Inflatable Kayak Blog

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to paddle a kayak made of wood sticks and animal skins? Maybe not, but that’s how kayaks originated. The small ‘human-powered’ boat that we know as a kayak was originally developed by Native Aleut and Eskimo hunters in sub-arctic regions of North America and Greenland. They used the boats to hunt on inland lakes rivers and coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic, Bering Sea and North Pacific oceans. These first kayaks were constructed from stitched animal skins such as seal stretched over a wooden frame made from collected driftwood, as many of the areas of their construction were treeless. Archaeologists have found evidence indicating that kayaks are at least 4000 years old.

The closest you can come to paddling an “original kayak” today is to paddle a folding kayak. Of all modern kayaks, they are closest relatives to the skin-and frame vessels of the past. Folding kayaks exhibit many of the same paddling characteristics. Their ‘skin’ also absorbs some of the energy from waves and actually makes for a smoother ride than that of a hard shell kayak.

A friend of mine asked me if I practiced “low-impact environmental paddling”. After I figured out he wasn’t talking about an aerobic exercise or the latest diet craze, I said “Of course I do!” What he was talking about was paddling “green”. I’m actually kind of a re-cycle nut anyway, so he knew what my answer would be.

Enjoying the outdoors is a privilege and we should respect nature accordingly, trying our best not to disturb whatever ecosystem we’re paddling in. I hate it when I see candy wrappers, aluminum cans or other trash floating by or up against the shore when I’m paddling. How difficult can it be to find a trashcan or hold on to the trash until you get to one? I’ve been known to toss an apple core or peach pit into the woods but actually that’s not really such a good idea either. Even though they are biodegradable, sometime human foods can be bad for the diets of particular animals in areas where those fruits are not normally found.

Yeah, it’s a popular catch phrase and very trendy, but no matter whether you’re paddling a sleek new folding kayak or an old wooden canoe, paddling “green” is and has always been a good path to follow.

The Outdoor Retail Show was a fun experience and I enjoyed the Open Air Demo Day where I got to try paddling several inflatable and folding kayaks. The PakBoats were a fun, new experience as I had not had the chance to try out a folding kayak before this. The feel of a folding boat in the water is totally different from our inflatable. It is very similar to paddling a hard shell kayak. I had the chance to paddle the Puffin Sport (10 foot model) and the Puffin Kayak (12 foot model). The Puffin 12 was easy to maneuver and get some speed, but I found getting into the kayak was a bit difficult since it had a deck on it and it was a little narrower than the hard shell kayak I had been in before. I guess like anything new it takes some getting used to but after figuring out how to do it, that wouldn’t be an issue. I liked the Puffin 10 the best. If it was just me paddling a kayak, I think the smaller boat is easier to handle. In just a few paddles I felt very comfortable and at ease. The Puffin Sport also did not have a deck on it and I think I liked that better as well.

I mentioned to PakBoats owner and designer, Alv Elvestad, that I thought the smaller size was easy to handle. He told me that a lot of older women liked that boat. I wasn’t exactly sure how to take that remark, I don’t usually consider myself an older woman, but he quickly explained that he had an 80 year old woman that came to them at the beginning of summer and had them put the boat together for her, and she used it all summer. When she was ready to return home, she would stop by and they would take the boat apart for her. I guess it really is a good boat for older women. We’ll see if I am still paddling when I am 80!

There were so many paddling opportunities at the “Open Air Demo’ at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show that we’re going to back track and review them individually.

PakBoats is introducing a new folding, touring kayak, the XT series. There was a slight delay in the arrival date. The boats were expected to be available sometime in September of 2008, however they were delayed till Spring of 2009. Touring kayaks are generally longer and have a flatter hull shape to allow the kayak to move faster and cover longer distances than a kayak designed for whitewater use or for situations where turning ability is more important. There will be two XT’s, the XT-15 (15 foot) folding kayak and the XT-16 (16 foot) kayak. The XT-15 will be sold strictly as a one-person model. The XT-16 will be sold as a two-person model with the option of purchasing a solo deck to also use the kayak as a one-person model.

