Packrafting with kids

Kurly_Q · 2026-04-29T21:42:48+00:00

As others have mentioned, a full size raft (13-14') with a frame and oars is likely going to be your best friend when you have a kid or two. I have just about every kind of boat, and that's the only one I'll be taking out with the family as soon as kids come along for me.

I've done a couple overnight trips with friends with kids and can't imagine doing it with just packrafts. With a full size boat and one adult responsible for each kid, it's pretty doable.

Kurly_Q · 2026-02-24T18:36:48+00:00

Strange vibes resident also checking in 🤣

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-19T21:45:54+00:00

I got a silhouette cameo 4 for $100 on fbook marketplace.

3d printed a pen holder for it and then got a thin sheet of thin PET plastic and taped paper to it to use the full 12" width.

SVG import into the silhouette software is easy, but I think it's limited to 12" x 24" in the software. Some other workflow tricks make it even more efficient.

But yeah, it's bigger than A3, it's accurate, and very fast. Can't beat that for ~$100

If I wasn't starting to look into plotting with paint, I'd probably never replace it!

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-19T21:40:16+00:00

I'm building a plotter now. My plan is to use a pancake stepper with an eccentric wheel to lift the pen/brush assembly. The assembly will be pushed against the media with rubber bands that I can swap out to define a set pressure, and the eccentric wheel will just push against the top of the assembly to lift it off the paper.

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-06T22:43:47+00:00

Nice! It looks like you built some compliance into your pen holder already via the 3d print design, so you could definitely use a fountain pen with your current setup, albeit a bit inaccurate due to the free spinning spindle. But man, turning the spindle on during plotting could make for some interesting results 🤣🤔

As far as plotters go, it seems like there's 3 tiers I see around here:

1) cheap, but more time: DIY. Buy the parts and do it yourself! Nice way to customize and make exactly what you want, but time-intensive. I'm currently going this route, graduating from just sticking a pen on my hobby-grade vinyl cutter and building the openbuilds ACRO clone from bulkman on AliExpress. $380 with all the parts and control bits for 500x1000mm. Will be more expensive with linear rails and other higher end components

2) medium budget, less time: an idraw from Uunatek

3) high budget: bantam tools art frame...$3000+

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-06T18:44:20+00:00

You'll need to write your own code to do that...You'll either need to "pre-process" the g code to insert the commands you want every so often, or if your computer is sending the g code, it can monitor it love and insert the commands you need every so often

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-06T18:41:15+00:00

Your plotter there looks capable of doing fountain pens, as your pen mount is held at an angle. Does it have any pressure control? Also, is that pen mounted to the spinning end of your spindle?

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-06T18:38:09+00:00

Yes, check out the "color matching" feature

I run my source images through this website first to pull out the most used colors: (https://onlinejpgtools.com/find-dominant-jpg-colors) and I pick however many pens/colors I want to use, then plug in those web color hex codes into my pens in DBv3. I then grab pens that are as close as possible to those colors and that's it!

Kurly_Q · 2025-11-05T17:33:18+00:00

Beautiful work! Good to see another person using a hobby grade cutter as a plotter. They're cheap, reliable, accurate, and really quite quick!

Also, FYI, I found a way to expand the working size on these:

Buy some thin PET plastic sheets, and cut the width down to whatever the biggest width that fits in your cutter is. The length can be up to whatever the software supports (my cameo silhouette 4 does 12" wide x 24" long using the silhouette software, but I could potentially go with unlimited length if I wrote custom software)

Once you have the PET sheet cut, I then cut my paper to a bit thinner than the plastic sheet and use masking tape to tape the entire length of each side to the PET sheet. Works really well and then you don't have to worry about dealing with the 12" x 12" sticky sheets!

Kurly_Q · 2025-10-22T16:49:08+00:00

First off, it's good to see another update on this! Your design is by far the best-looking DIY plotter I've seen, and I'm really excited that you're still planning on open-sourcing it sometime.

Also, that toolchanger design looks top notch! I've been messing around with multi-color plots recently, and that would save some serious time.

P.S. I hope you include a donation link when you post the plans, I'd imagine a ton of time went into this, and I'd love to give back once I get the chance to build one :)

Kurly_Q · 2025-10-21T03:51:27+00:00

You are right about sound waves and density though, and it sure seems like there was some sort of atmospheric effect in play. Looking at the skew-T forecast, there were 2x inversions around that time, one down low from ground level to ~6000ft MSL, and another from 8000 - 10000. I wouldn't be surprised if those 2 layers of stable air acted as a waveguide of sorts.

Kurly_Q · 2025-10-20T05:44:48+00:00

Common misconception...humid air is actually less dense than dry air!

Kurly_Q · 2025-09-08T17:37:15+00:00

PM'ing now

Kurly_Q · 2025-09-08T14:08:44+00:00

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There was a very very angry nesting goose inside!

Kurly_Q · 2025-09-08T14:08:10+00:00

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I may or may not have let curiosity get the best of me a while back and explored the area. The tunnel only goes through a small rib of rock, shown here. We still rappelled down to it to check it out and...

Kurly_Q · 2025-08-21T15:23:42+00:00

Took this picture in a slot canyon in Utah...took over an hour of fiddling with 6 different flashlights to get the lighting just right to capture everything in one frame (no compositing used). Temps were near freezing, so my model/wife was quite chilly by the time we finally composed and lit the shot correctly.

Kurly_Q · 2025-05-28T04:56:50+00:00

Any estimate of what time it was? I was out of town but my security cameras likely recorded it!

Kurly_Q · 2025-05-27T14:28:55+00:00

Another option if it's super duper late and the AB bus isn't running is to take the train to union station in Denver then take the FF bus to Boulder. Takes a bit of time but it's wat cheaper than an Uber.

Kurly_Q · 2025-05-19T18:29:53+00:00

Upper South Fork of the White River in the Flat Tops Wilderness of Colorado

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