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Simple new project for today. Used 250GSM fabric to make a phone pouch for an Anfibio inflatable lifejacket. The pouches of these jackets are mesh panels that wouldn’t hold anything if you lean over, much less take a dunk in the water.
Sits inside the chest area, velcro closure with webbing pull handles.
Above is a new roll of that UHMWPE thread I like.
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Here is one of my modified spray skirts, as requested.
(Above) Side profile.
(Above) Front profile.
(Above) Rear profile.
I had an issue where my more forward seating position made the spray skirt too tight around the waist. To address this, the torso funnel was cut off and four additional 150GSM fabric panels were cut from the fill bags. Two of the panels are cut in a way to offer a lot of added material behind the seat.
The panels are welded wherever possible and sewn everywhere else. This has to be done in a way that bunches the fabric, otherwise it will not retain the cone shape. Seam grip is applied, as always.
It’s a bit Frankenstein, but this design allowed the reuse of existing fabric and has the give needed to handle heavy waves without detaching from the combing ring.
Funny enough, it seems MRS might have had a spray skirt design that did something similar at one point.
To see how it looks in action, refer to one of my previous posts where I’m sitting in a boat.
I’ve also added shoulder straps. Use a single tri-glide per strap if you want a skirt to be adjustable. I have one with adjustment and one without as I don’t need adjustable straps for my personal boat.
In the most ideal situation, rather than adding a ton of material in the rear of the skirt, the combing ring opening would be repositioned forward to account for the more aggressive seating position.
Lastly, I’ve added ten strips of velcro all around the skirt and pull tabs at both the front and rear. The velcro speeds up the process of attaching the skirt from 0:30 – 1:30 to under 20 seconds. The rear pull tab also allows me to get it over the rear area more easily and center it.
Perhaps a more ideal setup would use less velcro and instead offer double-strength elastic cables.
Mat’s kits are generally excellent. However, the current spray skirt is probably the one bit of kit that I feel needs a bit of work to be ready for more serious waters. Even assuming a user doesn’t adjust the seating position, and assuming they are using the new recommended combing ring, I still think the vanilla design is vulnerable to a wave pulling the skirt off the combing ring.
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New year, new improvements for the rafts.
Above, we see a portage carrying handle (bottom center), a 9-point adjustable seat back, and 4-point adjustable leg straps. These adjustable straps fit boaters 5’3″ (160cm) to 6′-4″ (193cm).
(Above) The adjustable leg strap attachment point. For the straps themselves, I used the same design for the 4-point strap as my previous boat. This attachment point allows for the two top attachment points around either side of your knee to move toward the bow or stern of the boat. The plastic strips weaved through the material are temporary and cut from a grocery store spinach container. These strips prevent the welding iron from welding those areas to the boat. These “slots” are used to feed the removable hook clip.
Two additional standard round attachment points with D rings are used. One in the bow area and one next to the seat. The 5/8″ strap uses a tri-glides at both ends to allow adjustment.
(Above) The leg straps are attached using aluminum G-Buckle Webbing Hooks (one right and one left variant) from Extremtextil. A lot of tedious welding is required, and you’ll still need to run something through each slot a couple times to ensure they are usable. In the image above, you can also see the tri-glides used to adjust the strap that runs through the bow area attachment point and another that runs to the seat area attachment point.
For the grip handle, use an I bar-shaped leftover piece of 450GSM fabric. Two pieces of 2.5″ polypropylene webbing were sewn together on both sides to serve as the handle. The bars are placed under the attachment point and welded from the underside of the pack raft tubing.
I also seam-seal every fabric edge to avoid fraying. This sealing process includes carefully sealing the edges of attachment point slots. The plastic can be removed when this is done.
You might be wondering why the backrest is using a nine – yes nine – point attachment system. Well, I’ve found that comfort for long-term tripping is immensely improved by having the firmest backrest possible. This is a huge quality-of-life upgrade to a packraft, akin to adding a skeg, probably more so. The blue raft uses a custom bag and a five-point attachment system that I’ve detailed in the past. While I like this system, it was a pain to seal and I wanted to see if a strap alternative for the yellow boat could be found. A nine-point system was the result of these efforts. When fully inflated, the seat won’t move in any direction, even with 100 pounds (45KGs) of force applied via persons or weight plates. The backrest can be removed.
If I had any recommendations for Matt’s future designs, it would be to shift the sitting position a bit forward and provide instructions to set up a firm, upright backrest. Ideally, this includes adjusting the spray deck opening forward a bit. I can’t emphasize enough how this change improves comfort, tracking, and paddling efficiency; it’s like having a different boat.
