ok…it had to happen ! now there’s a “caboose” for the kayak camper/gadgeteer… Sooooo…who’s wants one for Christmas this year? fess up now /be honest! and whoever is the 1st on your pond to buy one , how about a review plz.
Good timing!
This seems an appropriate day to discuss this new product - if only this were actually an April Fools joke!
Where to start with this one?? How about hull speed?
How fast can a 150 pound, 6 foot long, 2 foot wide boat go anyways? Must be like tying a spring pig to your stern. (actually, spring pigs are probably slimmer than that.)
“The Kayak Kaboose is an aquatic carrier, EFFORTLESSLY towed behind the kayak . . .” Must be made with those massless, frictionless pulleys that physics professors refer to in their exam questions. Or maybe it operates in a non-Newtonian dimension.
“This option will be most attractive to watercraft outfitters where a burden is placed on an expedition guide to carry cargo and essentially make the trip easier for inexperienced kayakers.” Yes, guides are going to LOVE towing 150 pounds of kaboose, and 250 pounds of tired-out kayaker at the same time!
“The Kayak Kaboose will be most attractive to canoers and kayakers who wish to take additional cargo and who will be out on open water.” Indeed! The perfect “open water” solution! I’ll bet that thing looks funny when the following seas drop it on your rear deck!
OPEN WATER ? I don’t have words for
that one. How about this. “Is it ok if I put my low value sh*t in your kaboose for this crossing?” Bill
uh . . .
Your paddling partners might look at you funny and back away if you said that. 
Hmmm…
I’ve towed 150 pounds of wife and boat in a longer, narrower hull, and it wasn’t what I’d call “effortless”. Must be some special physics magic they’re using.
Took me a minute. Very funny. 
Rocketbox competition? nm
Kayak crummy?
Paint it red…call it F.R.E.D.
Isn’t this why some of us paddle canoes? $850 can buy a lot of dry storage!
hmm
Found this on the web about this “solution”:
“The Kaboose is lightweight, weighing 7 kilos (15 lbs) and has a cargo capacity of 138 liters (69 kg). It’s sleekly shaped to be streamlined in the water and has a rigid hitch bar that mounts to stern-deck-mounted hardware on the towing kayak. The hitch bar prevents the pod from catching up to the kayak in surf, swivels to allow the towing kayak to roll while the pod stays upright, and allows quick release.”
So according to this article - it won’t impede rolling, it won’t wash up on your back deck as Nate mentioned above, and it weighs 15lbs empty. HMMMMMMM again…
So if it swivels…what is to keep this thing from “flipping upside down” after you have just braced from a beam wave? Can you imagine how you (if alone) might be able to right this thing when it has a rigid pole that keeps it from being reached from your cockpit? Seems like you would have to exit your boat, swim back to it and flip it over, then do a self rescue!
Can you imagine how this thing would make paddling in conditions? Your boat might crest a wave while this thing is on the other side of it - or behind it - it seems like it would make a very difficult time. Not to mention doing surf landings/rock landings/etc in it!
I wonder though how it might work if it were on a “outrigger” set of arms…giving stability instead. Just a thought.
flip
In following seas, I’m guessing this thing would swing out 90 degrees . . . and THEN flip over. By that time it’s half way up to the cockpit, so you can just wait for the next wave to jack-knife the rig completely, and bring the upturned Kaboose within reach of the paddler. From there it can be easily flipped back over.
See? They’ve thought of everything!
They sole my idea
Just kidding. But, I do recall when all I had was a little rec boat, I wondered whether I could tow a little inflatable raft with a tent, sleeping bag in a dry bag, foot, etc., to camp along a river or whatever. Suffice it to say, I never tried it and bought a “real” kayak, with dry storage.
I saw it or something like it at…
… Canoecopia, and as I walked by, I heard a woman say “What is it?.. Oh, it’s a trailer!” I’m sure it will appeal to a certain segment of the paddling population, perhaps more because it seems like a “cute idea” than anything else.
Maybe I could use this idea to sell “trailer backpacks” to backpackers so they could also haul more gear.
