DIY Packraft - a work in progress.

[north-north-west]

I take it there aren't any dive shops near you? They should stock reasonable sized tubes of Aquaseal.

[FootTrack]

Various shots of the inflated raft from different angles...

I take it there aren't any dive shops near you? They should stock reasonable sized tubes of Aquaseal.

Nope, I'm too far inland. Someone else might be able to clarify this, but I think the bigger tubes might be unavailable in Australia? You can't even buy them off eBay from within Australia unfortunately...

[north-north-west]

Odd. It used to be possible to get the 8oz tubes, but it's been quite a few years since I've needed it. Maybe they've stopped importing it.

ps: That raft looks seriously cool. Except the colour. Black really is a teensy bit boring . . .

[Lizzy]

Well done !!! Looks awesome- hope you have some fun trips with it. Thanks again for the extensive report

[FootTrack]

A few more. Apologies for the double-ups - on looking at them now, a few angles look pretty similar!

I've inflated the raft a few times now, but the first time I inflated it was definitely the most exciting! It was quite surreal sitting in my lounge room at 2 am one morning after a late night session working on it, and seeing it transform from this flat object I've only known it as, to a three-diminesional, fully-fledged packraft. I hadn't even seen/touched one in person until that point and after a few squeezes of the bag, it appeared like magic! It was quite amazing to say the least.

The job was still not over though. A number of minor leaks in the raft meant that it would slowly deflate again over time. As it stands now, I have patched most of them but there are still several present that are causing it to lose pressure. Hence why the tubes have a few wrinkles in them, in the photos above (the raft had lost some air by the time I took those shots ) To find them, I was fully inflating the raft and then running my face beside the seams to feel for air escaping. This has worked for all but the very faintest of leaks. For the rest of the leaks, I will now locate them using the detergent method Matt has just written about on the diypackraft.com website. On trialing it the other day, it worked very well. When I make my next raft, I will just locate leaks using this technique to begin with.

From the photos I've put up, you might've noticed the little white flecks of paper along the front and rear tube seams. When I get the chance I'm going to just scratch these off with my finger, but they are the result of pressing down aquaseal patches with books and a paper liner in between. In hindsight, that was a poor way of pressing down the patches. I'm now using the glass below, with much better success. Aquaseal doesn't bond well to glass meaning a paper liner isn't needed. Placing a book on a glass also increases the pressure on the patch (as opposed to a book straight on the patch). This glass is particularly excellent for the job because its base is perfectly flat (most other cups/glasses in our cupboard have a rim of some description around the outside which prevents an even spread of pressure).

I would say that 95% of the patches I've had to do, have been along the front and rear seams. This is because unlike the other seams I haven't been able to flip these over and give them a thorough iron on the opposite side. Also, I touched the iron against fabric outside of the bonding strip line on too many occasions (through not being able to visualise the strip underneath properly) which led to the TPU coating bonding to the helmet and becoming damaged when I removed it. When I make my next raft, I think I will mark out where the bonding strip margin should be on the tubes prior to welding.

To wrap-up, here are some brief summary comments:

Cost of the project: Approximately $225 (however, with use of less aquaseal and only buying 6 metres of fabric instead of 8 metres, the cost would have been $190) + time.

How many hours were spent on it: It's difficult to say given I made a number of mistakes along the way. I will also do things differently when I make my next one, which will fasten the process considerably. A very rough guesstimate though would be around 45-50 hours (I was working on the raft for around 6 hrs/night during the first week when most of the work was done. Although it's taken me a while to do this final report, the raft could have been finished a lot quicker had I not made mistakes/stuck with it more. A lot of time was also spent making additional templates - something others may skip over. When I make my next one, I will definitely record the time spent on it from start to finish).

Who is this project for: Anyone who is mildly crafty/willing "to have a crack", could make a packraft I would think. I would imagine that the biggest hurdle for most would be finding the time rather than the "skills" part of it. Hopefully I've helped exposed many of the traps/pitfalls in my write-ups - I know my next raft will be easier knowing this information and I wish I had of had it prior to making this one. Practicing your skills on scrap pieces first is definitely a good idea. The hardest part of the project (for me, anyway) was bonding the tube seams. If you can get past that part, you should be able to finish the rest of the raft. An eye for detail (i.e. making sure the fabric is cut out perfectly from the template, tracing on welding lines exactly etc.) is probably the most important thing when making one of these I would think.

