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Catraft. Conversion of the Decathlon Itiwit 100 packraft into a whitewater self-bailing boat.

The cheapest whitewater packraft. Do It Yourself Packrafting.

By Packrafting.cat

May 14^th, 2025

Decahtlon Packrafts

For more information on Decathlon packrafts that can be used as the basis for making your own whitewater self-bailing please consult:

Material and products needed

Here is the complete list of equipment to create a CATRAFT™ 😂:

Packraft 100 ultra-compact inflatable kayak inflatable 1 seater Itiwit: 300 € at Decathlon
Better option but more expensive: Packraft/Kayak Inflatable PR500 Rio TPU Sealed Zip 1 Seater: 550 €.
See our article on Decathlon packrafts.
Backband and thigh strap kits: The lumbar support, the knee straps and the brackets to attach it to the packraft. It cost me 100 € (Christmas offer) although the complete kit normally costs 145 €. If you want you can get each product separately:
Only the lumbar support: 60 €. On the Mekong website they have a more affordable one: Packraft Backrest from 27 €.
Only the calarodillas: 56 €. Another option is Mekong Thigh straps 55 € or the amphibian-thigh-straps for 32 €.
Amfibio Daisy Chain brackets are another alternative available on our website for 6 €, if we are very clear about the fixing points (be aware that it will cost more to share the Packraft with different people) we can also buy a fixed point to fix the calarodillas.
Grab loops: Anfibio Grap loop for 4.5 €.
Nautiglue or similar bi-component glue. There are different types and sizes that can be bought on Amazon for about 30 €. You will also need a heat gun or the more homey version, a hairdryer, to apply heat.
Hammer and punch The tool to make the holes in the Packraft floor.
Extra seat (optional): The ideal in self-driving boats is to have a floor/seat that takes up the maximum volume, both to increase the rigidity of the whole, and to have less volume of water to evacuate. The original seat of the Itiwit 100 does not take up much volume (although it does have a very well thought-out support). In my case, what I use is a second seat from another Itiwit Packraft 100, which is ideal for taking up the entire kayak floor, leaving just enough space for my feet. Decathlon sell the seats separately for 49 € Inflatable Packraft Itiwit PR100 seat.
Amphibious has some complete floors, which I don't know if they would fit.
Bow bag (optional): The bow bag, as the Itiwit 100 is a packraft without a rocker, the bag will help prevent water from entering the cockpit. Besides, for me the bow bag has become an essential piece of packraft equipment.

The total price will be between 430-500 € depending on the gear you buy, where and when you buy it.

NOTE: The Itiwit 500 modelis probably a more suitable model for this conversion, this model has a more pronounced rocker, more suitable for whitewater. But the cost would already go up to about 600 €, closer to the prices ofself-drafting whitewater packraftsfrom other manufacturers.

PHOTOS OF THE MATERIAL

Catraft. Conversion of the Decathlon Itiwit 100 packraft into a whitewater self-bailing boat.

Steps to follow

Step 1. Make the holes in the floor (orange part) of the Itiwit Packraft. With this step we will convert a packraft without a bathing cover into a self-bailing packraft, thus preventing it from filling up with water in waves, holes and other obstacles common in white water. Keep in mind that this will increase our exposure to rough water and with few exceptions this may make it essential to use a packraft without a swim cover.
Step 2: Add lumbar support and calarodillas
Step 3 (optional): Add or modify the extra items such as seat and bow bag.

With this configuration, the extra decathlon seat that ends in a point is ideal to make room for the feet. In this case, the shortness of the Itiwit 100, one of its main disadvantages, becomes an advantage, as there is hardly any space left for water when it enters the Packraft. For this reason there is always less water to evacuate, between the little space left inside, the protection of the bow bag, and the space occupied by the body itself, a few simple holes in the back are more than enough for evacuation.