We paddled the XT-16 at the ‘Open Air Demo’. The ride was smooth and both paddlers could totally stretch their legs out for a comfortable ride. I’d guess it would accommodate heights up to 6 feet 4 inches, maybe more. It was evident that the touring design enabled us to create more speed and when some higher waves crossed our path from the speed boats farther out in Pineview Reservoir, the boat cut nicely through the water and felt very stable. Better paddlers could very well use it effectively in some rougher water. The XT-16, like all the PakBoats, though, is designed for best use in calmer water and will make a very good kayak for couples to take relaxing trips on lakes and rivers.

Over the next few days we’ll continue to post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

On the floor at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show in the Salt Lake Convention Center, we got together with Erik from Clear Blue Hawaii at their booth. A question that’s been on many minds for awhile is “when will the two person Hanauma inflatable kayak be back in stock and available for purchase?” Due to manufacturing problems, the Hanauma has been unavailable since March. Erik told us that it looked like the Hanauma would be available, hopefully, by the end of August. We hope so, too, since we have a long list of potential customers wanting to buy one.

We also saw a new product, expected to be available in 2009. Clear Blue Hawaii has developed a self-inflating kayak carrier. It’s a set of two rectangular padded straps that attach easily to the top of any vehicle. They’re super lightweight and can be carried in a small bag until you’re ready to use them. They have a self-inflating system similar to some life vests. They won’t scratch the car top and they can be used for any kind of kayak or boat, depending on the width. Folding kayaks don’t usually work well with carriers because the strain of tightening them down bends the frame. This padded carrier should reduce some of that pressure and may be an answer for those of you who have folding kayaks and want to occasionally ‘car top’ them.

Over the next few days we’ll continue to post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

The best part about the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show ‘Open Air Demo’ is the opportunity to paddle boats that you’ve never paddled before. The Puffin 12 (aka Puffin Kayak) fits in that category. It’s the most versatile folding kayak in the PakBoat line and so lightweight, at only 23 pounds. At 12 foot in length, it’s very maneuverable and yet it can generate good speed. I especially noticed the speed I was able to generate, and I’m not considered an expert paddler, more of an average recreationist. There were many, many hard shell kayaks at the ‘open air demo’, but the PakBoats looked and paddled right with them. While paddling the Puffin 12, I had a young lady, who was paddling a hard shell, ask me about the boat and comment on how nice it looked in the water.

The boat I paddled was a 2009 prototype that had a new side color, gray. Currently PakBoats offer three side colors; red, green and blue with one deck color; yellow. The 2009 models will offer two side colors; gray and black, and two deck colors; mango (as seen in the picture) and red. I think the color combinations will make the PakBoats even better looking than they already are. The 2009 frame designs are not very different, with only a few improvements and manufacturing adjustments to allow for easier part replacement. Of course, the 14 foot Puffin Swift is clearance priced and will no longer be available. They will continue to be backed up by PakBoats excellent service, though. The new XT touring kayaks will essentially replace the Swift. We paddled a two person XT and a new Puffin 10 (aka Puffin Sport) and I’ll tell you more about those in a later blog.

Over the next few days and into next week, we’ll post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

The 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show began with the ‘Open Air Demo’, two days where manufacturers allow attendees the opportunity to paddle, ride and test out their products. Pineview Reservoir is about an hour away from Salt Lake City, so we decided to take the train. Utah has a really nice transportation system, originally developed to accommodate the Winter Olympics that were held here in 2002. The newest addition is the FrontRunner train. Our badges allowed us to ride free as far as Ogden, then catch a shuttle to the demo. The ride up was fun on the train, however we had a more scenic ride when we took the shuttle bus directly back to the city after the show.

By the time we arrived at the demo, the cloudy skies that began the day had changed to bright sunshine. The rest of the day was probably the hottest since we arrived and sunscreen and shady areas became a major part of the plan. The tents in the parking lot and on the beach made for a carnival like atmosphere and the water was filled with paddlers, motor boaters (farther out into the lake) and something we hadn’t seen before, people standing on surfboards while paddling them, most likely one of the newer products at the show. It was exciting to see everyone enjoying the day and the camaraderie.

