Hello, new here

[Ratatosk]

Just a note of introduction – let me know if I’m posting in the wrong place.

Just joined from Virginia – I’m a backpacker and canoeist. I build my own ultralight canoes, carve my own paddles, like to tinker with gear and generally get my (rather arthritic) hands dirty. I look forward to learning and getting to know more about messing around outside.

-R

[Ivan Dominguez]

Hi !! Welcome !! sure it will be very interesting to read your comments and we will all learn from you
best regards

[Stumphges]

Welcome, Ratatosk!

[Jerry Adams]

DIY ultralight canoe?  That would be interesting.

I’ve done some canoeing before.  Easier than carrying gear on my back.  I can bring beer.

[Matthew / BPL]

Welcome! I’d enjoy seeing photos of your canoes. Please share!

[Ratatosk]

Happy to, is there a way to @ a certain member to mention them in a thread?

 

 

They darken up some after a few months of UV exposure.

[Matthew / BPL]

You can go @ratatosk but I don’t think notifications are enabled currently.

Those look really cool. I like how the transparent skin reveals the structure.

What are the materials? How much does a UL canoe weigh?

[Marcus]

Welcome! Beautiful canoes! I sadly never combined my love of canoes and camping yet.

Im guessing your SOF tandem is just shy of 30lb? I like the pic with the tarp and canoe as a wind block

[Ratatosk]

Thank you, they are steamed white oak mortised into pine/fir gunwales, lashed together with a synthetic sinew (basically very heavy dental floss) and a heavy ballistic nylon shell coated with a 2-part epoxy to make it waterproof. It’s surprisingly tough to get really fragile materials to end up in the shape you want; the current guru that I know of is a guy named Brian Schulz, who runs Cape Falcon Kayaks somewhere in Oregon.

I haven’t made any tandems, I like smaller solo boats, but my pack boats (12.5ft or so) weight 30-32 pounds, my longer boats (14.5ft or so) are around forty. I’ve never actually weighed the longer ones, just made sure i could carry them over my head. I’d rather add five pounds and have a boat I can bash into a rock, if I need to, rather than keep the weight off and have to babysit it. I paddled one of the bigger boats above 220 miles down the James river one time; it ran into a rock or twelve on that trip and I patched a few drip-leaks but am very confident in the materials now.

I’ve seen +/-30lb full-size skin-on-frames, and talked to people who’ve built them, and I get the feeling that they just don’t behave in a very canoe-y way.

[Link .]

I remember seeing a video about Brian Shulz from a few years ago that I thought was interesting

Off-grid, handcrafted life on Oregon farm & workshop .

[Author]

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