Kayak Kaboose
I’m the inventor of the Kayak Kaboose and I’ve read some of your criticisms. This kaboose was six years in the making. The haul was designed by Skip Izon, master boat builder. He built the two person rowing skulls which won a gold medal for Canada. As for drag; it’s minimal. I’ve personally tested it with 150 pounds in it and there’s not much stress on the paddler. Most people won’t be bringing 150 pounds of gear with them. This is designed with a quick release allowing you to tether it back if you need something out of it. As far as this flipping over and coming back and flipping onto your deck, if you’re in 10 to 20 foot swells, it’s like anything, there’s a possibility that it will flip over. It is watertight and if it does happen to flip over you can just tether it back and reright it. As far as doing your landings on rough seas and rocks, if you can land your kayak you can land the kaboose with it. If you have a chance and you’re on the west coast, wavelength magazine will have one there for the garbage cleanup in May (around the island). This product has been roll tested and there is no hindrence to the paddler. So, with a new product, I fully understand your scepticism but before judging, take it for a paddle and then tell me what you think.
I look forward to hearing your comments once you have tested it.
1 Like
A Lake George Solution
Spotted this lower tech approach on Lake George:
I appreciate your desire to defend your
baby from the onslaught of internet snipers, so please don’t take this too harshly. Your comment of “As far as this flipping over and coming back and flipping onto your deck, if you’re in 10 to 20 foot swells, it’s like anything, there’s a possibility that it will flip over.” is not the kind of answer that will address my concern. I think most of us are concerned with period and not height. I have had my hands full in three footers where towing anything would have been a real burden. For those of us who like to push our comfort levels(which sooner or later we all do), this invention of yours would not likely fit into this paddle. I am sure that the kaboose has its place and market, it may not be with open water paddlers who like to keep themselves as unencumbered as possible. I suppose that in the end it is the same as towing another paddler in rough water whereby your invention is towed by a longer line in the next trough rearward. I would prefer not to tow anything if I don’t have to. Bill
Um - indent error?
I bet you meant this as a reply to the person who invented the device…
niche product
Kayaking is a small but growing segment of the outdoors community and this product caters to an even smaller sub-section.
My hat goes off to the group with the guts to put this to market and I wish you well. It has been a while since anyone has introduced any real new products to this market. Yes, paddle and boat designs change, but I give you credit for really coming up with something new.
As someone who considers themself more of a craggy, traditionalist, I perfer the planning and strategy that goes into packing everything in my boat and just couldn’t fathom utilizing this product. Same way I can’t see myself installing a sail on my kayak. I paddle and camp out of my boats because I enjoy the entire process A-Z. If I can’t fit it in my hatches, I probably don’t need it.
I’ve covered too much water in too many conditions and wouldn’t want to take the chance having a caboose dragging behind. Just the percieved safety issues with this item would keep me or any of my experienced kayaking frieds away from the product. I wouldn’t want to land on a rocky shore in surf with this thing bopping behind my head.
I feel the same way about deck bags and anything more than a paddle or pump strapped to my deck. I follow the old KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid)
Celia, even if I click reply below the
post i want to reply to I end up at the bottom. I n this case it was below wilsoj2. Hopefully in reading my post it is obvious who I am replying to. Bill
kaboose
I don’t understand the need for this item. Even before moving into ultralight kayaking, and in the days of guiding in the high arctic, we would pack everything inside our boats, deck loading was a last resort for the start of a trip. Now, my wife and I can pack our Solstice kayaks for 25 days with some room to spare. Why would anyone need the stuff in the barge? I’d rather paddle a double solo. This will go the way of the outside sponsons that were being touted as a safety device back in the 1990s; useless as this.
Indent Feature
I’ve never seen the indent feature malfunction, and a few times people have illustrated how it works in multiple ways when giving “lessons” to people who wanted to figure it out (the ones who don’t want to figure it out just click the wrong “reply” button every time or some of the time, no matter what). Whether your post ends up “at the bottom” is not the issue in this case since that depends on whether anyone else has clicked various other reply buttons in the mean time. Back when I taught high school I got so frustrated at the way half the kids had never learned how an outline works in the elementary grades, and I think a lot of them are posting on p-net now!
In any case, note that THIS time, your reply ended up in the correct place, while the previous reply was in the wrong place, so what you said about where your replies always end up doesn’t seem to be true.