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Inflatable kayaks: Anyone have experince with them?

Alex Clark

Registered User
Life Long Alaskan
I am trying to research inflatable kayaks that could be air-hauled and inflated on-site. Or maybe even folding kayaks.
Just something for paddling around a lake while fishing.
Anyone with actual experience know which ones to avoid ? Which are lighter? Folding vs inflatable?

I have been using a couple real kayaks that I hauled out to a couple lakes and stashed a long time ago, but I want research the inflatable angle.
 
PacBoat kayaks

I am trying to research inflatable kayaks that could be air-hauled and inflated on-site. Or maybe even folding kayaks.
Just something for paddling around a lake while fishing.
Anyone with actual experience know which ones to avoid ? Which are lighter? Folding vs inflatable?

I have been using a couple real kayaks that I hauled out to a couple lakes and stashed a long time ago, but I want research the inflatable angle.


we have a 16 foot kayak that weight 32 pounds, comes in a duffel bag,.. works great
Jeff
 
The Porta Boat sure looks stable. I have flipped my old canoe a couple times over the years.
 
I have an inflatable 'canoe' make in Eastern Europe, great for packing lots of stuff, but directional stability is not it's strong suit.

There are lots of options, but beware of the light material ones- easy to get holes.
 
Alex,

Look no further than this site: http://pakboats.com/. These “folding canoes are tough, light, set up and break down in minutes, and they are very “seaworthy.” Our research crews used the small ones day in and day out on the Yukon Flats, dragging them through brush on portage’s, etc. never had one fail, though we did replace a few of the ribs that were abused a bit beyond reason.

I know of a couple of fairly serious whitewater types that use the 14 foot model for serious remote put ins in AK, where they’re hauled in by plane, then pack into Headwaters.

Great boats, and far more durable than they might appear. Not cheap, but what quality stuff is?

MTV
 
I have used a sea hawk inflatable boat and it was fine for casual use. Zodiac or Metzler are the big names in inflatables; used by coast guards and whale watchers etc. I have also used a porta boat which is solid but folds up. You can tie it to float struts or folded I put one in my Beaver. Very tough and can take a small motor.
 
The Ally canoe is better than the pakboat. For ease of assembly, it is hard to beat an inflatable. Grabbner makes a quality product and many types of designs.
 
I’ve carried a Packraft 49 in my Cub a few times. It belongs to another member here. Maybe he will comment on it. I floated in it just a couple of times.

9421D6AB-0B01-45DC-AD3B-54365AACE80D.jpg

It it is in the black bag on the left. An easy to carry package and when blown up it makes a nice canoe-type raft.
 

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Spinner, how much do you think that weighs? One or two person? Is it a foot pump type thing ? What is the flight coefficient of an African Sparrow?
 
Alpakas are an amazing tool for the AK adventurer—been using them for races/personal use since 2001. Sheri is an amazing person.

My racing years are pretty much done but I still use my gen 1-2 packraft occasionally for the backcountry travel trips but hands down take it in plane for hunt trips and have used it every year—even if it’s just to portage the animal 80 yards across a beaver pond.

The abuse it can withstand is incredible....

BUT, unlike a zodiac type boat, one hole deflates the entire boat if a lure snags it etc—I have thousands of river miles in my boat and have only slit the floor—took a few hours in the field to patch....the air chamber does have a super slow leak in it now but nothing big enough for me to deal with...

my older boat is unlike the new ones in that it does not have the pointed bow/stern and I opt for no spray skirt—just gets in the way for general purpose uses but my old boat packs super tight and is very light-approx 5lbs—when rolled up it will fit at the bottom of a 2000 cui pack (as small or smaller than a 20 degree sleeping bag in compression bag)

i now out of laziness bring an air mattress battery operated pump to inflate (works too for my massive exped sleeping pad) and the other 3 packrafts we use on the hunt....Her inflatable bag works great though-I’m just over it:)

I think for just fishing on a lake I wouldn’t spend that kind of money and maybe just buy a cheaper type of boat

—unsure of the name but you can build your own packraft type of boat with zippered pockets etc for approx $400–you have to do all ironing/assembly etc....if I get the name of the company I’ll edit the post.
 
Spinner, how much do you think that weighs? One or two person? Is it a foot pump type thing ? What is the flight coefficient of an African Sparrow?

Their website says 15 pounds. And the price is about $1500. So $100 a pound. ��

Two people, like a Cub.
 
"Paddling around the lake", I just bought a sevylor K5 inflatable kayak. This would be very good for the mission and more. I've been out in it a couple of times and it is stable, light and easy to inflate. I got it early this spring for about $275.
 
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