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Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 4 days, 18 hours ago
Shipping to Europe
Until recently, shipping via Canada Post was an affordable way to send DIY Packraft parcels to Europe. Unfortunately the EU has implemented new rules […] -
Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Prototyping inflatable hull shapes in the forum DIY Packrafts 1 week, 4 days ago
No problem – sounds great!
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Prototyping inflatable hull shapes in the forum DIY Packrafts 1 week, 5 days ago
For quick prototyping I’ve used clear polyethylene plastic sheeting (sold as vapour barrier for home construction or floor/furniture protection while painting) held together with vapour barrier tape. Both are available at building supply stores (in North America, at least).
Often making things smaller is significantly more difficult because it’s…[Read more]
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Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 4 weeks, 1 day ago
Inflatable Floor Inserts
If you have a DIY Packraft Atlin, Skeena, or Telkwa and you’d like to make it self bailing and/or improve its stiffness in whitewater, I’m now […] -
Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 1 month, 3 weeks ago
DIY Packrafting the Nahanni
The Nahanni River in Canada’s Northwest Territories is one of the world’s premier paddling destinations, and earlier this month six DIY Packrafters […]-
What a place to be able to paddle!! Great photos. 💙
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Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 2 months ago
Tariff Update
The Trump administration has imposed 50% tariffs on drybags made in Canada. That means that if you live in the US then you’ll have the privilege of […]-
Just an update: I received my UL kit on Sept 21st and UPS charged me $27.50
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Unless they made a mistake then the charges should be for other items in the parcel.
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Chilko XL Internal Length? in the forum DIY Packrafts 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Yeah, I think the Skeena XL is a much better option for taking a small passenger. It’ll be much roomier.
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Chilko XL Internal Length? in the forum DIY Packrafts 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The internal length is about 1.50 m. Cheers
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Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 3 months ago
Deck Bag/Day Pack
Muriel Chahine strikes again with this ingenious deck bag that converts into a day pack! “I really like it,” she wrote in her email. “Quite a bit […]-
Great job Muriel Chahine!! The bag looks awesome!
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Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 3 months ago
Chilko Spray Deck
Chilko kits are now available with a spray deck and spray skirt (as opposed to the self-bailing model). Thanks to Nicolas Schneiter for […] -
Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 3 months ago
Chilko Surfing Video
Thanks to Nick MacLean for trying out the Chilko so I could get this shot! There are dangerous holes on either side of this wave, so it takes skill to surf here safely. -
Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Flaking/peeling floor in the forum DIY Packrafts 3 months, 4 weeks ago
Hmm, I haven’t heard of anything like that before, but it kind of sounds like the previous builder spread some kind of sealant over the fabric, thinking it would provide extra protection, but it didn’t stick to the TPU very well. Does that fit what you’re seeing?
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic DIY Packraft Photos in the forum DIY Packrafts 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Awesome, thanks for posting! I can probably do a multi for you next week – send me an email to discuss. Cheers!
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Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 5 months, 1 week ago
Tariff Refunds!
If you’ve been following the US tariff drama, you may know that the US Supreme Court deemed many of the tariffs illegal back at the end of February. […] -
Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 6 months, 1 week ago
New Footrest Kit
The new Chilko whitewater packraft kit will include an inflatable footrest, and I’ve decided to offer the footrest as a standalone kit too, so those […] -
Matt (Admin) wrote a new post 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Meet the Chilko Self-Bailer
After binning more prototypes than I care to admit, the Chilko whitewater packraft is finally here! As you can see in the pictures below, its […]-
Heck yeah finally! 😀
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Well, it looks like I will need, or at least want, to build another boat this fall! 🤞
That is one great looking boat!
Do you have an approximate price for the spray deck when it releases? Or is it too early to speculate?-
Thanks!
If all goes as expected, the spray deck should be the same or a similar price to the other spray decks.-
Excellent! I will probably be waiting until the new year to do this as a winter project. I am also hoping that my health and wellness benefit through my insurance will consider this a healthy activity and they will reimburse me a portion of the cost. It certain promotes a healthy lifestyle which saves them money in the long-term.
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Ha! That’s a great idea 😀
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This looks sweet, Matt! Competition with the Mage at 30% of the cost, and over a pound lighter. I would love to see some footage of it in whitewater.
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Thanks! The rivers are flooding here, but I hope to be able to do that soon!
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Somehow I missed this announcement. Great to see your leg straps and inflatable floor designs mature into a new boat!
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Looks awesome Matt! Do you think it would be possible to modify it to have smaller diameter tubes by using more overlap when sealing the tube fabric to the floor fabric, or would that mess up the geometry of the boat? Would love a whitewater focused boat that paddles more like a kayak, and lower volume tubes would help (I know this is really difficult to pull off in practice). Regardless, awesome work and I’m glad to see you’re still putting out new rafts! My skeena is one of my prized possesions and I’m glad to see the diypackraft dream lives on.
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Hmm, unfortunately the geometry wouldn’t work out, but that’s great to hear!
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic New users say "Hi" here to prove you are not a Spam Bot in the forum DIY Packrafts 7 months, 1 week ago
Welcome!
Just scroll down to the bottom of the topics list when you’re logged in and you should see a form to create a new topic there.
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Heat-sealing tools in the forum DIY Packrafts 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Hi, some people have used hot air welders successfully, but I tried it and couldn’t get it to work well myself. I found that I needed three hands, and it was difficult to direct the heat only on the areas I wanted to weld.
I’m not sure if an iron will work on the banner vinyl material you have.
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Ultralight backrest and backband in the forum DIY Packrafts 7 months, 3 weeks ago
I don’t normally include the back band parts with the ultralight seat kits, but I can if you want. I think it would work fine, but I haven’t tried it, so I’m not 100% sure. Just send me an email if you’re thinking about ordering one and you want those parts.
Most of the weight savings in the ultralight seat kit comes from the seat bottom, which…[Read more]
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Matt (Admin) replied to the topic Layering fabrics? in the forum DIY Packrafts 9 months, 1 week ago
Yes and no… You can layer fabrics together to make something stronger, but you can’t iron directly onto TPU without making a mess, so at least one of the fabrics has to be coated on only one side. The woven fabric is less resistant to abrasion than the TPU (and soaks up water and dirt, etc.), so depending on the application, that may or may not…[Read more]
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