LIghter is not always better or functional, I personally would not want to be on the receiving end of a 1/4" rope in moving water and try and hold it or try and use it in a actual rescue situation, but it is super light and tiny.

Clifton adhesive,
http://www.nrs.com/product/1901/clifton ... e-adhesive

HH-66 Vinyl Cement
http://www.nrs.com/product/38711.01/hh-66-vinyl-cement
http://www.sailrite.com/easearch#!&ea_q ... l%20cement

You could try to teach yourself to paddle without hitting the raft with your arm. There is really no reason to be dragging your arm down the tube, inefficient and destroys gear. Try lifting your paddle up and be more vertical with the shaft while paddling, much more powerful, better control and you ...

Good luck getting any more info, I have emailed they with a list of technical questions, simple questions like what is the denier of the fabric, none of which got answered. Sounds like they still have not even decided what spray skirt to go with. I was told that they would update the website to answ...

Just be careful with that set up, as there is not much to keep the thigh straps tight or snug to the boat (except the bungee behind seat) when you exit the boat so it could becomes a little bit of a entrapment issue. Just a thought.

Hey Jeff, I`d say get a real "whitewater helmet" if you are going to be paddling whitewater, climbing and bike helmets are not designed to take multiple hits and are also not designed to take side hits, or hits from the back. There suspension system is also not designed to keep the helmet on your he...

Hey Brandon, If you contact David Collins, Lendal North America they can hook you up, may be a special order of sorts as not to many people get breakdown bent shaft paddles but they will make them in a 2 or 4 piece bent-shaft breakdown (add $100 to regular price for 4 piece) and Werner will do a 2 p...

I do not think a 197 is too short at all. I use both a 189 and a 191 for a play-boat paddle and have used my 189 and 191 for my packraft and it worked just fine before deciding on a length for a breakdown to use. I now use a 197 Werner powerhouse 4 piece, which I think is a little long after using i...

Yep from Oregon, grew up Eugene area but now in Bend.
Kirk

Order some PVC tube material from Cascade Outfitters, either sew on a new longer tab to the seat or have a piece with two rows of holes above and below. The first lower row threads to the seat connecting the front tab to the back tab, the upper row now can be threaded to the ones on the boat. Or the...

A new site that just came out worth checking out. The River Guide http://www.theriverguide.net/index.php Both written and video descriptions are submitted by boaters, anyone can add a river and that is the way it works, anything from class I to gnarly V+ runs. Small start with mostly rivers in Norwa...

There are lots out there just search "1" pvc d-ring patch" in any search engine http://www.nrs.com/product/1468/aire-1-pvc-d-ring-patch?utm_campaign=shop_comp&utm_source=google&utm_medium=buy_now&utm_term=goog_product_1468&gclid=CNyDy4u__LsCFcSBfgod5H4A4w http://www.aquamarineboat.com/index.php?mode...

You will have to sand the area and prep with MEK.... and you will have to paint over the glue that comes on the velcro with some real glue made for PVC (Clifton or Staybond work well with several cotes and let dry in between). Or better yet the correct method is to sew the velcro to some PVC fabric ...

I have been playing around with a different seat set up that is more like a kayak and I now have a whole new set up, one piece foam seat, inflatable under-seat to protect the floor, molded hip pads that attache directly to the boat, foam bulkhead and two different foam floor set ups. Although not de...

Hey Jeremy, Actually I now have a whole new set up, one piece foam seat with a inflatable under-seat, molded hip pads that attache directly to the boat (now the seat anymore), foam bulkhead and two different foam floor set ups. Although not designed for extended hiking (bulky) I feel a lot safer abo...

Yes that one in the picture is from the tote lid and your right it`s Rubbermaid tote lid not Tupperware.

Here are a few pictures..... not the best sewing job, If I were to do it again I would probably glue instead of sewing it. Sewing mixed material, one slippery and one sticky did now work great with my machine but still work out only ugly by my standards. I still need to seam seal the stitching as I ...

If you smear seam seal the inside of the skirt rand ( old kayaker trick) the skirt will stay on much better (super sticky and hard to get it to blow off even with lifted knees) and install an implosion bar (also a kayaker trick) you will not get puddles. The seam seal trick works very good and the s...

If your already buying closed cell foam for your feet why not buy a little more foam and just make your own backband, Far lighter than the Jackson backband, just as stable and quite a bit cheaper. Here are a few picture links of a early version I made last year out of a piece of scrap foam. I have s...

Ace hardware glue... No Aquaseal glue......... No Get some real glue for boat if you want them to stay glued. Stabond Adhesive (2 part glue) Clifton Urethane Adhesive (one part glue) Clifton Urethane Adhesive (two part glue-stronger) you will also need to clean/prep the surface Light grade sandpaper...

I think the biggest difference you will find is in the bow rocker, or how much the bow lifts off the water. The Llama has 4" of lift and the Fjord has 0". The increased rocker will make paddling whitewater easier as the bow will not get pushed around side to side when you hit waves or holes and rock...

Hey flipper, Position-Angle-Speed-Edge Brad is right... its all about the lean. Even with the cargo fly and a big butt boat, if you are not crossing a eddy line properly your going to flip. Think about it as riding a bike, if your going really fast and just turn the handle bars really hard and do no...

Can someone please tell me what snickersnacking or snickersnack means. I have seen it written a few times and have no Idea what it refers to. I assume it refers to a move that other paddling crafts call something else (like calling a "eddy turn" a "pirouette" or am I wrong about that too?) and also ...

