Diy Packraft?

[Htm84]

Any body have one of these? Stumbled across them the other day. Pretty tempted to give it a try. Seems like the main complaint is people not sealing the seams correctly and having small leaks. Just look to see if anybody has experience assembling one and the pros/cons. Thanks in advance.

 

[ZuluBravo]

I have not made one but did some research awhile back. Pretty much read the same as you. Not taking your time and improper seam sealing are the two biggest challenges with a diy pack raft. You can definitely save some $$ building your own though. If you have the time/space I’d say give it a try!

 

[Htm84]

I have not made one but did some research awhile back. Pretty much read the same as you. Not taking your time and improper seam sealing are the two biggest challenges with a diy pack raft. You can definitely save some $$ building your own though. If you have the time/space I’d say give it a try!

I think I’m gonna give it a go. Probably wait till he gets more fabric back in stock. Wish I would of stumbled across it over the winter.

 

[psirus7]

Anybody try one of these DIY pack raft kits? Definitely interested in some first hand accounts.

 

[Mt Al]

We'z all might want to start a thread in the DIY section, but here goes.

Pasted below is copied from a Moose thread I responded to, but here's the short version:
I've built three, finding leaks is an issue but wider tape and gluing as you go, then after, then again after leak check helps. The new designs are way better. They're fun if you like to make stuff. I've made mine over the winter when I should be chasing coyotes. It takes time to figure out your heat iron, please do a bunch of test seams, then pull them apart to make sure the whole width is sealed/glued. For mine (clover) I keep it at the highest setting, but place the shoe against some cold tile to pull off some heat before sealing seams. Took a while to figure that out. IMHO Bigger = better especially for hunting. Read the forum, especially the guy who's big one failed in Alaska.

Pasted below is my recent response to a moose thread.




Sorry for this long reply

I’ve built three DIY packrafts and would like to be referred to from now on as the “The Packraft Kid”.

**For two chamber concerns, the best way in a DIY packraft or even Alpaca is to buy or build air tight chambers and stuff them through the zippers into the tubes, with the fill valves towards the zipper obviously. I’m going to do that for two of my rafts, then there will be flotation on both sides if the main chamber goes south.

First build was a Version 2 with some TPU fabric that I had. At that time Matt sold patterns and fabric by the yard. It’s great, light, packs small and holds air long enough but it was tough to find all the small leaks. There’s no way I could put myself, my pack and a boned out deer in it without concern. I think it would float, but not much room at all.

Given the concern about carrying space, I then I built the last version of their 2 person raft, the Voyageur. Better fabrics, way tougher bottom, would be tight for two people but would haul me and a deer pretty easily. Just like the V2, takes time to find all the leaks and still looses air, but could float for hours without need to top it off.

Because of mental Instability and being a gear nerd, I then built a third by lengthening the V2 pattern by a foot. Great compromise and fun to build new stuff.

If you want a DIY packraft for critter hauling, I strongly recommend the new 2 person and a Big Agnes Air Core pad in the bottom, backpacking pillow for a seat.

I’ve never shot a moose but highly doubt even my 2 person Voyageur would do the trick. The fabric is stout, but my concern would be dragging/hauling if there were rocks, etc..

I dream of a moose hunt in AK sometime and if I do and there’s a need for a packraft I‘m getting a Pristine Ventures Cork or PR49 or whatever other awesome rafts he has available. Soooo much tougher and built for the task. Watch his videos on YouTube, those rafts are bomber and design exactly for floating out a pile of meat.

Check out the stories about the guy who built three or four of them (not me) on the DIY packraft site. He has the leak thing down: wider tape and making certain that your welds are really good vs. patchy connections. Then glue the crap out of every seam and connection. I do this over several nights, pulling the seams out of the zipper and gluing along as much as I can. Plus follow Matt’s advice about glueing the seams as your building. Just build in the delay/dry time and don’t rush it.

One guy (see the forum) almost lost two friends when a Voyaguer had a seam failure. My total guess is that it wasn’t a great seam, plus he admits it was too high pressure and overloaded.

I highly recommend building a DIY packraft if you’re interested. The new ones are killer compared to the V2 or V3, Matt is very helpful, the videos are great, take your time, make certain you’re melting the TPU across the tape vs here and there. The price is right, you get to “pimp your raft” with your own patches/seat/etc.

 

[Htm84]

How much time did it take you to assemble them and which Iron did you use? I bought one of the Telkwa kits. Just waiting for the iron to show up so i can get started.

 

[Mt Al]

How much time did it take you to assemble them and which Iron did you use? I bought one of the Telkwa kits. Just waiting for the iron to show up so i can get started.

I didn't log hours but my guess on the first one would be 30 hours with lots of stops and starts. I budgeted about an hour for each tube-segment-to-tube-segment seam. The tube to floor seams took longer, especially the long middle one. Then the patches/zipper/boston valve all take time. I worked from the middle to each end. When I finished one section I glued each seam up to where I was going to start the next evening and let it cure overnight.

I have the Clover mini II iron and it has worked pretty well. Sometimes I have to turn the heat to 2 (out of 3) and put the iron against tile to cool it down for lighter fabric. Other times it stays on 3, but I cool it down on cold tile before I touch it to the fabric, keeps it from burning initially until the iron heats up again.

Sealing the curved pieces against each other over a bowl is a bit of a rodeo, but the wooden form helps quite a bit. I took a flexible fabric tape measure and put a mark every 10" on those seams to make sure I was close along the way so I didn't have too much to trim at the ends, but trimming isn't the end of the world.

Take your time and have fun, it's pretty rewarding once you get in the water and start using it.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Or just buy a used Alpacka.

 

[Mt Al]

Or just buy a used Alpacka.

Or even a new one. I've enjoyed building and using my DIY packrafts and will probably build one more. However, like anytime you try to build something DIY - you quickly learn why the commercial ones cost what they cost. If I buy an Alpacka it will be a new Forager. if I lived in AK I'd buy a Pristine Ventures Cork. They're both worth every penny.

Matt/DIY packraft get people like me, who'd never have bought one, into packrafts. Wonder how many of us will move into a Kokopeli or Alpacka after building a few.