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That’s awesome! Congratulations, Jim, and thanks for posting!
I had the pleasure of finally meeting Bruce and his family recently – what a great guy!
I’m really glad you’re enjoying your Telkwa, and it looks like you did great work, but using my design to make another packraft without asking for permission is really not cool.
Hmm, that’s unusual… I’ve actually never seen that before. Could you send me some pictures from the inside of the cockpit, and maybe take one or two shots through the valve opening so I can see where tubes 4L and 4R are attached to the floor (if possible)? It does look like something might be separating there, but I can’t tell why. Can you see if the TPU is separating from the woven fabric, or if the TPU layers are coming apart like they weren’t fully welded? Just throwing out a hypothesis, if you focused on those areas a lot, maybe the excessive ironing broke the bond between the TPU and the woven fabric? If that’s the case, adding a line of stitching with a heavy-duty needle and thread might be the best fix, and/or gluing with something like Clifton LA 4123 Urethane Adhesive.
If you’re using a pump to inflate it, be careful not to put much more pressure into the packraft than you can do by mouth, because that could be part of the problem.
Very cool! I was thinking about foot rests just before you posted this, because I’m testing out a new seat, somewhat similar to yours. The footrest looks like a great design. I’m curious if you’ve tried using it without stuff inside it, just inflated – you mentioned that the larger one felt like pressing against a balloon, but I wonder if this one would feel better. I ask because on a day trip, people might not have stuff to put inside, and also I see that Alpacka uses an inflatable footrest in their whitewater boats.
Very cool! I should really get one of those pumps… and a 3D printer! I’m seeing some great ideas lately.
What a cool idea! Thanks for sharing. This might deserve to be a whole forum topic on its own.
It’s an interesting idea to use prongs to hold the check valve open – is the pump not strong enough to pump air through the valve, or does it just work faster that way?
In my tests, the D-rings themselves break at about 45 kg or 99 pounds load (on average), and the attachment point itself should be stronger than that, but over time things could wear. If I were you, I’d probably use it as-is but keep an eye on it and if it looks like distributing the load over one or two more points would help, then it looks like you have room for some Type-2 attachment points in front and beside that one.
I’ve never tried it, but I don’t think it would be a problem… I would try it in an inconspicuous area and see how it looks, and if it doesn’t melt or do weird things, carry on.
Thanks for the report, Zach. It sounds like it would be good to have one of those as a secondary iron for little finicky things and hard to reach places. I might pick one up. Cheers
Hi Mateo, don’t worry – it’s not hard to fix! If you look ahead to the Front Center Seam step and scroll down near the bottom of the page, there are instructions in case you run into a similar situation: https://www.diypackraft.com/construction/how-to/instructions-telkwa-kits/telkwa-assembly-front-center-seam/
Cheers!
I’m not familiar with that product, but it sounds great. I would test it by ironing some scrap fabric over it to the point that the TPU melts and sticks to the parchment paper, and then let it cool and see if it peels cleanly away without leaving any residue.
I don’t think it’ll be a problem – if anything, it will probably be stronger than it was originally, now that it’s sandwiched between two layers of fabric. If it happens again though on a different seam, I would wait to patch it until after the adjacent tubes are attached, because you’ll have to work around that bottom patch when you finish off the seam strip – not a big deal though.
It looks like my previous response got lost… hmmm 🙁
Awesome posts! Could you send me a picture or drawing of your changes to the spray skirt? I’m happy to change the design if that would make it more useful. I was also testing a version of your thigh straps here before freeze-up, and a more forward seating position.
One thing I noticed with the forward seating position is there’s more flex in the boat (the rear tubes flex upwards in waves unless the air pressure is quite high in the tubes). What are your thoughts/experiences?
