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I’m not much of a backpacker now that my back is as bent and can’t carry a load. Packrafting, however is great. I don’t have to hoist the craft onto the car rack. It inflates at a whim. And, unlike my decades of whitewater canoeing, I don’t feel like I need full rowing rig raft support to carry the kitchen sink. I can fit it all in my packraft. And when I do, the craft handles much better!
What I’ve learned: If I pack gear in 20 litre dry bags or stuff sacks they fit thru the 50cm TiZip zipper. Gear doesn’t have to be waterproofed – it’s inside an airtight raft! The idea of having strings to pull out gear from the bow is nonsense, just lift the bow, it slides out, couldn’t be simpler. The idea of inflating a dry bag inside the raft is hilarious, waste of time, and added weight! Keep it simple.
The 50 cm zipper matches the 10″ tube diameter. A larger zipper will pass gear with less stress on the zipper – but larger diameter stuff sacks would no longer fit into the tube. First time I spent a lot of time keeping the zipper clean, meaning I dusted and wiped off all the stuff sacks and dry bags and placed them onto the packraft before loading. I must admit I’m no longer quite as picky. The TiZip zippers are amazing. I carry silicone grease in my repair kit, remembering it is for the “docking” point – the last 2 cm where the pull closes.
Yes, when it was pouring rain, the gear went in wet and stayed wet inside the raft. Ha!
Inside my DIT V3 packraft I have: 3-man REI tent, -30 winter sleeping bag, spare quilt, change of clothes, ground blanket, 25″ Thermarest pad, Pots, MSR stove, small folding kitchen table, folding stool, Muck boots, spare tarp.
We try to ignore that white stuff in the background. We’re on the water and that’s what counts after a long Alaskan winter.
Eight paddlers, all DIY packrafts that either I or the Prince William Sound College, Valdez Alaska, students built themselves. (They didn’t offer college courses like that in my day!) The packrafts are loaded and ready to launch. All overnight gear inside the rafts. Day gear outside.
Inside my daughter’s packraft: sleeping bags, change of clothes, food, folding stool, boots, spare paddle, spare packraft (you can’t have just one!). She is sitting on a DIY seat in her Crazy Creek chair.
Day gear, including soup and stove for lunch, was carried outside the rafts. Clearwater, 2022.
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Our first overnighter with packed packrafts was in 2021 on the Gulkana River, a Fairbanks Paddlers trip with 20 participants. (We put the 12″ & 14″ Dutch Ovens into a canoe.)
Vera is standing next to her loaded V32 packraft. Her blue crazy-creek like chair is visible with her green whitewater helmet sitting in it.
Her V2 contains: Telkwa packraft, winter sleeping bag, change of clothes & extra socks, thermarest pad, 3-man REI tent, drawing paper, folding chair.
Inside my V3, I’m carrying sleeping bag, folding stool, crocks, 20″ thermarest pad, spare 4-piece paddle, extra throw rope (determined to not be needed), change of clothes and something else I don’t recall.
Continued research on this topic requires that I find a set of smaller dishpans that fit inside. Then I’ll have the kitchen sink too!
Bruce
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