Is it normal for a bag to need to be resealed every couple of years or so? I mean when you pour hot glue or whatever it is to seal leaks.
Probably not all bags are created equal. Just as important (I suspect) is the climate they live in.
My own experience only: the two sets that I purchased new (both made in Ireland), the bags are still perfectly air-tight after six years and two years, respectively. The older set (2003) that I bought four or five years ago, had been made in Ireland but lived in California, Australia, and now Texas. That bag ended up leaking and I replaced it. The original had been seasoned a time or two; it had big balls of (bees?) wax rolling around it when it was taken apart for a pattern.
An Draighean - was the leather stitched (or riveted) or glued?
I´m asking because I have a theory: Every stich or rivet might turn out as a microscopic hole in the end by the constant “pull & slack” of the bag by the pumping. Possibly glued ones “last” longer? (as long as the glue sticks and the material´s pores remain tight) Well, of course both is a matter of “work-quality” of the maker and also: Nothing here lasts forever - not even tyres. What are your long-time experiences?
All my bags have been stitched, until the replacement for the leaky bag, which is now a riveted one. Not sure about glue - the leaky old one was taken apart as a pattern for the new one by the guy that made the new one for me. The old one had lots of gunk in/on it, but whether it was glue in the seams or later attempts at seasoning/sealing, I couldn’t tell.