DIY Packrafts and cuben/dynema stuff

[andrewa]

Found these today. Might be interesting for people, or they may already have been posted..

The DIY packraft site is wonderfully inspiring. I know that one of our members made one a year or so ago, and I was amazed at the outcome, but that post sort of fizzled. Maybe this will inspire some.

I have 2 original Alpacka rafts from 15yrs ago or so, and have had a lot of fun with them, but would love to extend the tail of each to add some tipping over backwards stability, and, having looked at this site, I can now see these modifications of mine as a doable project...it also puts packrafts in reach financially, if you are prepared to make your own.

https://www.diypackraft.com/shop/

This next site is a bit more obtuse. Some very light cuben/dyneema kayaks, and other stuff

http://www.cubenmaker.com/?1

I’ve struggled to be inspired about any projects over the last 7 months, but am planning to make a new spray deck for my sea kayak this weekend, and to actually have a paddle in my kayak. In contemplating designs, I found these sites, and I hope some of you will find inspiration .

A

[Bill P]

Just wondering if anyone here has built one of these DIY packrafts? At $300 for the kit its more accessible than $1500 for an Alpacka or Kokopelli

[north-north-west]

Bill:

I have a mate here in Tas who made his own packraft. May have been from one of these kits, or possibly an online design and self-sourced materials. End result was pretty good. Think he reported much of the process on his FB page; I might be able to dig out a link to it if you want.

[Bill P]

Thanks NNW,
I’m interested in how the build went and whether it was considered worthwhile.

They can now have airtight zippers in them which would be a boon for fixing troublesome leaks.

Cheers Bill

[north-north-west]

Blech, I think he's either removed the build posts or I'm confusing him with someone else.

But he still has the packraft, and still uses it, although fatherhood has cut into available opportunites. It's as good as a bought unit of the same material. Think he had to do a fair bit of hunt and glue to pick up a lot of tiny leaks, but definitely more than worthwhile to do it.

There is this thread on the forum: https://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=23700&hilit=packraft

[Bill P]

Thanks for that thread link NNW- I completely missed FootTracks build report. Thats great info.

I think i will build a DIY packraft, just trying to cajole some of my my bushwalking buddies to do the same.

The (not insignificant) kit shipping costs seems to flatten out after 3 or 4 kits. A good project for the next lockdown!

Cheers Bill.