel off a fresh strip. That simple task takes a lot of effort, because the bloody tape gets such a grip on itself and on anything else it comes near!

Despite that formidable gripping power, Black Tape can be torn from the roll by hand.

Stick with us and let us know how you get on.