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Above are two sets of 5-piece paddles. I’ve further refined the water cups from the previous year by shortening the cup fabric and painting it inside and out with Seam Grip. Doing this adds a ton of abrasion resistance and rigidity. Both paddles use custom carbon fibre tubing. The tubing is available via Aliexpress. The seller Best Carbon Fiber Products is great. Email him directly and he can get a custom order set up on the site with the exact amount and lengths you need.
To match traditional paddle sizing in a 5-piece paddle, you’ll want the following order:
29x25x400mm, 3 pcs (these are the three sections of the paddle shaft)
25x21x130mm, 4 pcs (these are the four internal fittings slotted inside the paddle shaft).
Note that you may need to drill/dremel your paddle blades and or purchase an additional two internal fitting sections depending on the construction of your paddle. The first Werner paddle is all fibreglass and doesn’t need any additional sections. I just slotted a 25x21x130mm tube and applied JB weld. The cheap Canada Tire thermoplastic paddle needed extensive drilling and 1/2″ (12.7mm) additional fittings. I suggest you cut your paddles apart before ordering to see what you need.
To complete the paddles, you’ll need to sand the inner fitting tubes until they fit halfway inside the shaft tubes. Next, soften all exterior facing tube ends with a rotary tool like a Dremel. Glue one side of the inner tubing with JB weld.
Next, you’ll need to drill holes and install 9mm single-pin spring clips. These can be bought from Aliexpress or Amazon. Make sure you get the ones that are both hollow and stainless. Important: don’t trust sellers. Put the clips into a glass of water overnight and dry them for a second day in a plastic bag to ensure they are stainless. It took two orders to get actual stainless steel.
Second, you’ll need to clip off about 3cms of the spring clip tail. If you don’t do this they’ll never work correctly. When drilling the holes for the clips, make sure the tubes are already inserted for perfect alignment. Start from a small drill bit, and work up from there. If you make a mistake, you’ll end up with a wobbly paddle and it will feel terrible. You’ll need to use a Dremel and smooth out the hole inside and outside a fair bit. Resist the urge to simply drill a bigger hole. The holes must be exactly 9mm or there will be wobble. If the button depresses and doesn’t pop back up, use the Dremel along with constant pushes of your thumb until the spring clip operates smoothly. This process will take some time but it will work well 100% reliably with some effort.
When you are done, you’ll have a backpacking/airline-ready paddle setup!
Not sure if I covered this one before, but I’ve also upgraded the spray skirt. The original skirt isn’t configured for this more upright/forward-sitting setup, and it just doesn’t have enough fabric give at the base for the kind of pressures and movements you’ll experience in whitewater. I cut the skirt apart and added four additional 150gsm panels and ironed/sewed and seam sealed them around the waist area. This is a huge improvement and allows for a full range of twisting without worry that the fabric will become too taunt and pull off. Honestly, I see no downside to this addition and feel the skirt should offer more fabric by default around the base.
A couple of final points. First, Matt’s combing ring tube upgrade recommendation is a must for a proper whitewater setup. This solved a lot of water ingress and combing ring strength issues. I had originally replaced the blue tubing with another black Nylon one, but it also proved to be too weak. This new 1/2 Pex tube is great.
Lastly, I can’t recommend the gear from Anfibio enough. In the picture above, I’m using their inflatable lifejacket and their customizable packraft drysuit. Amazing gear for backpacking. The only issue is shipping. If you live in Canada or the US, you’ll need to work through a parcel forwarding service. This is a major pain, but zero shipping options for North America seems to be common for German companies. I recommend the service ShipGerman and selecting the post-service option to keep your costs down.
(Above) one final upgrade: I’ve replaced the rather wonky value on the Thermarest XTherm with one of Matt’s values. This allows for a FlexTailGear pump I use for the rafts to inflate the pad in a few seconds. The black fabric is leftovers used to seal the original value opening.
This is a long post! The next projects for 2024 are an inflatable flatwater sail and an inflatable helmet. The goal is to make an international backcountry whitewater kit that requires only a single backpack for everything. A couple of European startups are working on inflatable helmets, so I’ll try whichever model comes to market first.
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New project to show off.
A lot of hardshell boats offer sturdy foot rests to brace your feet against. This is something I miss from packrafts.
Matt was kind enough to send some extra 250GSM fabric in my latest order. After some trial and error, I came up with a relatively simple footrest design.
This drybag is designed to be wedged into the bow foot space of your boat.
The original plan was to make this an inflated dry bag to rest your feet on.
