Does anyone know a good way to patch a small rip in bumpers? Or is it legal to have a small piece of red electrical to cover it. The red matches up almost perfectly.
Red gaffer tape is probably a better choice. Rather than try to find some, wait until your first regional, and kindly ask the field crew (FTA) if you can use a short piece of it. (but bring red electrical tape as a backup)
Needle and strong thread (and likely a parent of a student who has experience with such things) might also be a good choice.
What fabric are you using?
we are using the red bumper fabric from robo-promo which we bought this year
Well, if the Q&A says you can’t use tape under the cloth (Q 219): https://frc-qa.usfirst.org/Question/219/is-it-legal-for-teams-to-use-tape-shrink-wrap-or-other-soft-material-to-secure-the-pool-noodles-to-the-wood-underneath-the-bumper-fabric-in-previous-years-teams-have-had-issues-with-pool-noodles-th
Then do you think they’ll let you use tape on the outside of the cloth?
Q&A says you can’t use tape to secure the pool noodles to the wood. That doesn’t preclude using tape for other purposes, e.g. repairing ripped bumper fabric.