Custom Ultralight Packraft options

[Allen]

Wasn’t sure where else to post this question.

Is it possible to make up a UL packraft but in the Telkwa style? If so, is it also possible to upgrade the base flooring? In this way increasing the durability of the side walls and flooring but with the light weight option of the main tubing.

I’m imagining that combining these two options, if viable, could create an entire new option of mid tier rafts, expanding the fleet, and perhaps be a nice go between option and attractive price point for many people.

What are your thoughts?

Topic

[JYP]

Agreed, it sounds like UltraLight is the way to go for you. I added a few attachment points to mine and its 1050grams so less than 2 pounds. I don’t think a thicker floor would do much for it other than add weight. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and with the air-holding tubes still mostly made up of UL fabric, that’s where your failure point will be.

 

I guess theoretically you could be able to resist slightly more abrasion against the ground at put in and take out, but with a UL upper you’ll still need to avoid the same types of paddling you would with an ultralight packraft.

 

To me it sounds like a poorer all-arounder rather than improved ultralight, but of course, it might respond to your needs and be just what you want. Let us know if you end up making it.

[Allen]

Hmm interesting. I thought the UL floor was 190gsm and the tubes were 115gsm, or something close to that. Were you dabbling with the idea of doubling up the UL floor or wall fabric to increase the abrasion and puncture resistance? What about using the 250gsm tube fabric as a floor base instead?

I remember you hosting fabric strength tests though I dont recall if you had one for the UL. In any case I’m pondering over the ULs puncture resistance and weighted support if ever a second person needed to climb aboard or even for abrasion resistance.

A UL raft with sidewall protection that can handle class 1 & maybe a bit of class 2 (at your own risk), all under 3lb, sounds like a gold star no brainer for through hiking or just generally packed.

[Matt (Admin)]

It sounds like an Ultralight is what you want… I paddle class 1+ in the Ultralight and sometimes carry my wife with me on lakes. If you dig through my old YouTube videos you can see me doing these things in earlier versions of what became the Ultralight. Just four days ago a customer who built an Ultralight emailed:

“By the way last weekend I took it through a very dicey little river between two lakes where it rubbed against a bunch of sticks on both sides from a destroyed beaver dam and it held up great. Impressive.” He also sent pictures of himself paddling through ice in the arctic.

If you’re not convinced, I recommend ordering a fabric sample pack so you can test the fabrics yourself.

Regarding the fabric weights, you’re talking about substituting fabrics with TPU on one side in place of fabrics that have TPU on both sides, which could be done but it would leave exposed fabric on the bottom of the packraft, which would soak up water and then be heavier than the double coated fabric and it would be less resistant to abrasion.

[Matt (Admin)]

I’ve looked at the numbers before and unfortunately it doesn’t really make sense.

Having an Ultralight packraft with a wraparound floor wouldn’t make it stronger because the ultralight floor fabric is the same strength as the ultralight tube fabric.

Compared to a standard weight Telkwa, substituting ultralight tube fabric in a Telkwa only reduces its weight by about 400 grams (less than a pound) but it makes it much weaker (too weak for whitewater paddling) and it’s still heavier than a Skeena (which is whitewater capable).

I thought about developing a floor fabric that’s somewhere in between the ultralight and standard weights, and I can’t recall the numbers at the moment, but the weight savings were only marginal compared to the standard weight floor fabric – not enough to justify the significantly reduced strength.

[Author]

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