Austin

Yeah, that’s definitely the area that is most likely to leak. I find that a cup or two of soapy water on the floor of the packraft works well there – you can hold the packraft up so the water pools over the floor-tube joint and squeeze the tubes while rotating it slowly… the bulk of the water will stay at the lowest point (obviously), but a…[Read more]

I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling discouraged! Are you sure it’s losing air, or could the pressure decrease be due to temperature changes? Can you elaborate on the situation and length of time we’re talking about?

Great, I’m glad that worked.

The ultralight fabric isn’t as strong as the heavier fabrics used in the other kits (obviously), but it won’t spontaneously start leaking in undamaged areas, so once the leaks are fixed that’ll be it unless it gets damaged.

You may have to expand your search with the soap and water to cover more area, not just along the seams (there could be small areas of the tube fabric TPU that were accidentally melted with the iron, for example). You might also check the valve to make sure it’s not leaking.

This iron has been sold.

For the “V4” boats with the hourglass shaped seat/seat back, I find that a single “Type 2” attachment point (on the Tie-Downs & Attachment Points page) works well at the rear of the cockpit floor. I tie a length of cord through the attachment point and around the neck of the seat.

Send me a message and I’ll help you out with this.

Thanks for posting this, Derek! We can all be glad that it ended well (more or less) and we can learn from the experience – but man, what a scare! I’m so glad you’re all okay.

Just yesterday I was thinking that maybe I should write a post or make a video about cold weather packrafting, and you’ve spurred me into action. For now, here’s a related…[Read more]

Yep!

Hi Robin,

The Skeena  and Telkwa models are so new that probably only a handful of people have finished building theirs, and I’m not sure how many of them have paddled the other packrafts you’re interested in, so it might be a while before you get a useful review. In the meantime, I started writing some notes about things to consider and what to…[Read more]

Hi Sean, I’ve found that the TPU to non-TPU welds aren’t very strong, and with all the rolling and unrolling a packraft goes through, it probably won’t hold forever, so I’d put some Seam Grip (or similar) around the edges so if it does separate there at least it won’t leak. The seam sealing glue isn’t great as a structural adhesive either, though.…[Read more]

Cool – any idea what kind of foam it is? Thanks!

Oh, and it should still be airtight even where it’s overheated. Cheers!

Don’t worry – this is not a huge problem! If you can’t un-seal one side by reheating it and peeling it up, and then redo it (which you probably can’t), then I would cut a slit in the floor fabric perpendicular to the edge, long enough so that the fold disappears. Then simply cover the slit with patches – one on the bottom of the packraft’s floor…[Read more]

Minutes… I can’t remember where I read that, but the idea is to use it like contact cement.

Excellent – I’m glad it worked out for you, and thanks for posting!

I’ll be curious to see the reviews, as I’ve never seen a roll-closure that doesn’t leak some air and it would be annoying to have to frequently add air (as a lot of people who bought Windcatcher camping mattresses have found). Given their false statements about it being the lightest packraft ever, I’m skeptical.