(Above) The larger, initial design. Someone asked me if I was making a pursue!
After making this, I quickly discovered that an inflation bag is a terrible idea. It was the equivalent of pressing your feet against a balloon. It provided zero support for your feet. It was also too big, as Matt suggested in an email.
I cut it down significantly:
The drybag aspect remains as putting items inside it what gives it structure. This design is large enough to comfortably fit a Dan Durston X-Mid 1 tent and a Thermarest XTherm Max Wide (25″ wide) sleeping air mattress.
The webbing straps are 3/4″ polypropylene. Avoid Nylon for all boat stuff as it absorbs water. These straps are sewed in by hand on each side of the opening using UHMWPE thread. Some may know this material as Spectra or Dyneema. It is far tougher than nylon thread. You can pick this up as 65Ib UHMWPE fishing line on Amazon.
The valve allows for the air to be pushed out of the bag. With the air removed, the bag offers a really firm surface for your feet.
The foot rest friction fits very snugly into the leg area of the Telkwa.
The roll top allows for size adjustment. Roll it more and fill it less for more legroom.
Lastly, don’t forget to brush Seam Grip over any fabric edges or fraying will occur.
Something interesting I’ve learned from this project is that an airtight drybag is entirely possible. For example, a 22″ opening reinforced with 3/4″ webbing can be made airtight with twelve fabric folds. No additional hardware is required. However, I tested it with seven folds and it will loosen at high pressures and deflate.
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Hey Krafter, have you seen the screw-on adapter shown here? Merging your design with the Boston Valve screw-on on threads would allow hands-free operation.
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Krafter, have you made any of these adapters and tested them? I want this!
To answer Matt’s question: For my version which is the max pump, no. The pump is not powerful enough to push air through the check valve.
An attachment like this would be a huge godsend. Krafter, If you’ve printed out any of these, I’d happily pay for one as I don’t have a 3-d printer. If you’re interested, can you send me your contact details?
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I think the solution might have been staring us in the face.
Why not maintain your original design, but add an adapter designed to slot over your existing one? We could then cut out an adapter attachment similar to what the Boston valve uses.
If designed with a lip, you’d just need to epoxy one ring to each adapter.
This would have the added benefit of shielding the pins.
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Yes, I’ve tried the smaller design just inflated. It was Alpacka’s offering that made me confident an inflated footrest would work. I filled the bag as full as possible without using a mechanical pump. The issue is that your feet don’t apply even pressure on the footrest when paddling. It only felt solid once you added an object and pushed out all the air.
Maybe it’s possible to get it firmer. There may also be a solution by dividing the internal area into two separate compartments. You could probably use an internal wall to limit compression to a single direction. For me, retaining foot space storage is a must, so these experiments were never tried.
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The pumps are easily worth it. It’s so much better than inflating a boat manually. Plus they are great for filling air mattresses, inflatable life jackets, and helping campfires. I’m honestly surprised they aren’t just standard kit with these boats.
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Yes, the valve used for the seat.
It would be interesting if your design could be modified in a way that would be workable for both the Boston Valve and these seat valves.
Carrying multiple adapters isn’t practical when using these boats for something like portage backpacking. Too easy to lose small accessories.
I bet a similar design without the air windows and maybe a slight modification to the nozzle tip would do the trick. What do you think?
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The pictures were helpful. Yes, I’ll look into that.
Question. Have you tried to see if this adapter works with the smaller inflation valves Matt sells? Currently, I have one of the white adapters that came with the Flextail pump epoxy’d on permanently. It fits loosely over the valve’s head but is sufficient to get these smaller objects filled quickly while still fitting snuggly into the Boston Valve so long as the top is completely removed.
It would be nice if this adapter could be configured as a one-size-fits-all setup.
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Hello Matt.
Okay. I’ll post something on the skirts when I have time.
Nice! A four-point leg strap system would be a great option for builders.
On the issue of flex, I don’t notice anything unless I’m facing directly into the wind with light choppy waves. The bow tends to bounce on these. I don’t recall this feeling any different from my early tests with the backrest sitting against the stern. However, I’m extremely light.
After using the FlextailGear pump I tend to blow until I physically can’t force air into it any further. I find these boats are best inflated as firmly as possible.
FlextailGear recently released a high-pressure battery pump specifically intended for inflatable boats. It even has an adapter for Boston Valves. I might get this pump sometime this year and see how it compares. With their original pump, I have to unscrew the one-way valve and awkwardly screw the cap on quickly as the pump lacks the pressure needed to fill through the one-way valve.
