Snow, sun, water packraft and some swimming

[vikebo]

Second test, this time on a river instead of snow.

Bought the 120 cm V3 in August and finished about a third of it at the time. I got a dog a few weeks ago and decided to finish the packraft so we can use it during the summer. The build went fine, but the last center seam and L2 – L3 were a bit tricky. Decided to use the flatter red valves instead of the Boston valve, and I have only mounted the one with the flap inside since the zipper can be used for deflation. For inflating I have used my Exped Schnozzel bag which is also used for my sleeping mat. Made a small adaper so it fits the red valve. It takes around 10 – 15 “pumps” to fill the packraft.

Since the sun was shining today, Milo wanted a walk, and the temperature was climbing from minus 8 towards zero, I decided to take the packraft to the river for a test. Stuffed the backpack inside and filled the raft. Milo had his backpack filled with some empty plastic bottles as an improvised flotation device.

Some multitasking was required to get the packraft on the water with the seat and paddle while keeping the dog from going too far into the water. It took a few minutes to get used to the boat and for Milo to settle down a bit. He ended up sitting at the end of the seat between my knees. A bit close for paddling, but didn’t want to move him around since he was quite calm. We paddled about 200 meters downstream close to the shore, crossed the river and paddled upstream. A few geese came out from the shore and as we came closer Milo suddenly jumped up, standing in the front of the boat. At the same time I heard a POOOFF and before I understood what was happening, a SPLASH! It took a second to understand that the packraft was still filled with air, but I was sinking and Milo had jumped in the water. The seat valve had popped out. I plugged the seat and grabbed the handle on Milo’s backpack with the intent of lifting him into the boat, but swimming he quickly dragged me and the packraft to the shore which was only a few meters away, where I lifted him onto the snow. He was super excited and didn’t seem to mind swimming at all, but we decided to take the bridge back home since he was soaked.

I think I will look for an alternative valve for the seat, it feels a bit too loose and it would be quicker to fill it with the Exped bag.

In total a fun day, and I’m sure we will enjoy the packraft even more when the weather gets warmer!

Milo, the Packraft-Collie

We started on the left side near the top of the picture, crossed at the bottom of the picture and ended the journey around the middle on the right side.

Topic

[vikebo]

It was a fun experience and I think your kit is a great product, so I thought I’d share the story.

The schnozzle bag works ok with an adapter. At the moment the adapter is a tiny bit loose on the bag and a bit too hard to remove from the red press-fit valve. Small adjustments to the dimensions would fix this. Making it from white POM was probably not the best option in the snow, I will add a piece of string to it. It requires a bit of force on the bag to get the air past the “flap” in the valve, but I think it is ok. Haven’t tried emptying fully through the valve since I have the zipper, but guess it would be a bit slow. Putting something through the valve to keep it open when folding/rolling the raft could be needed. In general I don’t think a few minutes more or less for inflating or deflating matters much.

I haven’t decided what to do yet, but a top-up valve in the seat sounds like a good idea. Haven’t added it to the raft yet. One option I’m considering is to cut open the plug from a press-fit valve and glue it to an 80 l dry bag I have for my backpack. It would need a plug to keep the bag waterproof, but it could be an efficient filling bag for the raft.  I could then stuff the backpack in the dry bag, fill it with some air and use it for a seat. Not sure if the bag is dog-proof, but it would give several uses for one bag. Having the schnozzle bag for backup is good anyway.

 

[Matt (Admin)]

Thanks for the great story of your maiden voyage!

How do you like the red press-fit valve and Schnozzle combination? Does it take too long to deflate with the single valve?

In the newer kits I’ve replaced the beach ball-style seat valve with a top-up valve, and that fixes the unexpected deflation issue. If you switch to a red valve, please tell us how you like it.

Cheers!

[Author]

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