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Don’t worry – that’s normal. It looks like you’re doing a good job. Sorry for the confusion.
The answer to your question is directly below the text you quoted – it’s even referred to by the asterisk in the quoted section 🙂
Since switching to the 450 GSM floor fabric, I get this question a lot, so I keep moving the information, thinking “Now people will notice it,” but clearly I am wrong… maybe it’s time for a new video.
Great idea! I find that the weight of the iron’s cord sometimes drags the light aluminum stand off my table – this would certainly solve that problem!
Impressive work – thanks for documenting your project! It’s very cool! I’m sure other people will want to follow your lead.
Don’t worry – if you do a good job sealing the remaining 1″ of fabric to the floor it will be more than strong enough. I design the overlaps to be much wider than necessary for a strong bond, and even half the width there is more than strong enough, assuming proper heat sealing technique over the entire weld. Sealing the cut-off piece of fabric to the floor wouldn’t help because it’s not connected to anything – the only reason I can think of why it might make sense to do that is if your iron is wider than the remaining part that will be sealed to the floor (to avoid ironing TPU directly), but because you trimmed it, I assume that isn’t the case.
If a reinforcing strip will give you peace of mind, you can add one to the outside of the packraft covering where the floor meets the tube. In most packraft models that would be on the bottom of the packraft and not noticeable, but on one where the floor wraps up above the waterline (e.g. Telkwa) that would be visible, so I would probably use black fabric and reinforce all the way around the packraft to make it look like it’s supposed to be that way. But again, it’s not really necessary for strength.
Hi Kyle, I usually have a bit of misalignment there too and it’s not a problem (and being on the bottom of the packraft, it’s not noticeable). As long as the combined length of each edge (floor + tube) is the same, you can iron the strip on without any wrinkles in one tube or the other.
Interesting – yeah, the ones I have are different brands than yours, but they do take a long time to heat up using 120V (at least ten minutes), and one of them has a bogus ground like yours. I haven’t noticed the temperature varying too much in either of them though.
Interesting! Thanks for posting this… it is a bit worrying that the safety features aren’t as advertised, but we should never leave these irons plugged in unattended anyway, so maybe it’s not such a concern.
I didn’t quite follow the steps to the conclusion that it’s only suitable for 240V – can you explain your reasoning?
I would suggest placing it across the top of the seat so it can wrap around the corners and not cross any seams. Locate it closer to one edge or the other so you can sit on the seat without it being right in the middle.
Amazing achievement! It’s a really impressive feat of endurance, and on a beautiful, historic trail. Thanks for posting!
Thanks for the tip about the swimmers’ paddles, too. I’m curious, do you find it easier to paddle forwards or backwards with them?
Excellent work as usual, Ken!
I think the zipper will be fine there, but if you notice any issues, please tell us. Thanks!
Step 4 in the Ultralight instructions has as much information about the form as is posted elsewhere… there aren’t really “instructions” – just pictures and diagrams and a description.
For anyone who hasn’t purchased a kit, there are also pictures and a description on the Heat Sealing page (under the How-To menu).
Hi Max – well done for sticking with the project!
I think trimming the slit will be the best approach here. It might make a slight dimple in the tube there when it’s inflated, but that part will be underwater, so it won’t be very noticeable.
If you have a seam strip that is longer than required, you could extend the slit a bit farther into the floor (an inch or two) so you can trim up to the other end of 4L and make the trimmed slit edge a bit less curved.
Alternatively, using an extra wide seam strip could help here, but honestly I think it would be pretty difficult to execute well, so trimming the slit is probably the better option.
Hi Allen,
I would start here: https://www.diypackraft.com/faq/why-is-my-airtight-zipper-leaking/
