Tom

Indeed!

Welcome to the forum! You might find this post useful: https://www.diypackraft.com/2017/09/08/lightweight-fishing-float-tube/

Holes in the floor will lower the waterline somewhat. The amount will depend on a few factors, such as packraft model/size, paddler weight, and weight of gear carried. The best way to find out is to make a small hole in the packraft’s floor (where you plan to place one of the drain holes), load up the packraft with your typical gear, and then sit…[Read more]

Since the start of the pandemic, I have noticed it is taking much longer for Aliexpress parcels to arrive from China… hopefully this will improve as countries recover.

I’m not sure if this ships from the UK or China, but this appears to be the same type of leather iron, here on Amazon UK:…[Read more]

Beautiful!

I saw your valve order – I will see what I can do 🙂

Unfortunately I don’t offer an ultralight version of the 2-Person packraft because I don’t think it would be strong enough… the standard weight 2-Person kit is already quite light compared to any other comparable boat. Cheers!

It sounds like your storage method is a good one! Your question inspired me to make a video showing how I fold and roll packrafts, and I’ve posted it here: https://www.diypackraft.com/construction/how-to/pack-carry-and-store-a-packraft/

Cheers!

Hi Aaron – your welds look good, and it sounds like they are holding just fine. I usually see some variation in the transparency of the welds (especially in the yellow and red fabrics), so that’s nothing to worry about. Do try to use the roller to squeeze out the air bubbles, but they look fine.

I’m going to answer the other part of your question…[Read more]

Excellent question, and I’m surprised it hasn’t come up before! You’ve prompted me to make a dedicated page about this topic (so it won’t get buried here in the forum over time). It’s a work in progress, but it’s posted here: https://www.diypackraft.com/faq/packrafting-paddles/

Usually leaks are caused by debris in the zipper: https://www.diypackraft.com/faq/why-is-my-airtight-zipper-leaking/

Hi Aaron – sorry I didn’t see this until now. There’s a bug in the forum software that was holding posts with multiple pictures in a hidden section, waiting for moderation, but it wasn’t notifying me about them. Hopefully I’ve fixed it now… we shall see. Don’t be afraid to email me if you don’t get a response within a day or so.

Anyway, your…[Read more]

Very interesting! Until now, the low melting temperature of DCF has been a problem for heat sealing, but it looks like they have formulated a type of TPU that is weldable at a lower temperature – very cool. Unfortunately the price will be prohibitive for many people, but if someone manages to get a sample of several meters and wants to try making…[Read more]

Very creative tip – thanks for posting! I can see this being especially useful for spots where I accidentally damage the TPU on the tube fabric. Cheers!