Congratulations! Waiting to hear what you think of it.
Do make sure to release the valves on the sponsons whenever you take it out of the water or transport it. In this heat they will expand – I ruptured one in my first Feathercraft due to not tending to that and blow-out repairs, though they are simple and durable, are a pain.
The removable decks do make packing for trips and accessing gear and grub during the outing easier than either a standard kayak or canoe.
I’ve always gotten great customer service and direct advise from Pakboat and personal attention and feedback as well. They even took my suggestion for a product they now sell: a sponson valve pre-glued into a fabric patch to make replacement of a damaged or failed one simple.
Thanks for the tips.
Anything else to help the learning curve from hard sided to folder? No bulkheads… Can’t do a scramble… ?
I know your set on a folder, oru and origami both have decent products. The oru is very light and tracks ok. I like the inlet. But recently switched to inflatable kayaks and packrafts for the portability and easy of use. I have been off shore, in storms, and in white water and never had any problems. In fact the inflatable products from kokopelli or alpacka rival the durability and safety of some traditional hardshell, let alone the folders and are waaaaay more portable.
I’ve scrambled onto mine in the water. Had to on the first outing before I found out the “beta” model 135 I bought had a seating height defect that raised the center of gravity. I dumped twice the first day. They sent me instructions to correct that and it has been fine since.
I always use flotation bags, and between those being well inflated (and adding support to the deck) and the high pressure sponsons I found it’s easy to right the boat, then I can flail up onto the stern deck and can pump out the water (if needed) before wriggling back in. I find it easier to crawl up onto a folder deck because it gives a little and isn’t as slippery.
This YouTube video shows a Pakboat XT15 self rescue on choppy water at 1:45 m. Not much different than with a hard shell.
