Shane

What a cool idea! Thanks for sharing. This might deserve to be a whole forum topic on its own.

It’s an interesting idea to use prongs to hold the check valve open – is the pump not strong enough to pump air through the valve, or does it just work faster that way?

In my tests, the D-rings themselves break at about 45 kg or 99 pounds load (on average), and the attachment point itself should be stronger than that, but over time things could wear. If I were you, I’d probably use it as-is but keep an eye on it and if it looks like distributing the load over one or two more points would help, then it looks like…[Read more]

I’ve never tried it, but I don’t think it would be a problem… I would try it in an inconspicuous area and see how it looks, and if it doesn’t melt or do weird things, carry on.

Thanks for the report, Zach. It sounds like it would be good to have one of those as a secondary iron for little finicky things and hard to reach places. I might pick one up. Cheers

Hi Mateo, don’t worry – it’s not hard to fix! If you look ahead to the Front Center Seam step and scroll down near the bottom of the page, there are instructions in case you run into a similar situation: https://www.diypackraft.com/construction/how-to/instructions-telkwa-kits/telkwa-assembly-front-center-seam/

Cheers!

I’m not familiar with that product, but it sounds great. I would test it by ironing some scrap fabric over it to the point that the TPU melts and sticks to the parchment paper, and then let it cool and see if it peels cleanly away without leaving any residue.

I don’t think it’ll be a problem – if anything, it will probably be stronger than it was originally, now that it’s sandwiched between two layers of fabric. If it happens again though on a different seam, I would wait to patch it until after the adjacent tubes are attached, because you’ll have to work around that bottom patch when you finish off…[Read more]

It looks like my previous response got lost… hmmm 🙁

Awesome posts! Could you send me a picture or drawing of your changes to the spray skirt? I’m happy to change the design if that would make it more useful. I was also testing a version of your thigh straps here before freeze-up, and a more forward seating position.

One thing I noticed with…[Read more]

I’m not aware of anyone having tried this, so if you do, please let us know how it goes. Thanks!

That looks like it would work if the temperature specifications are accurate. With its small foot it would be slower than a leather iron. If you try it and it does work, please let us know!

Cool – sounds good!

Thanks, Clay – I use a 360 degree action camera on the end of my trekking pole. The camera captures video of everything around it, and then I frame the shots when I’m editing at home. The trekking pole disappears from the shot because it’s hidden in the stitch line between the camera’s two lenses.

It takes some experimenting to figure out the…[Read more]

Wow, that’s fantastic! Thanks for the update, and please let us know if it does or doesn’t hold up over time. Cheers

Thanks for the picture and more info. I haven’t heard of anyone trying the Seam Grip trick, but I was going to suggest something similar. At this point, I don’t think you have much to lose, unfortunately. If the Seam Grip doesn’t work, you could also try scraping a bunch of TPU off of some scrap fabric and melting it into the divot (after cleaning…[Read more]

Is the spot you’re describing where bubbles form if you put soapy water on it? I just want to make sure it’s not leaking somewhere else. One full breath every 30 minutes is about 2 ml per second, so the bubbles should be fairly noticeable.

Would you be able to post a picture? You might be able to carefully shave off a bit of the melted plastic if…[Read more]

Thanks for posting – the black Atlin looks really cool! You’re ready for some special ops now. I’ve been waffling back and forth about offering black as one of the standard options for the reason you mentioned.

I’ve made that dinosaur head (haha!) mistake myself, so don’t sweat it. Your boat still looks great!

Thanks for posting, Clyde – it looks like you did a great job! And thanks for logging your time and showing the final weight – that’s really useful. Cheers!