Hi! I am new to paddling and am looking into a multi-day down the Colorado in TX this Summer. I intend to do many more trips of this variety, ie. multi-day flat water paddles. Knowing very little about pack rafts, accept that they are often used in backpacking and trekking trips for water segments or crossings, and that they seem very convenient, is there any reason I shouldn’t buy one just for long-distance paddles?
Pack rafts are light weight & small. Their most intended uses are for paddling remote rivers where you have to backpack to get into the river, and trips where you will combine paddling with either hiking or mountain biking sections of the trip. They can carry a small amount of gear, such as what you would carry on a backpacking trip. They are small & short, so they are at their best on whitewater. They will work on flat water, but they are not optimal for long distance paddling.
If you are looking for the convenience of an inflatable, then there are other boats that will work much better than a pack raft. The Sea Eagle line of inflatables are nice for flat water, and I have several friends who paddle them & like them. I have a ton of friends who paddle AIRE / Tributary kayaks on flat water & whitewater. These IKs will hold plenty of gear for a multi-day trip, and will paddle fairly efficiently. They won’t be as fast as a hard shell kayak and they are more susceptible to wind, but they can handle a variety of paddling adventures on rivers. If you get into any lake or open water paddling, then you will want a hard shell kayak.
I am not experienced with canoes, so I’ll leave it to others to tell you about them.
What’s your reason for going with an inflatable boat instead of a hard-shell? Are you worried about storage, or carrying a boat on your car’s roof? These things might be less of a problem than you imagine (nearly any car, large or small, can be outfitted with a secure roof rack). It would be good to know what you are thinking about such things before we give much advice.
I’ve never paddled out West, but I’d expect that wind is at least as much of a concern there as it is here in the Midwest. Here, wind is the number-one issue when it comes to difficulty in going long distances, and the handful of times there’s been someone with an inflatable kayak in the group (and that’s only happened on very short trips), they simply didn’t have a prayer of keeping up with a normal, leisurely paddling pace if the wind was fairly strong. I know there are folks who enjoy using inflatable kayaks for tough rapids, and raftergirl has plenty of experience with large rafts, but to me, long-distance flatwater tripping just doesn’t seem to be the right use for small inflatables. Maybe someone else will think differently, though.
Yes, wind is a huge problem here in the west. Afternoon up river/up canyon winds are a fact of life. I was very anti-inflatables on the flat water river trips I led on the Colorado River in Utah last year. I was pleasantly surprised that the IK folks kept up just fine. On a trip last fall we had a tandem canoe, 2 Iks, and myself in my hardshell SOT. My group were all hard core hikers and they really wanted a layover day at Spanish Bottom to allow a full day of hiking in The Dollhouse. We paddled 21 miles that day, into the wind for the last 2 hours. They were all fit & determined folks, so we got it done with no problem. On the flip side, I have had to dawdle & wait on Iks on the past. I think is has more to do with the paddler than the boat in many cases. Also, the length & design of the IK can play a role. The Sea Eagles with their firm floor & skeg, and the AIRE double IKs seem to do much better. That’s why I wouldn’t recommend a pack raft.
IKs are very popular here in the west due to their versatility in both flat water and whitewater. Many of our rivers have a mix of both kinds of water on a single trip. We are on larger rivers with consistent current. You can do any western river in an IK. You might not be the fastest in the group, and you might expend more energy, but they work just fine in most cases. Now…lakes & open water, thats a whole different story. My Sea Eagle folks did fine on a medium sized lake, but the traditional Ik folks really struggled.
Here’s a picture from a trip on the Southfork Snake river last fall. The Southfork has a pretty swift current with one class I+/II- rapid. There are frequent riffles, gravel bars, and some route finding involved. We had quite a smorgasbord of boats. I have done this trip in my hard shell SOT, but feel most comfortable in my mini-cataraft for this trip. No one swam in the rapid. The year before we had two tandem canoes dump in the rapid.
From left to right…Orange AIRE Lynx double IK, 14 ft. hard shell sit inside kayak, AIRE Tributary double IK, my mini-cat, and an AIRE single IK.