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Hi Matt! Hope all is well. Yes, I’d be happy to have any of these projects benefit you or others on your site.
I could possibly write dedicated step-by-step instructions with diagrams for the leg straps, backrest, sail, removable skeg mount, or anything else here. Contact me by email if you like (same email as my account).
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Below are photos that didn’t make it into the build posting below. For some reason, if I add too many pictures, it either deletes the post or does strange things to the images.
Referenced pump and glued-on included accessory configuration that fits both the Boston valves and the top-up valves. Note that for both, the pump friction fits on so well that it can be left unattended until about 90-95% full inflation.
Below is an image of the aluminum binding post and screw. These are a lightweight and great option for a secure removable skeg. Originally I only had the skeg sitting in a slot. After my first trip, both rafts lost their skegs, necessitating this upgrade.
Again, I can’t recommend a skeg enough. A skeg offers a very noticeable improvement to the way the boat tracks in the water. It seems less energy is wasted in lateral movements with a skeg. When we each lost our skegs, we knew within a few strokes that they were gone.
Below is the form for the backrest support:
The idea here is to create a firm, forward, and upright sitting stance. It’s much easier to maintain speed for long river and lake paddles with something like this. Of course, you could also put a dry bag behind your seat, but I find this solution isn’t ideal as drybags tend to compress and shift downwards.
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Packrafts seem to be almost unknown in Ontario. Everyone I encounter asks what these boats are. Canoeists gawk at them. People approach asking if I could build them a raft.
Portages are amazing with packrafts. For anything over 400m we roll them up and strap them to our packs. Hiking a portage with a boat is no longer a chore.
Building the boats was fun but took a lot of time. Most of the effort was spent building out the accessories, testing, and leak-fixing.
A few things I’d do differently:
If I built another boat, I’d weld wider overlaps and reinforcement strips for everything.
I’d buy way more Seam Grip. I used it a lot. On my first boat, it became a kind of crutch for some bad welds.
I’d seam grip in reinforcement patches over the corner joints.
I’d shuffle the coaming tube around the slot more before cutting it to size. The larger, the better.
Attachment point style 1 needs revision. This is the version with two slits. I found that after a couple of test trips, Four of these attachment points started to leak from webbing abrasion. To fix this, all these attachment points required sealing from the inside. This style should be updated to account for this problem.
A few things I did:
Every exposed edge of fabric got an application of Seam Grip. This avoids fraying.
On my spray skirt and deck, I added velcro strips and marked the spots with paint. The velcro allows for quicker sprayskirt attachment. A few strips of velcro are not enough to get you stuck in the boat.
Added a pull loop on the front of the spray skirt for rapid exit.
Added a tab on the rear of the skirt and the deck ring to better line up the rear velcro.
Added suspenders to the spray skirt. The spray skirt has a habit of slowly falling down without them.
I replaced the coaming ring with a larger and thicker nylon tube. The Tube can be found on Amazon Canada item# “B07KVNJF8H”. It’s 3/8″ ID 0.47″ OD, 10 feet. This tube offers a much more sturdy ring:
I made custom 4-point adjustable leg straps. Here is the form for anyone that wants it:
Note that the dimensions might be a little different if you are a taller person. I’m pretty small at 5′-7″. 3/4 polypropylene was used (avoid Nylon as it absorbs water) on the bottom edge and the top “U” shape. I used 1/2″ webbing on the two side slopes.
To make the leg straps, you can iron 150GSM leftovers to the webbing. You’ll also need to sew it down. Ironing is not enough, it will delaminate. I don’t have a sewing machine so I sewed it by hand. Consider using a UHMWPE thread rather than Nylon. Nylon isn’t nearly as strong, abrasion resistant, and absorbs water. In Canada, you can get this cheaply and easily at Amazon Canada item#”B081X6P9HT”. Reaction fishing tackle. Use 65lbs.
For comfort, you may want to use the welding iron to merge the 1/2″ and 3/4″ straps where they intersect. You can use a welding iron to completely merge polypropylene webbing easily. It’s a lot less likely to snag on clothes if you do this.
Next, add attachment points and D rings. Be sure to test where the attachment points should go by sitting in your boat. You can make the straps adjustable. This involves looping the bottom webbing through the front attachment point and back through a tri-glide or cam-buckle placed near where those two measurement arrows meet. Personally, I don’t find I need to adjust my leg straps and would just skip this feature if I had to make leg straps again.
I built five additional attachment points into the backrest to hold it firmly in place.
