Just a quick note for those wondering if the new US taxes on imported goods (tariffs) will affect their DIY Packraft purchase. The short answer is no. I do not collect a tax when you make a purchase, and none of my US-based customers has reported having to pay a Read more…
Update: December 13 – the fabric is here in BC, it has cleared customs, and all the paperwork is done. Now it awaits transportation to my shop – only a few more days!! More than ten months after I ordered this batch of packraft floor fabric I am still waiting Read more…
Updated June 28, 2022 Unless you’re new to this website, you know that DIY Packraft has been suffering from the same supply chain problems that are affecting other industries, and it’s been many months since I’ve had any packraft kits stock. I was finally able to order more fabric earlier Read more…
TL;DR: Normal order processing times are about a week, but I’m out of fabric, so packraft kits will be unavailable for several months. Sign up here to be notified when kits are in stock. Happy new year! Like many businesses around the world, DIY Packraft has been affected by the Read more…
2021 has been a good year for DIY Packraft, but the supply chain problems that have been plaguing the world have caught up with me and I’m sorry to say that the Telkwa, Ultralight, and 2-Person kits are all sold out, and now I have only enough fabric to make Read more…
Update: Shipping times are mostly back to normal. You may have seen in the news that the Canadian province of British Columbia, where DIY Packraft is located, has experienced severe flooding and that all the highways and railroads leading to the city of Vancouver have been washed away or buried. Read more…
Good news for everyone who has been waiting for airtight zippers to be back in stock – they arrived today! Now I’m catching up on backorders and I’ll do my best to ship them as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience!
Updated March 19, 2021 After being out of stock for about half a year, a new shipment of packraft fabric arrived in February and I received a large number of orders as soon as I announced the packraft kits were back in stock. New orders are coming in at a Read more…
I am very grateful for the number of people who placed orders immediately after I announced the new fabric shipment had arrived, and now I am working to fulfill the orders as quickly as possible. DIY Packraft is just me (Matt), so it’s taking me several days to respond to Read more…
The past several months have sure tested my patience, but barring further delays, the new DIY Packraft fabric shipment will arrive in 2-3 weeks (early to mid-February). Then I will start making packraft kits again! Orders will be processed in the sequence they are received, so if you’re keen to Read more…
I have returned from my 30-day hiking/packrafting trip and I look forward to sharing the details of this fantastic voyage with you, but first I have a large backlog of emails to respond to and plenty of work to do in order to get the DIY Packraft shop up and Read more…
I am embarking on a solo packrafting expedition for several weeks. This is the trip I have been dreaming about for many years, and it’s the reason I started making packrafts in the first place, so in a very real sense, DIY Packraft owes its existence to the idea of Read more…
This is just a heads up that tomorrow will be my last trip to the post office before I leave for my month-long packrafting trip, so today is your last opportunity to purchase a fabric sample pack, valve, etc. (packraft kits are already unavailable). I appreciate your patience and understanding!
Thanks to everyone who has supported DIY Packraft over the years! I will be embarking on a solo packrafting expedition for several weeks later this summer. This is the trip I have been dreaming about for many years, and it’s the reason I started making packrafts in the first place, Read more…
Here are a few pandemic-related questions and their answers (plus a couple of rants), which I will update as things change: Is DIY Packraft still making and shipping packraft kits? Yes! My region has been mercifully spared by the pandemic, so things go on here with few disruptions aside from Read more…
TL;DR: Any order placed during the COVID-19 pandemic may be subject to unavoidable shipping delays; by placing an order, you accept this possibility and agree to wait. For up-to-date postal service status information, check the following links: Available shipping methods by country (outside USA & Canada): International All Postal Service Read more…
All this frightening news about the coronavirus pandemic is enough to make one want to pack a bag and take an extended packrafting trip deep into the backcountry – or at least hole up with some canned food and spend time making packrafts alone. Fortunately, experts at the Centers for Read more…
If you’d like to save some money on a DIY Packraft and give to a worthy charity at the same time, you can bid on a $200 (CAD) DIY Packraft coupon at the annual Rotary Club online auction here. At the time I write this, bidding is at $111, so Read more…
Every so often I think DIY Packraft should have a logo – something beautiful, clever, iconic, and instantly recognizable – like Apple’s apple or the Coca Cola script… but I’m not a world-class graphic designer, so that doesn’t really seem feasible. I’ve considered hiring a designer or a brand consultant Read more…
It’s been a couple of years since I made an introductory video for DIY Packraft, so I thought it was time to make a new one. I don’t really know where to post it, so for now it goes here.
Several people have reported having issues with this website not working properly in their browsers, so I’m making some major changes both behind the scenes and to the design of the site. All the same content will still be here, and hopefully you’ll have a better experience once you get Read more…
TL;DR: Should DIY Packraft give free stuff to online reviewers like Backpacking Light? I’m the type of person who likes to research the hell out of products before I make a purchase, so I regularly read online reviews and watch review videos, and as a consumer I know how helpful Read more…
Please note that Nikki and I will be travelling between August 10th and the 24th, so no orders will be fulfilled between those dates. I will have limited internet access so I may also be slow to respond to emails and forum posts. Orders that have already been placed will Read more…
Note: There is a bug in the forum software that causes some people’s full names to be displayed next to their forum posts, even if they have selected the “Private” option next to the name field when they signed up. Until the software is updated with a bug fix, if Read more…