Where to from here: I still need to fix-up the last few leaks in the raft. After that I plan on adding a few tie-down points to the front of the raft so I can attach a pack. Then I think it will be ready for it's maiden voyage! As a side note, if anyone has any suggestions regarding a fun 2-3 day paddle in either NSW or Vic with grade 1 or 2 whitewater let me know Something pretty fool safe would be best - I'm a good swimmer but haven't done any whitewater courses as of yet...

Anyway, I think that's about it. I plan on making my next raft over the summer so I will upload some photos of that when I'm done. If anyone has any questions on how to make a packraft, let me know. I'd be more than happy to provide advice/talk anyone through any of the steps.

[FootTrack]

Well done !!! Looks awesome- hope you have some fun trips with it. Thanks again for the extensive report

No worries, Lizzy! Hopefully it wasn't too dull/exhausting - I was trying to get the mix right between it being informative for others wanting to have a go and interesting for just casual folk

ps: That raft looks seriously cool. Except the colour. Black really is a teensy bit boring . . .

Sorry NNW, I'll try to get the colour scheme right next time In actual fact, I could only get that 40 denier ripstop in black so that made the choice easier. I'm planning on making my next one yellow with a blue stripe around the back end though, so I reckon that will look pretty smart.

[andrewa]

I'm extremely impressed with all that. Well done. It's been an interesting journey, and the first DIY I've seen.

Cost vs hours doing it is always a factor, and depends so much on where you are in life. Whilst I love designing and making stuff,I sometimes do need to reflect on the fact that I have 4 kids and work full time at a relatively high hourly rate, and just realise that it is not worth my while "reinventing the wheel" - whereas 25 yrs ago, I would have been all over a project like this. On the other side of the coin, I spend a fair bit of time designing stuff that suits my purposes perfectly, and isn't available retail, and I'll design and make it myself,,and there is other stuff that I just like the intellectual aspect of making it.

However, I've really enjoyed this post. You've outdone me by miles, and have a very functional raft. Enjoy. Redesign it. Get out there.looking fwd to piccies of it in use..

One of the best ever pack rafting videos I've ever seen related to one of Roman Dial's trips to NZ..

[urlhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcouzq7AlY][/url]]

If this doesn't work, Google "when I'm small" , New Zealand west coast pack rating, roman dial.

Pack ratting is great. Enjoy.

A

[Lizzy]

You would have to watch the raft out in the sun- the black seats on the alpackas heat up and swell up and you need to let some air out so they don't explode when stopped for lunch or something.

[robbieb]

Congrats on the finished product, I really am impressed at how quickly you put it together.

The video Andrew shared should have been like this

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcouzq7AlY

Those guys are going full white water, rolling and righting themselves, for someone who has only done some fairly tame white water in a big raft it really shows the capability of the little pack raft.

I look forward to some action pics of yours out on the water FootTrack

[undercling-mike]

Great to see the raft inflated and it looks great! I'm also looking forward to seeing it on the water!

[Nuts]

Looks like it's come together nicely, I'll have to re-read when I have a bigger screen again.

[Lizzy]

Hey there FootTrack- did you get it out on the water? How did it go?
Cheers
Lizzy

[Franco]

You would have to watch the raft out in the sun- the black seats on the alpackas heat up and swell up and you need to let some air out so they don't explode when stopped for lunch or something.

Yes , I have seen Exped mats doing that. Not exploding but blowing a baffle or two

[FootTrack]

Hey there FootTrack- did you get it out on the water? How did it go?
Cheers
Lizzy

Hey Lizzy

Unfortunately, I had a busy stint at uni and haven't touched it since my last post. I'm going to spend some time fixing leaks over the weekend though, so hopefully by next week I can at least report back with a couple of photos of it on the water!

In other news, I recently bought some new fabric to allow me to make an extra four rafts for family and friends. It's 210 denier nylon with a TPU coating on one side and a PU coating on the other so they're going to be a lot tougher, more whitewater capable boats compared to my black one above. I plan to make at least one of the boats self-bailing with a rear "cargo-fly" as seen on some of the Alpackas. I'll definitely keep a tally of how many hours go into making each boat.

After some initial test welds, I'm pretty impressed with the fabric. The peel strength of the bonds were much, much stronger than those I tested using the black fabric. I imagine the shear strength would be greater too but I couldn't tell with my pull test alone (the ripstop fabric ripped before the bond did when testing the black fabric). The TPU coating on the 210d fabric is a lot thicker than that on the ripstop fabric, which I presume contributes largely to this added strength. The PU coating on the other hand must be extremely thin because I can't identify it on the opposite side. Hopefully it's there!

