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.