Making the holes. Self-bailing

The most complicated thing is to find a punch, also called a leather punch for punching holes in fabrics. My colleague Sam fromPinzat' s shop had one that I borrowed. Although it was a bit dented and didn't cut much it did the trick, the odd hole had to be finished off with a cutter. It has to be said that it did its job.

The only thing is that maybe the punch was a bit small and instead of making so many small holes, a bigger punch would have been useful to make fewer holes.

Agh and look for a surface to support the bottom of the packraft that doesn't attenuate the blows and is sufficient.

PRO TIP:don't like me 😂, be careful not to drill holes in the Packraft when drilling holes, make sure the back of where you are drilling holes has no folds. Luckily I was able to repair the hole

Where to make the holes and how many?

A very useful approach is not to overdo it with the holes. There is always time to make new holes, and although there is always time to plug the holes, I think it is a better strategy to make a few and try it out. If the self-bailer is not working properly and we want to evacuate more water in less time, there is always time for more.

It is a good way to look at other self-drafting Packrafts, the photos below are of a Mekong self-drafting Jeanne Dark.

As you can see, all manufacturers choose to put the holes very close to the starboard and port side of the balloons. This probably facilitates the evacuation of water and also makes the holes look more camouflaged.

⚠️ Warning: When drilling the holes, do it with the Packraft deflated and make sure that when you drill the holes in the floor, you don't have any of the air balloons of the port and starboard packraft behind you. In my case I left a small fold and punctured the Packraft with a small hole that I had to repair.

As can be seen in the photo, many manufacturers make the evacuation holes both at the back, the front and even at half the height of the bottom of the Packraft.

But the latest Packrafting Spain self-draining boats only have the holes at the stern. Luis Mora of Pakrafting Spain has been using self-bailing packrafts for a long time and has been incorporating different modalities and tests in the evolution of his whitewater model.

Luis' experience tells him that normally the weight of our body is always more towards the stern, and even the rocker of the Packrafts itself means that the tip or bow of the packraft is always a little higher than the bow, so the water tends to move more towards the stern than towards the bow.

This is the reason why I decided to only make holes in the stern for the time being, a good amount of them as my punching tool is of a smaller diameter than I wanted.

After testing it, I can say that the self-draining speed is adequate in my case, besides the Itiwit 100 is small and as I have already mentioned between the double seat and the volume of our body the truth is that not much water enters the Packraft because most of the interior volume of the packraft is occupied.

Otra perspectiva de la parte de popa y los agujeros que he añadido al Itiwit Packraft 100.

Add the lumbar support and the thigh strips (calarodillas)

It's time to use Nautiglue bi-component glue. This is the same glue that I use to make definitive repairs in the Packraft, some examples of repairs made with this glue:

It has happened to me that the calarodilla support has been ripped off in some packraft. In this case you have to buy a new bracket, remove the old one with MEK solvent and replace the old bracket with a new one, gluing the bracket back together.
Glue on permanently any patches that cover any holes in the Packraft. I usually do the initial repairs on the road and use Decathlon's TPU Inflatable Products Quick Repair Kit.

Before deciding on the location of the anchor points, I recommend that you assemble the whole kit without gluing and test yourself inside the Packraft in order to decide on the best position for the anchor points before gluing.

They can be repaired on site, but do not have the strength of bi-component glue. The problem with bi-component glue is that it is best to apply heat and you have to wait at least 48 hours for it to dry, which is not usually available on the road. It goes without saying that repairs with self-adhesive patches are much quicker and easier to do on the spot.

To apply the two-component glue, mix the glue with the catalyst that generates the chemical reaction to activate the glue. The proportion is usually 1 to 10 (consult the instructions).

Before applying the glue, clean the surface with alcohol. If the surface has traces of glue, I recommend applying a solvent such as MEK beforehand, making sure that the solvent does not touch parts of the Packraft that have already been glued.

I recommend you this solvent Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK): Butanone Mazza

⚠️ IMPORTANT: It is very important that the surface is dry, which is not always easy to achieve when repairing on the river itself. That's why I always carry a drying cloth in my bow bag. It is also important to work in an environment without too much humidity, again a condition not always easy to achieve on site, near rivers.