Hey John In regards to "Portaging" Personally I find it easier to portage my boat with the Cargo Fly and my gear inside opposed to having a bag on the front of the boat. I have been a hardshell kayaker for 20+ years so it is hard to break the habit of just picking up the boat and throwing it on my s...

Hey Jeremy, I personally would have liked to install my own Cargo Fly instead of shipping my boat back to Alpacka. I feel I would have even done a better job gluing it on, as it is I have already had to re-glue the edge where Alpacka did not get the glue all the way to the edge. I did this immediate...

I know Roman wrote a book, thou I do not personally agree with his rating system,( but that is just my opinion). I respect Roman and all he has done for packrafting (years before I even knew what a packraft was), and I know a lot of people have used this book as a learning tool to get into the boati...

Are people still using the antiquated system for rating rapids, such as calling a class III rapid a PR4 (or packraft class 4), and if so why does being in a packraft mean we rename everything just because it is a different floating craft (and don`t just say because its harder). Rafts, canoes, kayaks...

Seriously..... its your head your trying to protect. Construction helmets are made for one thing only, a hit from above. The suspension system in the helmet is not designed for lateral hits so unless you just climbed a tree and fell out landing directly on top of your head this helmet is virtually u...

Not sure what your intended use is but A life jacket is just that a "Life" jacket. If you are using it for flat-water (lake or flat river) a inflatable is just fine, but any moving water over low class II (now your back to flat-water) is ill advised in my opinion and in the opinion of most all peopl...

By "bigwater" I assume you mean big waves, big hydraulics, and big holes. Seems like a bad idea to me. To many fulcrum points which would make the paddling extremely difficult, maneuvering would be slow and anything from precise. I`v seen "bigwater" snap a aluminum frame on a full size raft in half,...

Hey So I`m not in Portland, but if you get to the Bend area for some reason send me a message. We have 2 Llama`s one with the cruiser spray deck and one with the whitewater deck and the river is across the street from our house If you want to test paddle this sized boat. We may send them in to Alpac...

I just make my own. after all its just a bag with a rope and a piece of foam..... mine has 5/16 spectra line and is worn around the waist and the removable waist belt is 1" tubular webbing that doubles as a anchor/sling (ends are looped and bar tacked... 5000lbs breacking strength). Most people do n...

NRS paragon pack, It is a good idea and very economical in price but unless you are 7 feet tall do not get this pack. The torso set up is entirely too long with no adjustment, the straps for adjustment are just for looks if you inspect how it is actually made with the length of the backboard. If you...

Self bailers do not work like that, a self bailing floor is inflatable to get it on top of the water and to shed the water off the top (because it floats) and through the holes. If you put a bunch of holes in your floor (because your floor is below the water line when floating) all you are going to ...

Been tentatively planning a trip down the Chetco and the Illinois rivers (as soon as my girlfriend gets a little better at boating, hopefully this next summer or late spring depending on water levels). Start on the Illinois River float down to below Green Wall, take out river left and hike over the ...

Hey Waluyo when you start your hunt for good glue to use on your packraft here are a few choices: Staybond, Clifton, Vinylbond. Aquaseal is not meant to be used for anything structural like a d-ring, it sticks to the fabric but does not molecularly bond the fabrics. Good for pinholes or small seam r...

I only own one Aire raft, it`s an IK with no d-rings on it, but I will say I have a few friends with Aire rafts and I have never seen a Aire d-ring fail on there`s or anyone else s boat. I went with a similar d-ring on my packraft to the NRS you had fail, probably the same manufacturer, different di...

If you can get away with it you may want to patch over the old d-ring with a new one, its not holding air and you may do more harm than good by trying to remove it if the bond is strong. I would not normally say patch over a patch but packraft rubber is not the strongest stuff ever made. You may jus...

The floor to tube seam also has the same temporary tape on the inside of the boat.

There is a piece of double sided clear tape used to hold the skirt in place before it is welded down, (I`m assuming this is where your sand issue is) this does not have to be there, the skirt is welded down on the outside (black welded seam) and the tape is only used for temporary manufacturing purp...

Steep enough for a helmet.

Hey Tom, I`m responding for Renee, couple of random questions for you. when were you planning on going, what section/sections were you planning on doing, what class of boater are you, and you said you wanted to mt. bike up and do a overnight on the river, were you going to drop a bike off or try and...

I just made a backband like are used in hadrshell kayaks out of a piece of foam. Run a strap between your d-rings and through the foam and used a small piece of bungie rope/cord attached to the seat (floor) ran through the back-band and then to the original packraft backrest attachment point (up hig...

she left out the "s" after adventure...... it is adventureswithpackraft.blogspot.com I`ll let her know and maybe she can fix it.

.

I reply to the skirt coming loose..... are you using the suspenders on the skirt when rolling? You could be pulling the skirt loose when upside down if your thigh straps are not holding you down far enough to keep your butt from leaving the seat level, thus pulling the skirt loose. Try it without th...

I`m new to packrafting, but not new to boating. I have been steep creeking class IV -V rivers for years (hard shell kayak) occasionally with hand paddles (just different and fun) but I have yet to see or hear about anyone hand paddling packrafts. It does seem to be a little bit more of a reach due t...

stretch it out over a bowl or something round bigger than your neck for a few days.....if still tight repeat, cutting is the last option because it will stretch out eventually, if it is cut it will or could leak down the road once it loosens up, and put some 303 on it to soften it up. 303 use it but...

Could be interesting but not very practical for transportation. You could only use the kite in a strictly downwind scenario as you do not have any edge to tack or even turn with the raft. Launching the kite would be difficult.... when kitesurfing you are stationary & submerged in the water for launc...