@Guideboatguy said:
What’s your reason for going with an inflatable boat instead of a hard-shell? Are you worried about storage, or carrying a boat on your car’s roof? These things might be less of a problem than you imagine (nearly any car, large or small, can be outfitted with a secure roof rack). It would be good to know what you are thinking about such things before we give much advice.
Storage and transportation were two things that came to mind, especially as I go to school in the fall in Washington and would like to have access to it. But, also, even though it’s idealistic and perhaps shouldn’t be a detractor in making a purchase, a bucket list item for me is a paddle trip overseas in another country, perhaps in Europe. So, preferring to own instead of rent, am I correct in assuming that, in international travel, an inflatable would be preferable?
I’ll also say an additional reason for me is that hard-shells seem to tie you down to the water so much, and I would like to combine peak bagging and paddling.
Should I see if I can rent some of these and try them out this Summer??
Thank you both for all of the valuable information so far!
Okay, your combination of uses is way outside of what I know. Hope someone else has some good advice for you.
See if you can rent one to try it out. Pack rafts really are a niche kind of a boat. Really cool boats that are super light & packable. If you see yourself doing more multi-day longer distance trips, then I don’t think it will fit your needs all that well. I have never paddled one, but I have looked at one up close and I’ve seen them on the river once. They are definitely small. The one I saw up close belonged to an acquaintance who liked to hike into mountains lakes to fish, and also to run backcountry whitewater.
I’ve thought about a pack raft- there’s a few streams I’d like to check out with hike in access only, I’m not much on carrying my hard boat very far-lots of good videos out there, and I know pack rafts are popular with some folks in alaska and other remote places. I can’t imagine paddling one very far in the flats. Because It is kind of a niche craft I haven’t quite pulled the trigger on one.
Thank you again for the responses!
Are you familiar with folding kayaks? That might be another option to consider if overseas travel is your eventual goal. Though not as lightweight as most pack rafts, they are comparable with the larger inflatables. They tend to be the boat of choice for people who want a versatile craft to take with them to remote destinations. Folding canoes (made by companies like Ally and Pakboat) are often used by hunters, fisherman and explorers to fly-in regions like the Alaskan bush. I own 3 folders, a 22 pound 12’ long Pakboat Puffin, a 28 pound 13’5’ Pakboat Quest and a 37 pound 15’ Feathercraft Wisper. I can pack any one of them plus PFD, 3-piece paddle, sprayskirt and all other paddling accessories in a large rolling duffel and still be under the 50 pound limit for checked baggage. Though I may pay from $50 to $100 in round trip charges for the bag, that is still less than one or two days of renting kayaking gear from an outfitter. Folders take around a half hour to set up, but you waste far more than that with the hassles of renting at most locations, which also limit your hours and access for paddling most destinations. Check out YouTube videos of folding kayaks, particularly Pakboat. There is even one where someone in France hauls her Puffin to a river launch site on her folding bicycle, then carries the bike on the kayak rear deck while she paddles downstream, reversing the process when she takes out at the end. Folders have been widely popular in Europe for over 100 years, but are not as common here in the US. For your use, the Pakboat Puffin Saco might be the best choice – besides being very light and simple to set up, it can be paddled with or without the optional deck. http://pakboats.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96&Itemid=150
The main reasons to consider either a pack raft or an IK are these: 1) Out-of-water, lightweight “back pack ability” and 2). --Rough whitewater or surf that even with good skills and proper safety precautions, you might still stand a good chance of getting in “over your head.” I’ve had half a dozen IKs. I also have hard shell boats. Lately, I’ve been intrigued about getting a pack raft myself(especially after like, watching people use them on trips in the Himalayas–But hey, I ain’t headed to the Himalayas any time soon with my work schedule.) And really, I don’t think I’d stand to gain anything buying a pack raft, when I already have a few very tough IKs (see pics below)that weigh no more than 15 lbs. a piece. They’re also quickly self-bailing(Not sure how many pack rafts can boast of this feature–But it does save your bacon in the event of a bad broach;-) Neither my hard shells, nor a lighter-weight folder would do in the gorges, high mountain creeks and the tough out-of-the-way places I and my buddies climb into/out of. Sometimes with a weeks worth of camping gear, most times without. Hard shells I use strictly for lakes, flat open rivers and ocean paddles. Happy water trails with whatever you choose.