Our main interest at the ‘open air demo’ was the Sea Eagle and Pakboat tents. Coincidentally they were located next to each other. We talked with John and Cecil Hoge from Sea Eagle as we had the opportunity to paddle the 340x Explorer Inflatable Kayak and the catamaran style PaddleSki for the first time. Alv Elvestad, the designer of the PakBoats was there helping us to test paddle the new Puffin models with their new color scheme and the new XT touring series, available in one and two person models. We’ll get more specific on both the Sea Eagle and Pakboats in some blogs over the next few days. Way too many things to talk about in one blog!
 
We also test paddled a new folding boat that was making it’s debut at the show, the K-Pak. Looks like we may have found an addition to our product line. I’ll get more specific on that one in another blog as well.

Over the next few days and into next week, we’ll post several blogs that will have specific information about the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the show. The indoor portion of the show begins on Friday.

We’re here for the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show, but till it begins, here’s more about the area near Salt Lake City.

After lunch on Monday, it was time to play a little at Snowbird Resort. Two things we wanted to try while at the lodge were the Zipline and the Alpine Mountain Slide. We had seen people riding Ziplines on TV and it always looked like so much fun. You climb a tower and are strapped in to a chair and when they open the door you fly out and down a cable zipping along until it’s stopped by giant springs at the bottom. When we got off the Zipline we took the chairlift back up to try out the slide. The Alpine sled is plastic with small wheels and a steering lever that goes down a slide much like a mini luge track. You can propel yourself down the slide at a speed that’s right for you. These were both so much fun we rode each of them three times.

To end out the day, we took the tram to the top one more time to see if we could get some more pictures. Of course we couldn’t resist one more hike out to a patch of snow. On the way, we saw a mule deer gazing on the mountainside. Going down there was much easier than the extremely steep climb back to the tram. Breathing in the high altitude slows you down a bit, too. We met a hiker who had hiked up the mountain. We were breathing harder than he was. Turns out, he’s an active marathon runner in training. We learned about his exploits and he asked us about our inflatable and folding kayaks. To top it off, we saw more mule deer on the ride down in the tram. Wow, what a day!

More fun and scenic adventures are on tap for Tuesday, then the open-air demo portion of the show begins Wednesday, when we’ll be paddling some kayaks at Pineview Reservoir.

As expected, Monday was quite a full day at Snowbird, near Salt Lake City, where we are enjoying some rest and relaxation before the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show begins on Wednesday. Our first adventure was a tram ride up the mountain to 11,000 feet at Hidden Peak where we hiked several of the trails. We went down one side to the Peruvian Lift and Tunnel and went through the tunnel and back up the other side. The sun was shining off all the different peaks making for spectacular views and photo ops. Along with the mountains, there were hillsides of pretty wildflowers that added to the beauty. I was in heaven, taking about 100 pictures during our two hours on the top of the mountain.

We talked to a couple that had actually hiked up the mountain on one of the well-mapped paths. It took them about 2 hours. After telling then about our business, they mentioned they had seen folding kayaks before and had been thinking about looking into buying one. We made sure they remembered PortableKayaks.com.

We went back to the room to rest a bit and get some lunch and then we were off to play. More on that in the next blog.

We’ve arrived in Salt Lake City on our trip to the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show. The show is the largest in North America with over 40,000 exhibitors and attendees and it’s in it’s 26th year. We’re looking forward to seeing what’s new in portable watercraft and accessories, maybe adding some new products to the PortableKayaks.com line. The open air demo at Pineview Reservoir should be the highlight of the show, where we’ll be able to try out the new Pakboat XT folding kayak, some of the Sea Eagle craft that we haven’t paddled yet and maybe some other new or different boats.

The show doesn’t begin until Wednesday at the demo, but we decided to get in a little early and relax and enjoy the area. Our plane trip was smooth, they didn’t lose our luggage and the room at Snowbird Resort is nice! Great start to the trip. We woke up Sunday morning and looked out over the balcony at the green ski hills beneath a bright blue sky with the sound of the creek’s rushing water below us. Now I’m relaxed!! We’ll do a couple blogs about the area over the next few days, before the show begins. Maybe we’ll see a moose. We did photograph a beautiful sunset on the way into the lodge last evening.