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I haven’t found a readily-available glue that is as strong as a heat welded joint, so instead of gluing the attachment loop to the non-TPU side of the fabric, I would simply cut a hole in the tube and patch it with a piece of scrap so the TPU is on the inside there – then you can attach a loop to the TPU there.
Hi Gustav,
I think that is a very interesting idea, and it could work quite well if made in the way you described. I would first build the packraft and then make the rod holder afterwards, both so you can decide exactly where you want it, and also because after making the packraft you will have a very good understanding of what is possible and what will be too difficult to make. I think the most challenging part will be designing the attachment between the rod holder and the outside of the tube, but perhaps it will be easier if it is made as a straight slot instead of a round hole. To ensure it will work properly and remain airtight, definitely experiment with scrap fabric before you attach your prototype to the packraft. Cheers!
Hi Phil,
Thanks for this question – I’ve been thinking about writing a paddle review/comparison, so this will be a quick preview.
To some extent paddle choice depends on the type of paddling you’ll be doing in your packraft, but here I’m assuming you’ll want to do a little bit of everything and you’re looking for a good all-around paddle.
Because packrafts are wider than kayaks, your low-angle paddling style will work well in a packraft (it’s harder to use a high-angle style with a wide boat because the boat gets in the way unless you’re sitting up really high).
When I’m sea kayaking or canoeing, I like to paddle with a high cadence using a relatively short paddle with small blades (such paddles are often marketed towards women, but I like them too). When I’m packrafting, it’s the opposite: I like large, whitewater style paddle blades on a fairly long shaft. I think this is probably because packrafts yaw a lot more than sea kayaks do during each paddle stroke, so if I use a small paddle (like my Aquabound touring paddle) it feels like it doesn’t grab enough water. Even 5’2″ (157 cm tall) Nikki prefers a large-bladed paddle when we’re packrafting together, so it’s not just me. (That’s a sample size of n=2 though, so take it for what it’s worth.)
My newest paddle is a Werner “Pack-Tour M” 4-piece paddle, which I had high hopes for, but to be honest I’m a bit disappointed with it. It’s quite expensive, a bit too heavy (for my needs), and one of the four pieces is much longer than the others, which is its biggest problem from a packrafting perspective. I don’t have it here at hand, but I measured the longest piece a while ago and I think it was 38″ (97 cm) long or something ridiculous like that. I took it travelling earlier this year and it barely fit in my giant 80-litre backpack with the pack’s top extended. I worried about the paddle getting damaged every time I checked in to a flight or set my pack down on concrete. Werner should have made all four pieces the same length… hopefully they’ll do that in the future. One cool feature of the “Pack-Tour M” is its adjustable length (220 or 240 cm). It’s quite robust, too, with fiberglass blades and a carbon/glass shaft.
I haven’t tried any of Aquabound’s 4-piece paddles yet, but they’re a quality brand that’s been around forever and their prices are much more reasonable than the boutique and luxury brands. Their carbon paddles are really light, too. I’d like to try the “Shred” and the “Manta Ray” – if I get a chance, I’ll write about them.
As far as paddle length goes, I would err on the long side for packrafting because of the packraft’s width – I’ve seen some YouTubers packrafting with short whitewater paddles and if you watch closely you can see that often they can’t get the whole blade into the water because the shaft is too short for the width of their boats.
On the water, my favourite packrafting paddle is a discontinued 215 cm carbon 2-piece paddle with large blades (a hand-me-down from Nikki’s mom). It’s only 750 grams, which is very light for a stiff paddle, but being a 2-piece I don’t really consider it a good packrafting paddle as it’s much too long for hiking or air travel.
I’ve also tried a Greenland-style paddle when packrafting in the ocean and those long skinny blades worked quite well. Again though, I would have preferred a longer paddle than the one I tried.
If you’ve read elsewhere that some people prefer a shorter paddle when packrafting, it must be a matter of personal preference. If that’s the case, I recommend trying several paddles before you buy one to at least get a feel for what different lengths/blade sizes/weights/stiffnesses feel like.
If there’s a paddling shop in your area I would ask them if you can try some different paddles before buying one, or see if they’re planning a gear demo day when they’ll let people try stuff on the water. The people working there are unlikely to have any packrafting experience, so take their advice with a grain of salt. Alternatively, if there’s a paddling club in your area maybe you can meet some people there who will let you try their paddles. Make sure you test them in your packraft though, because they will feel different if you’re paddling a different boat. (At this point, don’t worry if the ones you try aren’t 4-piece paddles – you just want to get a feel for the different options.)
Having the right paddle has a significant effect on your packrafting experience, but sometimes a cheap aluminum paddle is the right choice, so don’t feel like you have to spend a bunch of money on something fancy if what you already have is working for you. Aluminum paddles with plastic blades are usually lighter than fiberglass paddles, and their strength is adequate for most flat-water paddling.
There’s also the DIY option – if you look back through the blog you can see at least one example of an ultralight DIY carbon paddle!
Hi Robin,
Sealing around corners definitely gets more difficult the tighter the curves get. This video shows how I do it: https://www.diypackraft.com/construction/how-to/v2/step-6-center-seams/
You might consider making the drybag with pointy corners and/or making it slightly oversized, because as long as it’s larger than your backpack it will take on the correct shape regardless of its actual shape outside the pack.
I’m still not sure what each piece is, but maybe it doesn’t matter. Can you make two patches, one for the inside and one for the outside? They could be sealed each other in the middle and to the pieces in the picture around the edges wherever TPU contacts TPU. In the spots where there is no TPU on either side you could sew it together and then use Aquaseal (that is the conventional way of fixing packrafts and it works fine).
Hi Matteo, together we will find a way! Can you post some more pictures or draw a diagram to explain the problem? It is difficult to visualize and I’m not sure I understand what must be fixed. Thanks!
Hi Robin – with the lightweight fabric, you may be able to use a slightly lower temperature, and to avoid bubbles I like to use the edge of my iron and slide it outward, rather than using the large flat part. Then it’s important to press on the fabric with a rag or something as it cools so it can’t lift before the weld sets. You may still have an occasional bubble or wrinkle, but it should be airtight. Cheers!
This is an excellent tip! I had just assumed it would be too difficult to turn the tubes inside out so I didn’t even try it. I’ll give it a go on my next build though!
Thanks
In this case I would heat seal them in place as best as possible and add Aquaseal where necessary, and then reinforce the joint with an additional strip of fabric heat sealed on the outside of tube-floor joint.
Hi Jordan,
That sounds like an epic adventure, and that’s the type of trip packrafts are made for! I’d use single-person packrafts with airtight zippers for internal storage… However, I strongly urge you to gain lots of moving-water experience and take a swift-water rescue course before venturing out on a remote, multi-day river trip. There’s no room for mistakes when help is many hours or days away.
On most rivers, paddling speed is largely determined by the current, so I would concentrate on other factors when choosing a boat.
In this case, I think I would heat seal them in place as best as possible and add Aquaseal where necessary, and then reinforce the joint with an additional strip of fabric heat sealed on the outside of the packraft (overlapping the joint between the tube and the floor). I’d add the reinforcing strip after the seam strips were in place joining the tube pieces to tubes 3 and 5 so they don’t interfere with them. Cheers!