Bigger IKs, like Aire or Sea Eagles mentioned above are heavier(25-40+lbs) but more forgiving and will hold a lot more gear
IKs roll-up like a sleeping bag. But note, you will need to carry a pump (A patch kit might come in handy to, but in over 10 years of using them, I’ve only had a tube blow once on me–And that was because I scraped over a stretch of razor wire that some non-ecominded idiot dumped in the water.)
Are those Thrillseeker Iks? I also think I see a Nut Case melon head helmet? Love my Nut Case helmet.
They are indeed Thrillseekers–Don’t know about the helmet though(that one belongs to my friend Tom) as I use my own brand…
@jadams@twca.net said:
Hi! I am new to paddling and am looking into a multi-day down the Colorado in TX this Summer. I intend to do many more trips of this variety, ie. multi-day flat water paddles. Knowing very little about pack rafts, accept that they are often used in backpacking and trekking trips for water segments or crossings, and that they seem very convenient, is there any reason I shouldn’t buy one just for long-distance paddles?
The primary use of pack rafts is for combination back packing and river trips, where you need to be able to carry a raft in a backpack. A hard-shell sit-inside kayak, a hard-shell sit-on-top kayak, or an inflatable kayak would all be a lot better for multi-day river trips than a pack cat for the following reasons:
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Pack rafts are very light and compact when deflated, but they are fragile and don’t handle the abuse of river trips nearly as well as hardshell or inflatable kayaks. I know of a group which suffered several punctures each day during a multi-day backpacking and pack raft trip in Alaska.
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Pack rafts are much slower and have much lower performance than hardshell or inflatable kayaks, I have seen experienced paddlers take unloaded pack rafts through a Class IV rapid, but I wouldn’t recommend using a pack raft for whitewater, and I wouldn’t recommend using a pack raft for covering distance in flat water.
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Pack rafts aren’t self bailing, so you can spend a lot of time sitting in a pool of water, although you can reduce the amount of water which gets into the pack raft by getting one with a spray skirt.
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There isn’t much room in a pack raft for gear. A hard shell kayak or an inflatable kayak would be better for carrying the gear you need for multi-day river trips.
Here’s an example of the kind of trip a pack raft is designed for: On a four-day low-water hardshell-kayak trip on the Selway River in Idaho, we encountered three people we know who hiked up from the takeout for about eight miles with light packs and then floated back to their vehicle in pack rafts, walking around all of the rapids. They had fun, but I wouldn’t consider running the entire river in a pack raft.
apparently these folks didn’t get the memo that pack rafts won’t hold up in ww.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ctps4G9Rsg
just like there a variety of hard boats- there’s quite a range of small inflateables- undecked or decked , single or multi chambered, and i think there is a variety of lay ups and even a self bailing option now.
I think overall the above comments are correct but there are some exceptions out there- they tend to be more expensive and more specialized.
Packrafts are very light weight and fold up very small, which makes them great for backpacking, but not so great with respect to durability, which can result in punctures in rivers with sharp rocks. But if you add a spray skirt and thigh straps, they’re kind of like a low-performance un-rollable whitewater play boat. Here’s a couple pictures of two very experienced pack rafters from Alaska running Kitchen Sink Rapid on the Madison River in Montana.
I think the market has now caught-up in terms of durability of pack rafts in aggressive whitewater. They’re made from denier nylon(okay, I prefer the non-recyclable PVC of my IKs myself) but late model packrafts are also being made narrower, with more rocker and self bailing–You’d have to really work hard to puncture most well made inflatables on any “sharp rocks” or be completely incompetent as a paddler. Valves are usually more a potential problem spot than any rock collisions or even tube slashes. The model in the attached link below comes with quality Leafield valves. And the prices are also much better now–I paid in 2006 for a then new Sea Eagle Explorer, the same price the pack raft in the link is going for in 2017 dollars, --With many of the same tough features(And I never had a puncture problem with the Sea Eagle Exp after dozens of Cl. IV rides.)
But because of the extra length and maneuverability, I’ll prolly be stickin’ with IKs for certain trips, even if they are a tad heavier…
