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Modifyed soldering iron. Bought on eBay and the iron is a 60 watt iron with adjustment on the output heat. The iron shoetip is from another soldering iron also bought on eBay, but that iron did not delivered the propper heat. The iron fot is the cut down to 25mm with and the tickness under the fot then grined down about 5 mm so the heat transfer…[Read more]

Awesome!! Thanks for posting, Jeremy!

I managed to take the V2 packraft on a recent trip to Eugene, OR.  Packrafted the McKenzie River including a nice Class III ! Last picture you can see the obvious result of whitewater in an open bucket boat (completely swamped full of water). If I was doing a lot of whitewater I’d definitely want a spray deck!  I need to make a seat, the camp p…[Read more]

Bought another tube of Aquaseal last night and patched a few more leaks at the joints. Still had a small leak somewhere… may end up installing a zipper next to help me finally seal this boat.

Also just put together a seat, simply folded the extra floor material in half and used the extra strip material as pseudo baffles – one popped off…[Read more]

Bought plans from Matt, size large. Fabric fra extremtextil, 210 D tpu singel coated side for tubes and dobbel coated side 210 D for floor. Heating and bonding this together is no problem if you have the right tool. I´m using Coverite 21ST Century Sealing Iron on max temp and it is no problem to bond. Ok the fabric is lower quality than Matt is of…[Read more]

Update and current recommendations

I tested the Valad HS-3T heat sealing iron. It is the one unit I could not recommend for use with TPU coated Nylon-66 fabric.

The Valad Electrical Company hand held Heat Sealing Iron, model HS-3T, is a 165 watt stainless steel iron that I purchased for $15, well used, on eBay. It can also be purchased new for…[Read more]

Lyn,

I wanted to extend my corner tube out several inches to provide more flexibility in the connection, but it required more fabric. It looks to me like Exped is using valves similar to the new red valves now available on DIY, but with an additional smaller connecting link. The 7/8 OD silicone tubing works great, but I don’t think it’s such a…[Read more]

Cool! Thanks for posting 😀

Well, I’ve got it most of the way together. I definitely forgot some steps, like folding little tabs at the joints, and have had to make up for it with a lot of aquaseal. Also had several seams not come together just right, so plenty of wrinkles at a few spots.

But wow! It’s really looking like a boat now, and it’s so small!

Still patching some…[Read more]

Have you considered adding a spout to it, like the Exped Schnozzel Pump? The schnozzel comes out of the side, not the bottom, so you can rest the bag on the ground away from whatever is being inflated and just “fall” on it. After a hard day when you feel like collapsing rather than inflating your sleeping mat, being able to ‘collapse’ on the pump…[Read more]

I’ve started using my Jingda “leather” iron again after all. Having ground and filed the bottom flat and the width down to 24mm, it really is quite good. The minimal temperature drift and massive heat retention is excellent. As for the shoe on mine bubbling, it has to be poor metallurgy. I have to assume that it’s made from recycled alloys, and…[Read more]

Update to Sealing Iron Review

I misspelled the name of the leather iron manufacturer: It is Jingda. Sorry for the typo.

Valad heat sealing irons are manufactured in Montgomery New York, made in the USA. Their website is: http://heaters.valadelectric.com/item/electric-heat-sealers/hs-3t-heat-sealers/item-1115

I have placed an inquiry to Valad…[Read more]

Using the new 40D ripstop is a fast and simple way to fashion an inflation bag. Took me about two hours. I used 1 meter of 40D fabric, less than 2 meters of 1/2″ thin nylon webbing, a plastic buckle, D ring, and I will insert a 7/8″ Silicon tubing into a bottom corner when it comes in the mail. I intend to plug the tubing with a cork, from the…[Read more]

Thanks for your review, Bruce!