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Derek replied to the topic Packraft failure – near drowning in the forum DIY Packrafts 4 years, 11 months ago
It failed on the yellow/blue seam shown in the pic in this post. Right below the guys butt. It failed on the inboard aspect of the boat.
I spoke with him today and apparently he was fidgeting around quite a bit with legs/hips, and he feels he put too much outward pressure on that seam. The guy paddling in this photo is light, it didn’t fail in…[Read more]
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Derek replied to the topic Packraft failure – near drowning in the forum DIY Packrafts 4 years, 11 months ago
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Derek started the topic Packraft failure – near drowning in the forum DIY Packrafts 4 years, 11 months ago
Wanted to post this not to bash DIYpackraft, but to raise awareness.
I have been paddling my huge tandem Voyageur packraft for almost two years down all sorts of rivers, back and forth to my boat when anchored in Alaska, hauling deer back to my boat, catching king and coho salmon from it, hauling hundreds of pounds of sockeye, adult men, and many…[Read more]
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Derek replied to the topic How airtight are your boats? in the forum DIY Packrafts 5 years, 4 months ago
Like Matt said, I’ve had good luck cleaning and relubricating the zipper to obtain an airtight seal again.
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 5 years, 4 months ago
Man, I LOVE my big boss oversized DIYpackraft. My son and I landed our first king salmon from the packraft today. I know you discontinued the Voyageur, but I’d love to have the option to buy plans for one in the future, when this one wears out. Such a great utility packraft.
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 5 years, 5 months ago
First Dolly Varden of the year……..
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 5 years, 5 months ago
Year two on my ghetto Voyageur build. Paddled 11 miles today on a bear hunt, didn’t find a bear. Pictured with a full pack, rifle, and two crab pots. This thing is ugly, but it serves a purpose.
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 5 years, 7 months ago
Sure, I don’t log in here often. Contact me on Facebook. Derek Weiss
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 5 years, 9 months ago
Crabbing near Juneau with a DIYpackraft, and hauling a deer off of Admiralty Island with a custom HUGE Voyageur DIYpackraft and my smaller one.
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Derek replied to the topic Voyageur Seat and Inflatable Floor in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 3 months ago
When I made the Voyageur longer it was my first packraft build and I screwed some stuff up. If I had to do it over again, I’d say no, it is not harder, just more time consuming by adding a couple seams.
I can’t answer your question about self-bailer. If you buy a Big Agnes, be sure it fits your floor length. My Voyageur is gigantic, and it fi…[Read more]
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 4 months ago
Second packraft just finished. The first one was an 80″ floor on the Voyageur. Learned a lot in that build and applied it to this build. This one was much easier and more fun to build. Good times ahead. Still needs a spray deck. And I’m using my ExPed large camping pillow for a seat because it’s only $30 and I don’t need to spend hours making it;)
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Derek replied to the topic "Voyageur" extra huge. in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 5 months ago
The long seams were tricky trying to reach inside those tubes. If I remember right, my floor is 84″ long. I’d say think it through before you proceed so you are sure you’ll be able to effectively seal those long seams from the extended tubes. I had some persistent leaks there that I finally sorted out.
Don’t mess with the 3m stuff, I just us…[Read more]
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Derek replied to the topic "Voyageur" extra huge. in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 5 months ago
Paddles fine, and outside of my craftsmanship, I’m totally happy with it. I didn’t foresee how difficult the inside tube seam would be when I made the floor length 16″ longer and had difficulty with those seams being airtight. So….3M 5200 to the rescue. Works fine now.
I sit with my knees slightly bent and feel I can navigate easy rivers fi…[Read more]
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Derek replied to the topic "Voyageur" extra huge. in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 5 months ago
Got the “packship” down the Mendenhall and Herbert Rivers with me, wife, and 7 year old. Working well. I put 3M 5200 on all the seams instead of Aquaseal because I had some minor leaks and for whatever reason, nobody will ship the big 8oz bottle of Aquaseal to AK (hazmat?). It’s ugly, but I could care less, it works great.
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Derek started the topic Voyageur Seat and Inflatable Floor in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 5 months ago
If you don’t feel like spending a bunch of time working on seats and an inflatable floor, the Exped Air Pillow ($45) (XL) and Big Agnes Air Core Ultra ($79) fit perfectly into the Voyageur build if you make the Voyageur a little bigger. Either way, sleeping pads are dual purpose, don’t take any time to build, and are pretty affordable.
The Big…[Read more]
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Derek commented on the post, Adam's DIY Packraft Build Report 6 years, 6 months ago
Matt,
A few more friends from Juneau will be ordering from you soon. I’m going to order another kit, too. Juneau folks are excited. -
Derek commented on the post, Adam's DIY Packraft Build Report 6 years, 6 months ago
Hahaha, you built one! Nice, Adam. I figured you might.
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Derek replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 6 months ago
Bruce,
I built one like yours, but 14″ longer. I just bought a Big Agnes sleeping pad that fits in as an inflatable floor. It’s uncanny how well it fits. Perfect width, stiffens the boat up very well, and it’s a heck of a lot easier than building an inflatable floor.
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Derek replied to the topic "Voyageur" extra huge. in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 6 months ago
First float. Still have some pinhole leaks to fix, but it works fine.
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Derek replied to the topic Heat increase Coverite Black Baron? in the forum DIY Packrafts 6 years, 6 months ago
I thought the same, but I found if you use masking tape to protect the TPU and use the entire flat surface of the iron, it goes pretty quick and makes a good seal. Then just use the tip for the finer details.
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