💡 TIP: Use this advice with care! In cases where I have had to repair in situ or in very wet conditions, applying alcohol to the surface and then lighting the alcohol with a lighter can work wonders and dry the surface! Don't overdo it with the alcohol and be careful to blow out the flame quickly or cover with a dry cloth to avoid burning the TPU.

The glue is usually applied in two batches, a first coat of glue on the clean surfaces of the two elements to be glued. Let it dry for a few minutes (it depends on the humidity and heat conditions of the environment, in dry conditions the glue dries very quickly). Then apply a second layer and before gluing the two components, apply heat with a hairdryer or heat gun. If you forget to do this beforehand, it can be done afterwards, but it is important to activate the glue, although I have to say that I have not always been able to apply heat and the glue works just as well.

We will use most of the bi-component glue when gluing the so called Daisy Chain grabs, which are used to hold two of the 4 points of the calarodillas.

The fact that it is a Daisy chain allows us to adapt the calarodillas to different needs or different packrafters. There is the possibility of using fixed anchors in a single position, with its obvious advantages and disadvantages.

Once the marks have been made where the anchors will be placed, I recommend using masking tape (in the photo you can see that I didn't have any and used simple tape) to prevent the glue from sticking out from under the anchors as far as possible.

The Itiwit 100 already has some hooks on the bow, although I thought about using them to tie one of the parts of the calarodillas, I think it is not the best option, I use these supports at the end to tie the bow bag to the packraft, just with the two handles that are in the bow.

Finally, the last of the 4 anchorages of the calarodillas, is a shared anchorage with the lumbar support located at the stern of the Packraft. The following photo shows the result:

Note that the glue on this side is sticking out from the edges of the anchors: mistake! Ok, just an aesthetic mistake, but easily avoidable with masking tape, in the following picture you can see that in the absence of masking tape I have put some adhesive tape on the sides that you can remove later on for a cleaner and more professional result.

The rest of the anchorages such as the calarodillas on the other side and the lumbar support are placed in the same way by repeating the previous cleaning operation with alcohol or MEK solvent, the mixing of the bi-component glue, the application of two previous coats of glue and the application of heat with a spray gun or a hairdryer.

I recommend that you go over all the edges of the anchorages a while after applying the glue to look for spots where there may not be enough glue and that you add small repairs of glue to make sure that there are no weak spots where water can seep in or that would make it easier for the anchorage to come loose.

💡Recommendation:All these anchorages I recommend to do them initially with the packraft inflated, and after a while take pressure off little by little and go over all the anchorages, if necessary, with the packraft deflated or almost deflated at the end bend the anchorages to make sure that the edges are well glued. Sometimes some areas need extra pressure.

One part that did not come with the kit was the anchor for the lumbar support at the bow. I reused an anchor I had from an old anchor I replaced on my Aoraki Valkyrie packraft.

The seats

The following set of photos shows the seating arrangement.

Alternative seating material

I am still looking for flooring/seating options that will take up most or all of the floor of the new CATRAFT, which is open to improvements in a future version 2.0.

Additional steps (optional)

BOW BAG

I have found that the bag is very good at keeping water out of the bathtub. I recommend it.

EXTRA SEATS

The seat on the Packraft Itiwit 100 has an anchoring system that I really like:

Detalle del anclaje del asiento trasero. El asiento extra que he añadido tengo que buscar algún mecanismo para que no se pierde en caso de nadada.

By the way, these chairs are ideal for hydrospeed when swimming 😂. Joking aside, when you're swimming you've got enough work to do without having to retrieve each component of the packraft one by one - it's a good idea to tie everything up tightly!

One option is to get an extra seat and place it backwards from the main seat, taking up almost the entire surface of the tub but leaving just enough space for your feet; I hope this picture explains it better than I can 😉: