I just bought an used Trak T1600 (the very first kayak from Trak). I’ve figured out how to assemble and take it apart, but I still have some questions for anyone that’s owned this boat.
Is it possible to take it on the plane without overweight charges? The kayak packs down to about 48 lb, from what I’ve read, but the packing bag is pretty heavy as well. The fully packed bag is definitely over the 50 lb airline weight limit. Is there a way to pack the kayak so that that bag is below the weight limit?
Where do I put the bag when I go on the water? The obvious answer is to roll up the bag and put it into the kayak, but the bag is huge, so it doesn’t fit. If I’m driving to the launch point then I can just leave it in the car, but otherwise where do I leave it?
Do I need a sea sock when I already have float bags? Unlike Trak 2.0, the T1600 doesn’t come with a sea sock. It does come with float bags, which act as bulkhead, but I’m wondering if the extra layer of safety provided by the sea sock is worth paying for.
I have no experience with the first model from Trak, but I can speak to the questions about the sea sock.
Float bags are effectively just balloons to give air pockets inside the hull to prevent sinking should you capsize, but a sea sock is made to prevent full swamping… So if you use a sea sock and you capsize the chances are very low you’ll have a lot of water in the hull and the amount of bailing or pumping is much reduced.
So both systems are made to help prevent sinking, but the float bags only keep enough water out of the hull to prevent it from sinking but do allow enough in to demand a lot of bailing and pumping. Sea Socks prevent most of the swamping.
As a side note, getting formed flotation bags for different sizes to fit different hulls can be a problem but if you use Yoga Balls instead, it makes for easy fitting. I buy them is 4 different diameters. You do not fill them completely and by letting them be only about 75% full only they conform to the inside shape of the hull perfectly. Go with small ones towards the bow and stern and get larger as you bring more of them toward the center. They make perfect floatation chambers. Their down-side is that they ONLY float the kayak. So I combine them with dry bags when I need to carry gear. Anything that needs to stay dry (like my sleeping bag, land cloths, fire kit and so on) are fit into water tight boxes or float bags and set in-between the yoga balls, and I usually set one dry bag just in front of my feet. I attach pull cords to the dry bags and if you need to pull out any balls to get to your dry bags use old fashioned net laundry bags. Put the balls inside the net bags and use cords attached to the nets to pull out the balls as needed.
Lastly, if I had a Trak and it’s carry bag was too large, my solution would be to make a thinner bag out of nylon material (like you see used with Tents) and probably use cords with cinch knots to hold the package tightly inside the bag. This will reduce the size of the bag (and you can put yoga balls in it on the water to use just like a net bag)
As far as flying goes,I can’t say.
Different airlines have different rules and policies and I would be VERY sure if you had connecting flights what the policies were for EVERY airline both going and coming back. If they have rules that you can’t make work for your needs don’t give them you business.
Or do what my sister does. Ship UPS or US Post Office both ways and fly light.
I did that with my hunting gear going in and out of Alaska. I’d ship my gear up to friends about 10 days before I would leave home, and so they can call me and tell me the packages are all there. I flew with only a small carry-on. Then I’d ship my gear back the day before I left Alaska and I’d beat my own packages home, and I’d be waiting for them myself when the packages got back.
I had one for a while. Mostly had it because I was storing my boats in a storage area 30+ minutes (without traffic) from where I lived. Sold it when I found storage closer to home.
I was told by guy who I bought it from that to avoid overweight charges you would use 2 bags. I think if you put a jack (or 2) in a separate bag, that lowers the weight enough for many airlines (that said, I never took it on a trip to test).
I always drove to my put ins, so left bag in the car. If you were going some place where you needed to leave it, perhaps considering switching it to being in a standard duffel bag rather than the roller bag (of course, you lose the roller benefit of the bag).
On float bag only vs float bag and sea sock vs sea sock only - depends much on you and your skills. Upon capsize, the less water that gets in, the easier it is to re-enter and to drain. Some people have trouble getting in to regular hard shell kayaks. Some people have such high skills and balance that they can rescue themselves in a no flotation rec boat in deep water. Using both sea sock and float bags gives you the best shot. I did find the sea sock felt weird at first, but I got used to it. I settled in on using that only a lot of the time when paddling the Trak in low capsize risk conditions.
I did practice some rolls with neither in once, and blew a roll and swam. I was right next to a launch ramp, which was good as the kayak almost did sink below the surface. Just enough air was trapped in the hull to barely keep it floating and I was able to get it back to shore. So definitely use something!
Thankfully, the Trak I had came with the float bags for it (hopefully yours did too). They were the ones that you could also use as dry bags (formed to shape of boat, but with roll tops to allow you to put stuff inside). Side note - to hold the front one in place, I would buckle it around one of the frame supports on the front deck - this way it wouldn’t move if the boat got flooded (not needed for one in rear - seat would hold it in place).
If you did try the yoga ball system mentioned above, tread carefully. Yoga balls wedge themselves in by forming to the shape of the kayak as pressure is added to the ball. But the Trak being a skin on frame has skin that flexes, and the frame is not super sturdy, so there is decent chance a high pressure yoga ball would deflect the skin and/or frame of the kayak and cause problems.
I’m planning on carrying the ribs and jacks separately. The whole thing is still heavy as hell though.
I don’t think I can pack the Trak down to a smaller bag because the frames barely fit inside the dimensions of the existing bag even when packed down. I can probably get a lighter duffel bag that can be rolled up, but I don’t know if I can carry it without wheels. The Trak packs down to 1.5 meters, so the weight distribution is terrible even if I carry it on my back.
My Trak does come with float bags, which I’ll use on pretty much every paddle. The sea sock I’ll need to buy from the Trak website (no other sellers). I’m just wondering if the safety benefits are worth the extra purchase.
Another problem is that most airlines have a limit of 62 inch for linear dimensions, which is a lot lower than the packed dimensions of the Trak, even for the small T-1600.
For traveling, the lighter Pakboat Quest 150 (31 pounds) can be packed with break down paddle, PFD, float bags, spray skirt, pump and all your personal kit and still be under 50 pounds and within the 62 unified inches for checked baggage with no overage charges. I’ve owned 4 Feathercraft models and 4 Pakboat models of folding kayaks over the past 24 years and all have been significantly lighter than Traks and easier to pack and transport.
Honestly, I don’t get the “benefit” of Traks. Costly, over complicated, sketchy business practices, glitchy jacks – yeah, quicker to set up but not really travel friendly, IMHO. My 16’ composite sea kayak weighs the same as a packed Trak 1600.
Better to dump the factory pack and look for a rolling duffel bag or two (I have a large long one made by Timberland that easily holds my Feathercraft Wisper or the PB Quest) for packing folders for transport. Also, putting the frame longerons in a hardshell ski or golf bag can get you better baggage fees – there are often some discounts for sporting gear that can be adopted for transporting folder parts and paddles via airline.
I bought the Trak used for a fairly discounted price, so I didn’t have to deal with the infamous delays. I was actually looking for a Pakboat or Feathercraft initially, but couldn’t find any model that I wanted on the used market in my country. The used Trak was also quite a bit cheaper than a brand new Quest 150. I’ll admit that the compromise in portability is worse than I expected. The bag is massive and somewhat difficult to lift.