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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!

Great shot! I love seeing DIY Packrafts in what to me are exotic locations!

That’s a big rubber duck 😀 Looks great!

Got my packraft finished today 🙂 Testing for airleaks..

Comparing Heat Sealing Irons: Clover Mini-Iron, Coverite, Top Flight, and Jandga Electrothermal Products

By: Bruce Campbell

Date: September 4, 2017

Background: I built my first DIY packraft using a Clover Mini-Iron and an old household Iron. They worked, but the Clover is slow and fragile. The old household iron was a challenge to keep hot…[Read more]

Protip:   You can buy 1oz of Aquaseal for $8, or 8oz for $22.   You may as well buy the 8oz, cause you just might need it.