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Thanks @studio67, I would be very interested to see some detailed pictures and dimensions of the spray deck!
Hi @OlympicMtnBoy! The packrafts are designed with a fairly narrow cockpit to minimize weight and improve paddle clearance, so a pack will probably not fit between your legs. If you build a Large size, however, you will have an extra 20 cm (8″) of length and a day-pack would probably fit in front of your feet or behind your back.
An alternative would be to add an airtight zipper so you can store most of your gear inside the tubes and just have the essentials out where they can get wet.
@Tomi made this very cool video of his DIY Packraft made from plans! Awesome!!
I used the 210D fabric from the DIY Packraft shop for the multi-colour packraft how-to videos – you can see that it bonds quickly without melting. (I use the same temperature to bond the 40D fabric, too.)
I did a lot of research before deciding what fabrics to purchase for the DIY Packraft shop… I tested TPU-coated fabrics from other suppliers and many of them are not good for heat sealing because the melting temperature of the fabric is too close to the bonding temperature of the TPU, so the nylon melts before the TPU is bonded. It sounds like that is the problem many people are having with fabrics sourced elsewhere.
In general, you should only use nylon-66 because it is stronger and has a much higher melting temperature.
Hi Jared,
A 2-person DIY Packraft is in the works and should be available early in the new year. I wouldn’t recommend trying to carry two people + gear in a Large, unless you were paddling only a short distance – it wouldn’t sink, but it would be mighty cramped!
Is your Clover always too hot on the High setting? I’ve found that mine can get too hot if I leave it sitting on a stand for a while, but then if I rub it on some wood or something for a few seconds before using it, it cools to the right temperature. I think part of the problem is that the stand holds it with the tip slightly elevated, so hot air rises towards the tip, keeping it slightly hotter than it would be if the stand held it tip-down. I might experiment with a new stand to see if this changes anything.
Have you tried boosting the “Mid” temperature by wrapping a bit of aluminum foil around the shaft?
The Top-Flight sealing iron is nice because its temperature is adjusted by a dial, so it can be fine-tuned, but it’s really too wide for making packrafts so I don’t recommend it. I built my first packraft with it, but it was painfully slow because I couldn’t use the flat part of the iron (too wide), just the tip and the edges. I have the temperature set to “3” for sealing the fabrics I offer, though some other TPU-coated fabrics melt at this temperature. The videos that feature this iron were shot before I got the Clover.
Hi Larry,
A 1/8″ overlap won’t be a problem, so I recommend centering the piece in the available space without trimming it.
Out of curiosity, which piece is it?
Cheers
Hi Larry,
Never fear! Where there is a will, there is a way.
You might be able to re-heat the ends with your iron and coax them apart while they’re hot. If this just makes a mess of things, leave them as-is and you can glue the end of the seam fabric to the outside of the floor. In Step 3 you will add some glue to the inside of this area anyway to ensure it’s airtight.
I will take a look at the instructions and see if I can flag this better so others don’t make the same mistake. To be honest though, I’ve done the same thing myself on once or twice, so I don’t know how much it’ll help!
Check out Marco’s boat in the water: Facebook album