One of the good things about the new 210d fabrics I'm using is that it's really easy to tell when you've got a good bond. I might make a video and upload it in time, but when the new TPU coatings have melted enough that they are one, the fabric suddenly takes on a "wetted out" appearance. It's quite cool, and much easier to work with in that respect than the black ripstop fabric.

I'm considering buying some 840d fabric such as this http://www.extremtextil.de/catalog/Nylon-TPU-coated-both-sides-650g-sqm-heatsealable::773.html to use for the raft floors, rather than a double layer of 210d fabric. The double layer is fine, but it does take extra time and effort, and creates more opportunities for mistakes. I think the 840d fabric might be more durable also.

I'm also keen to get a sample of this stuff to try out http://www.extremtextil.de/catalog/TPU-film-clear-transparent-0-3mm-thick-340g-sqm::2804.html. It's straight TPU film and if it bonds well to fabric, the possibility is there to make packrafts out of a range of other fabrics such as x-pac. I've heard on the grapevine that bonds using the film are inferior but I would still be interested to trial it myself.

Thanks again to everyone for the comments/support. I'll definitely be careful leaving inflated rafts out in the sun. Andrew and Robbie - loved the "When I'm Small" video, there's some fantastic footage in there and it's nicely put together. Loved the contrasting/concluding shot of the duck jumping in at the end - very cleverly done.

[andrewa]

One of the best "projects" I've seen on a forum. Well done.

A

[Lizzy]

Good on you FootTrack. I am seriously considering having a go at one of these. I see the guy that sells plans now has fabrics and kits- very tempting. Just not sure if I am precise enough
Well done once again and thanks for the inspiration!

[Son of a Beach]

When are you going to start selling these to forum members who don't have the time or nous to do it ourselves?

[north-north-west]

When are you going to start selling these to forum members who don't have the time or nous to do it ourselves?

And how much would one be (in that lovely red fabric, with maybe a touch of the yellow for contrast . . . )?

[FootTrack]

Good on you FootTrack. I am seriously considering having a go at one of these. I see the guy that sells plans now has fabrics and kits- very tempting. Just not sure if I am precise enough
Well done once again and thanks for the inspiration!

They're a lot of fun, Lizzy. As far as preciseness goes, you'll still be able to make one even if you are a little bit off so I wouldn't get too stressed. It just depends on what your "acceptable level" is in terms of build finish/quality. Better precision just means better build quality (and probably less hiccups). I'm probably a bit obsessive about how things look, but I'm sure most could fly through one of these and still end up with an equally usable raft and have just as much fun.

Yea I see that Matt's got kits in his shop - they look interesting. I chose straight fabric because I like being able to customise things. It's also nice to have extra fabric on hand in case of mistakes. Pre-cut fabric would definitely save time though. I think it would also be a lot cheaper to ship (by the meter is quite pricey).

When are you going to start selling these to forum members who don't have the time or nous to do it ourselves?

And how much would one be (in that lovely red fabric, with maybe a touch of the yellow for contrast . . . )?

Gee wiz, I've given you a fair head start haven't I? Thanks for the compliment, but to be honest, I think it's pretty unlikely that I'll ever sell these. Although I haven't calculated the actual build time yet, I think once you factored in the labour cost you'd probably find you'd be better off buying a brand name raft. I'm also hesitant selling them to others given the liability risks involved. Not to mention, I'm pretty time poor myself! I think the real value in these comes from making them yourself.

My partner and I are currently planning our first packraft trip, so I've been busy working on her boat over the last few nights. It's going to be red, blue and yellow, as below.

Packraft.png (19.73 KiB) Viewed 22028 times

I'm making it from a "small", "version 2" plan from the diypackraft site. These new plans have smaller diameter tubes which I think will make paddling easier. All the fabric will be 210D (so quite a bit burlier/heavier than my black one). It will have a double layer floor, although I've felt 840D fabric and I may replace it with this if durability proves to be an issue. I've decided to put the TPU coating on the outside this time round. I was originally skeptical as to whether the fabric had both a TPU and PU coating, but I've since convinced myself otherwise and I'm no longer concerned about leakage issues from abraded TPU. I'm taking a detailed time log for this build, so I'll share that once I'm done. I'll also post any new tips/tricks I discover along the way.

[robbieb]

Awesome!

[andrewa]

Wow. A completely different approach....

Looking fwd to piccies of it on the water.

A