I made a separate inflatable fill bag to sit behind the backrest. This makes it so the backrest sits firm, upright, and forward. It’s a huge quality-of-life improvement to the feel. This upgrade should come standard for the boats. Here is how I built it:
I added an MRS skeg to the rear:
A skeg is a must-have for any flatwater paddling. The difference using the skeg is huge. With a skeg, the boat travels further without paddling and doesn’t immediately spin around if you stop paddling. A slot can be made using leftover fabric. Use a base layer of 250GSM, then glue together a layer of 480 and 250:
Be aware that a slot, no matter how tight, will allow the skeg to fall out if caught on something underwater. To prevent that, you could opt to glue it in permanently. There may be an issue for whitewater trips, but I’ve found the boat stern simply rolls over objects like a balloon. Still, it’s possible to design the setup to make it removable. I used something called a binding post and screw.
In Canada, you can get these in aluminum at Home Depot. Stick one end into a drill and use a file to grind down each head. Be sure to leave a little head on the screw. Drill out the existing MRS Skeg hole larger to accommodate the screw. To attach it to the boat, you will need to build up the area under the dowel. I used some double-sided 3M rubber tape plus Seam Grip, but anything rubbery with Seam Grip is a good choice. Once it’s level, cut a rectangular strip of 480GSM and Seam Grip that down on top. You should now have a kind of “hill” with the binding post inside it. Apply additional liberal applications of seam grip to fill any spaces. Be sure not to get it inside the threading. Lastly, cut out a rectangle of 250GSM with a thin rectangle hole inside it. This hole is the opening for the thread. Seam grip that down across everything to give it rock-solid reinforcement.
I noticed areas on the bottom have higher abrasion from beaching actions. To avoid any issues, I added abrasion reinforcement strips. Some of that can be seen in the bottom picture above. This allows me to grind the bottom up against rocky shorelines with basically zero fear of punctures.
There is a little pump from Flextail Gear that is invaluable.
Seam Grip on the included pump attachments as shown above. In this configuration, you can stick the pump directly onto the Boston Value and fill it to about 95% full. It will even stay attached while filling so you can do other tasks. As an added bonus, it will also directly fit over the valve stems Matt sells too. The battery is good for several days of field use. It uses USB-C to charge and fills up two rafts several times a day easily. I love it so much, I’ve even replaced my Thermarest sleeping pad valve with Matt’s stem valve and just use this pump.
There’s an inflatable lifejacket that pairs well with packrafts called the Anfibio Buoy Boy. It’s not cheap, but it’s good for most conditions and far superior to a foam jacket in terms of portability. I wear mine for the hiking portions in deflated state as a vest.
You’ll see that the raft comes with buckles on the front attachment points. I’ve sewn on straps and mating buckles onto a drybag. This makes for easy gear attachment:
I’ve also built my own sail and 5-piece paddle. The sail uses the metal ring from an old ripped-up photography reflector dish I scavenged. I then sewed on Windowblind film. This sells cheaply on Amazon: item#: “B015PY2BY8”. Duck MAX Strength Heavy Duty Insulating Film Window Kit. Seam Grip the stitching to prevent tears, and apply strips of clear 3m construction sheathing tape. This is the stuff Matt recommends for quick field boat repairs.
The five-piece paddle is a cannibalized used Werner paddle. They appear frequently on Facebook Marketplace. I bought carbon-fiber tubes from Aliexpress in 25×21 x500mm x 2 pcs for the inner tubes and 29×25 x500mm x 2 pcs for the outer tubes. This directly matches the industry standard paddle shaft thickness. The inner tubes had to be sanded a bit and epoxy’d in. I drilled holes and added spring clips Amazon ID# “B07T29Y5X8”. The paddles can now fit in my backpack. I created a carbide attachment point and use the shaft as a walking stick, and it’s also the perfect height for my Dan Durston X-Mid tent pole.
Last thing! I used the TPU fabric to create drip catchers for the paddle and for a friend’s paddle, as shown below:
Okay. I think that’s it for now. There’s a ton I could get into, but I think that’s long enough, lol.
One last point: the fabric. It’s not entirely too much to say that I am heartbroken that we can’t access more of that fabric. I know it’s difficult to get ahold of it, and Matt has indicated that direct fabric sales may not be on the cards.
I hope Matt can reconsider. There is so much utility with that TPU fabric. There are experiments I’d love to attempt with it. For starters, I’ve been tossing around the idea of a gigantic, ovular, inflatable sail for the Great Lakes. Is it crazy? Perhaps.
Get that fabric into my hands, and we’ll see just how crazy it really is.
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