Ultralight Packraft Kits In Stock

After being out of stock for nearly two years, the Ultralight DIY Packraft kits are back and better than before!

I’ve just received a shipment of beautiful new lightweight ripstop fabrics in red, yellow, blue, and black – I don’t know if the photos do them justice, but the colors look great – the lightweight fabrics really soak up the dyes to produce brightly saturated colors:

Before making any new Ultralight kits I took my trusty Ultralight paddling to see if it could benefit from any design changes. After enjoying a day on the water I was still quite happy with the hull design, so that hasn’t changed, but in addition to the new colors, I’ve decided to upgrade the kits to include black seam strips between the tube segments (not like the picture above where they’re the same color as the tubes), and I’ve also added a proper seat and backrest to the Ultralight kits.

The new ultralight seat and backrest are the same designs that have been included with the standard weight packraft kits since mid-2021, but the ultralight versions are made with lightweight black ripstop fabric instead of the heavier Oxford fabric used in the other kits.

I’ve actually been testing ultralight seats for several years now, including on the 30-day trip I did in 2020, and I can confirm that they are strong enough for everyday use. For that reason I’ve decided to offer the ultralight seat and backrest as a standalone kit so gram counters like me can replace their standard weight seat and backrest to reduce their pack weight by about 200 grams (7 oz) without sacrificing any comfort or functionality.

Because the seat patterns are incorporated into other parts of the packraft kits, I can’t simply substitute an ultralight seat/backrest into a new Atlin, Skeena, or Telkwa kit, but I could offer a discount if people want to add an ultralight seat/backrest to a packraft kit order. If that’s something you’re interested in, please tell me and I’ll make it a thing.

Speaking of existing and future orders, an update on the standard weight kit availability is in order. A batch of the floor fabric (the only thing I’m lacking at this point) is finally being produced now, and I’m hopeful it will arrive in late October or early November, at which point I will be able to fulfill the existing pre-orders and then start operating like a normal business again, shipping orders within a few days instead of offering only promises in exchange for your payments.

If you have any comments or questions about the Ultralight DIY Packraft kits or the Ultralight Seat & Backrest kits that aren’t addressed on the product pages, please post a comment below or send me a message through the contact page.

Thanks!