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Hi!  Found your site a couple weeks ago via YouTube and looking at buying the Ultralight packraft kit to bring along on my backpacking trips to alpine lakes in Washington state.

Hi Christian, I sympathize with that fear! It took me some time before I felt comfortable paddling in the Ultralight packrafts. The newer Ultralight fabric is very similar to the older fabric – to achieve the packraft’s very light weight we must use a very lightweight fabric or reduce the size and capabilities of the boat.

As a confidence…[Read more]

And yes, show us more of your skeg. Especially, how you attached it to your raft.

Would love to hear your experience with the durability of that UL packraft. I have one as well, and am always a little bit in fear, that it could rip apart at some small stone/rock beneath the water surface.

My UL packraft is built with the older UL fabric. I don’t know, if the newer fabric is more durable or if there is any difference. Maybe…[Read more]

It’s great to know that if I lose my primary inflation method then I can use a pen or a bit of tubing to inflate my packraft relatively quickly to get home!

I don’t think my previous response got posted… I wrote something like:

Great work! Thanks for posting the photos and your thoughts.

I’d be really interested in reading more about your experience with the Ulralight. I haven’t received much feedback about that model, and if I can post it as a Customer Build Report (under the Gallery menu) then I…[Read more]

I plan to give a more detailed writeup about my experience with the Ultralight, encompassing everything from building to modding to hiking to paddling. For now, though, enjoy this crunchy picture as well as this imgur album for some highlights of my time with my new getaway car boat!

I was introduced to packrafts when looking for an…[Read more]

“I wonder if aiming a drinking straw at the valve opening and blowing through it would also work.”

It does. I started with various everyday objects. Ballpoint pen barrel was quite ok. The structure above just helps to aim in the middle.

Forgot about the 3D-model: you need to drill the nozzle open to 3-4mm (1/8 – 1/6″).  Print has a rough…[Read more]

That is fascinating! I have seen this phenomenon used before, but I never considered this size/application. Very cool! I wonder if aiming a drinking straw at the valve opening and blowing through it would also work.

STL-files of the nozzles if someone is interested in printing:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JENGRPHTo1_nk3GdEx0I47fs0Hq4R9VT/view?usp=drive_link

The rods connecting the two nozzle parts are cut from the most common 2mm (14 gauge) bicycle spoke. And superglued into the holes of the 3D model

From what I can tell the seat cushion is TPU material.

This method only works if the material is TPU. If not, it won’t work, and you’ll have made an expensive error. Do your homework to find out what the material is, surely the manufacture will have more info for you.

If it is in fact TPU, just heat weld a zipper with the leather iron, same…[Read more]