Size of a packraft

[BPLwiia]

I have never packrafted but looking to get into it.  It would be used on flat water only for fishing and overnight or weekend trips. A 2-person packraft is desirable as I could use it with friends. That said, the majority of the time I’ll probably use it alone.

Is a larger/longer 2-person packraft, say a Alpacka Forager or Kokopelli Twain, unwieldly to use alone? Would the experience of using it alone be greatly dimished compared to a smaller packraft?

Any advice or thoughts would be sincerly appreciated. Thank you.

[Ben Brochu]

The short answer is yes. You’ll likely be happier with a one person packraft and you can get two Kokopelli Rogue Lites for the price of a Forager (and I can get you 15% off with a coupon code.) I haven’t paddled a Forager solo, but a Twain wouldn’t be my first choice if I was going solo most of the time. Packrafts have a lot of windage so the larger the boat, the more you’ll get blown around on flat water.

[David Thomas]

Due to the windage issue, you may want to acquire the smallest little anchor if you’re going fishing.  Then you maintain your position as you cast towards the weeds without having to constant paddle a bit for station-keeping.

Klymt lists their “Litewater Dinghy (LWD)” as 44 ounces and $169 MSPR, but I got one (Sierra Trading Post? – doesn’t have them right now) for $109.  I’ve used it to lighter ashore from a motor boat and it’s fine for fishing in a small lake.  It doesn’t have enough of a keel function to paddle very well for a long distance, but maybe no pack raft does and I’m spoiled by my sea kayaks.

Anyway, for $170, you could get your feet wet and then have a second single boat for a friend on flat water should you move up to a more white-water capable pack raft in the future.

I didn’t know if I’d take the plunge and get a bigger, more capable pack raft, but the LWD does everything I’ve needed so far.

[Kevin Babione]

I found one for $76!  I’ve never used this vendor, but I regularly use vendors I’ve never seen before:

LWD for $75.99

I have absolutely no need for a packraft, but am thinking about it now…This is a pretty low entry cost.

[David Thomas]

I’m at work (during lunch) at an electric utility with some pretty good cyber security and wasn’t allowed on that site Kevin posted.

“The connection for this site is not secure.  http://www.zombury.com sent an invalid response.”

and

“OfficeScan detected a Web Reputation policy violation.  Websites (URLs) that triggered the violation have been blocked.”

Every other e-commerce I’ve done from work (LL Bean, Amazon, eBay, Sierra Trading Post, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Merrell, etc) has gone through.  I didn’t even know we had those filters until now.

That price is really sweet though.
Said the bug about the dew on the Venus Flytrap.

[John S.]

There are lots of those weirdly named websites with crazy low prices for all kinds of outdoor gear. Be careful.

[Kevin Babione]

I’m on my work computer as well and normally their filters are pretty tight, but Zombury didn’t set of any alarms here.  I seriously contemplated buying one, but I really have NO use for one in the foreseeable future.  It might be fun to play with in a pool, but that would be the extent of it for me right now.

[BPLwiia]

I definitely going to get one of the models from Alpacka.  For fishing, I don’t want to sit low in the packraft and the only two models that have an high-elevated seat are the Oryx and Forager. I’d buy either in a second but most of the time I’ll be backpacking it into a location and both a fairly heavy.

With the lighter models, I’d be sitting on a substantially lower inflated seat on the bottom of the packraft. That makes casting a pain in the neck.  Has any tried to jerry rig a seating arrangement, or purchased after market inflatable seats,  that will get you elevated to the top-of-the-tube height like the Oryx and Forager?

As you can see in the opening few seconds of the videos, the Onyx has seats at perfect height for me whereas the Mule sits much lower to the water.  I’d like to be able to duplicate the higher seats in a lighter model such as the Mule or Explorer 42.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3iH5BNcVjY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz9xZwGLF0M

 

 

[Philip Tschersich]

Get a Classic series Alpacka and buy a stern Oryx seat for fishing, and use the standard seat for general paddling.

[BPLwiia]

That’s a great idea.

It would be very helpful to be able to go to a dealer and see it with your own eyes. Get a sense for its size and how its built. There is no place anywhere around me that carries packrafts and I’ve gone to some “paddling” club events but everyone had either a kayak or canoe.

It’s a tad frustrating spending a lot of money having no idea what it is you’re about to buy other than seeing it on YouTube.

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