Made a four piece from a two piece using this method. Had to sand down the new sticks a little bit. Parts from Amazon. Only needed two 50mm sticks of 27mm OD tube. Thanks!
@@DIYPackraft yeah I saw that in your video. I'll keep it in mind for a mod. My friend does wood burning and has needed a large iron for covering large areas of black.
Dude, after buying the UL kit in black, I am still sealing after several days. I so regret buying DIY packraft, and when I am Finnish I would be surprised if it floats at all or don't leak...
I’m sorry that the experience hasn’t matched your expectations! It seems like you’re pretty frustrated, which I’m sorry to see. Making a packraft isn’t the best choice for everyone, but I do try to educate people about the products, the construction process, and the time commitment so they can make an informed decision before they buy a kit. There’s also a forum and detailed customer build reports on the website so anyone can ask questions and see what other customers are saying. If you have feedback, I will appreciate it.
It’s definitely not something that can be rushed. I felt like as I was doing mine I had to force myself to slow down. It was frustrating at times as I slowly moved 1-2 inches. End product turned out great but it comes down to how meticulous you have to be to get it right in the end.
It can seem tedious, but maybe just adjust your expectations about the time investment and just pace it out a little bit-- it's worth the effort. I built a Telkwa from them a few years ago and I found that it took pretty much exactly as long as the instructions said it would. Probably 40 hours for the boat and maybe 10 more for the extras (TiZip, spray deck and skirt, attachment points, stuff like that.) When I was building it I would just throw on a podcast and put in an hour or two each evening after work and after a few weeks of that, it was done. It seemed really slow at the time (I might finish one tube section in a 1-2hr session) but it adds up quick. In the end my boat turned out bomber. I've been running class III-IV water in it for three seasons now.
The volume of a mountain bike tire is about 5 litres, but the volume of a packraft is about 300 litres. Even accounting for the packraft’s lower air pressure, it would take an hour of steady pumping to inflate one with a bike pump.
Built my Atlin last March. So many great adventures! Your trip across Vancouver Island sold me on the purchase. Looking forward to making more and having more adventures.
Hi, may i ask if you are aware of any to way to attach mylar to the inside of the pillow or other inflatables? Like there is in inflatable pads? I would like to experiment with something so that why I'm asking. Thanks
My first raft had a lot of surface defects . So i thinned out polyurethane roof caulking to sprayable consistancy . It bonded wrll enough to claim reliability and forgetability . I sprayed the whole raft on the outside . This gave a distinctive black ops looking packraft with great abrasion resistance . The raft looks like it could be in a rambo movie and its surface finish is uniform and flat in sheen . Been 4 years or so and its lasted and no delamination. I didnt roughen the urethane surface and the polyurethane roofing vaulk stayed bonded through repeated rolling . I have a second raft that is pretty good so i plan on testing out sandblasting the surface to see if the thinned out polyurethane caulking coating will bond even better . Im a tinkerer . I once put on a custom fiberglass hull on an original alpaca . I then attached a 3 hp gas outboard to the front of the raft that had a breakaway transom mount for the outboard . Since it was on the front , when i hit shallow water i just hit the gas which lifted the front end of the raft out of the water a bit and it would cavitate but still remain mobile until i got back to deeper water. I was the only gas powered boat on the big sioux river and in effect the river was mine as it was too shallow for motors .
The iron stays hot whether it’s on the fabric or not, and generally I want the fabric to cool down faster after the iron is removed, not slower, so that hasn’t been something I’ve experimented with.
Is it different material? I know it is thinner. Iron melt through easily. But I used cake paper between to prevent it stick together. I think not as strong as your weld. All the backpack has waterproofing inner lining. that seems stick to wolven putter layers. Instead using iron, how about use heat gun and rubber roller. Will that work?
Excellent. I wonder if they make much smaller ports for silicone tubing to be screwed into. Trying to prototype a cooling vest. Your videos are extremely helpful!!!!
Thank you so much for this video!!!! I've been trying to learn about welding this kind of stuff together so i can prototype a cooling suit, and you've given me almost all the instructions I need. I can't believe you dont have more views. Thanks!!!!
It’s a 220V iron but it’s plugged into a 110V circuit. A 110V iron should take the same amount of time, because the iron needs to be at the same temperature to make the welds either way.
Just search for “leather iron” on Aliexpress and choose one that looks similar and has the ability to adjust the temperature. They are sold under various brand names, but many of them look like they came from the same factory. I have made other videos about the irons and the ironing technique, and there’s more info on my website.
Yes, it’s more robust. This soldering iron was a bit flimsy, but maybe a different kind would be stronger (this one was almost all plastic). I think the soldering iron is still a decent idea, but I haven’t played around with it in a long time.
I have thought about doing this and it would be easier in some situations but it might need to be removable so you could still use the iron in tight inside corners. As explained in the video, you don’t need to press very hard with the iron, you just need to press firmly enough so the fabric is flattened beneath it, and then you can press hard with the roller after the iron is removed. So yes, I think it’s a good idea if you have time to experiment with it, but it’s not really necessary if you don’t want to.
I took a look at your website but I can't seem to find where to buy the fabric. I've got an idea in mind but it has nothing to do with building floating boats.
Wow, I have so many things I want to try to make now. This is amazing, thanks for sharing this. Also, I am going to order a raft at some point. Probably will start with a dry sack first.
Hola, en argentina no consigo TPU, tengo la planchita pero al PVC No lo pega, solo lo derrite pero no se fuciona, se despega, que material puedo usar, es para uso personal
