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Very happy to show off the newly completed packraft, as you can see using the new green fabric! I tested it out yesterday and it worked very well. It’s impressive how lightweight yet rugged these craft are.
I still plan to install a top-up valve, and multiple tie downs for a packtach system.
My only issue now is in trying to fix a slow leak. This didn’t really impact my initial water tests, but I hope to get it solved soon.
After all this, I feel like making another one to go with it. Perhaps in red!
Happy packrafting
Dave
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Hopefully I didn’t cause too much alarm with my question. In my tests the minor stuff didn’t seem to leak, but a couple of the more majorly damaged areas did. When I say “leak”, the area appeared damp on the outside after a couple of minutes and then a bead slowly formed.
Probably I should explain how I did my tests. I took some scrap material and damaged it in a number of spots with varying degrees and types of damage. I folded and sealed the edges of the fabric to form a pouch with the tpu on the inside and filled it with water. Then I watched it for a couple of minutes. The leak formed slowly in a couple of places as described above. I wish I had done this a bit more scientifically to be able to explain exactly what types of damage caused the leak, however the lighter touches and strikes did not seem to leak. The other thing to consider here is that the actual packraft will be filled with air, and I suspect in the above cases water would not enter the raft, but more likely that air would escape (very slowly).
I’m hoping in my raft that it’s nothing that some sealant won’t fix in a few areas. I was going to truck along and after I inflate see if any of those areas are leaking air and then go about fixing them.
Dave
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