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I used a cheap hot air soldering station for three packrafts (Telkwa, 2P and UL). I think you will find it with different names, but it’s always something with “858D”. I bought this: https://www.amazon.de/Digital-Desoldering-Reparatur-Werkzeug-Elektrowerkzeuge/dp/B074N1FR9N
I dialed it to 270 °C and intensity of 3.5 for the normal Telkwa/Skeena-Fabric, and to 300 °C and 1.0 for the UL fabric. That worked like a charm. The seams are very consistent and clean and, if you are careful, without any air bubbles.
I used it for all of the seams and for difficult corners. For other parts (like soldering the main pieces to the floor) I used the leather iron. In those areas, the iron is a little bit faster.
If you have more questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Christian
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I finished my third packraft a couple of weeks ago. This time it was an Ultralight.
Matt, you wrote this is the easiest, but for me it was more difficult than the others. The fabric is so thin, that I was afraid I will damage it just from looking at it. I was very carefully and quite slow. In the last hour, when I finished the last bit of the rear seam I did one final mistake. I put my hot air gun for a split second near the fabric and burned a hole in it :-(. But fortunately, I could fix this quite easily.
I sealed all seams with a double layer of Aquaseal. Have not a tiny leak so far!
Again, it was a great project! Your instructions are absolutely awesome. Never have seen something that detailed.
And here one picture of my packraft fleet. Only the Skeena is missing. Will build that too.
Christian
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Couple of weeks ago I finished my two packrafts! Telkwa and 2-Person.
It was awesome to build these. I really enjoyed it! The Telkwa was the first and it took me about 3 weeks. I was not very fast, but was afraid of doing any mistakes. I did some, but nothing major. Had some very minor leaks at the zipper.
The second (2-Person) took me about 1,5 weeks. It did not have a wrap around floor, so for me it was much easier to build. And I learned quite a lot with the telkwa. The 2-Person had no leaks and was airtight right from the beginning.
For both packrafts I used the Leather Iron and an hot air soldering station (858D). With the hot station I could weld the seamstrips very consistently. In my tests the welds are very strong and mostly without any airbubbles.
When Matt is back from his trip I will order the Ultralight and Skeena as well!
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Harald,
now it is much clearer and my valves are mostly the same as yours. I was a little bit afraid to drill a hole in the cap, because I thought I will not get it airtight again.
Also thinking about installing a second valve without a flap, for deflation. This will make rolling up the packraft much easier. But for now I open the zipper a little bit. Works the same.
I glued another cap in the inflation bag. Works great and is simple.
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I used a heat gun to do some tricky spots on my packrafts. I used the “858D Heat Gun” (search for it on AliExpress). I flattened the smallest nozzle slightly with pliers. This allowed me to direct the airflow much more precisely onto the seams. I don’t recall the exact settings (temperature and airflow) right now, but if you need me to look them up, let me know and I’ll check. Oh and we have 220v here in germany. Therefore for 110v, the settings may need to be adjusted slightly.
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Would love to hear your experience with the durability of that UL packraft. I have one as well, and am always a little bit in fear, that it could rip apart at some small stone/rock beneath the water surface.
My UL packraft is built with the older UL fabric. I don’t know, if the newer fabric is more durable or if there is any difference. Maybe Matt can say something about it.
Christian
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@FJ Guy: I would order a cheap Leather Iron of Aliexpress like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32833241758.html It works really great and I think better than those Coverite Irons.
Christian
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