Inflatable Kayak Blog

By M.A.S. (Guest Blogger)

If you are like most Baby Boomers, myself included, you may have spent your childhood in the great outdoors. I spent mine camping.

I remember my folks dragging out the old Army tent, the gas stove, the lawn chairs and tarps. After spending most of the first day setting up, we would sit around the campfire to detail our plans. We decided we would spend our time fishing, hiking, swimming and kayaking. Kayaking and fishing turned out to be a chore. We would have to drag those big metal boats out on the lake. By days end, I remember being so tired as we ate our dinner next to an open fire pit.

Today, my husband and I love to camp, however the experience is much better. We get the outdoor experience without going broke or packing all the heavy supplies.

We have a easier time setting up camp. We bought a pop-up tent which takes minutes to set up and opens up in 3 seconds. No more metal Kayaks or fishing boats either, After an on-line search, we bought an inflatable kayak and an inflatable boat. And, of course, now we have access to excellent electronic gadgets like GPS and ‘fish finders’ and the waterproof cases to carry them in.

We can now pack up our small car with ease. The pop-up tent along with our portable kayak and inflatable boat still leaves us room for our sleeping bags, cooler, lights and even our camp stove.

We “Boomers” are downsizing and downsizing our camping equipment is no exception. After we return from our trips, unpacking our tent, the portable kayak, inflatable boat and the rest of our gear, we can place them on the same shelf either in a bedroom closet or in the garage for safekeeping until our next trip.

If you still long for the good old days, I think I still have that old army tent hidden in the back of the garage.

Most of this month’s blog posts have been about our recent visit to the Outdoor Retail Show in Salt Lake City. Over the next few months, I don’t doubt that there will be several more references to products or activities we saw or events we participated in during the first week of August, 2011. The show was huge and the variety of products were way too numerous to mention them all. I mainly wanted to summarize our visits with Sea Eagle, Innova and Advanced Elements inflatable kayaks, the lines we carry at PortableKayaks.com.

We found several other products that we may or may not add to our product line such as new life jacket designs and cooling towels. Plus there were many, many products that we came across that might be related to kayakers, depending on their other interests, such as pop-up tents, camping food, fly rods and so many more.

The show itself is big. The Open Air Demo on the first day was held at Lake Jordanelle State Park near Park City. It was a beautiful setting until the storms in the area kicked the wind up so that demo paddling was not as much fun as it could have been. We managed to walk (a lot) checking out the booths and participating in the Magellen GPS Cache Treasure Hunt. We each won a t-shirt. I did get to demo a few kayaks before the wind messed things up, but the storms stayed away and a good day was had by all.

The next two days were spent walking (a lot) inside the Salt Palace checking out the booths, sampling trail bars and camping food and being totally amazed by the varieties of products that are available in the outdoor marketplace. Also admiring the ingenuity that’s displayed in creating some of the products. I can’t count the number of times that I said “Wow, that’s unique.” For example, the new Go Pro Video Camera that takes 1080 dpi video in a waterproof case, the Sea Squirts children’s life jackets that I mentioned in a previous post and the Can Cooker that campers can use to cook an entire meal in one container or the Noggs sunglasses that have frames that are virtually indestructible.

I could go on, but if you’d like to check out some of the videos that were produced by the ORS staff, they are available here. One video features Sea Eagle’s Cecil Hoge talking about his company and what they are planning for the future. In another video, SurfTech talks about the rise in popularity of stand up paddling.

In conclusion, we had a great time, learned much and walked (a lot). I always enjoy the show and hope to return sometime in the next few years. And when we do, we’ll let you know about it here on the Inflatable Kayak Blog.

The 2011 Outdoor Retail Show in Salt Lake City featured lots of products that you might label “toys for adults.” But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t find a variety of family related items and some special products for kids.

One particularly interesting children’s product was the Sea Squirts Life Jackets. Sea Squirts are more than just a necessary, required boating product. They are downright cute, too.

You see, Sea Squirts are designed with a flexible fin on the back of the life jacket. The colors are such that they correspond with the colors of a “Killa Whale”, “Grrreat White Shark”, “Clownfish”, “Pink Dolphin” or “Blue Dolphin”. Kids will love wearing them because they can pretend they are swimming around disguised as their favorite fish. It actually encourages kids to wear their life vests.

Sea Squirts are coast guard approved, so they are not just play vests. And, the “fun” fin isn’t only for looks, it also acts as a ‘grab-me’ handle that can be used to quickly lift a child from the water.

They are easy to zip and clip, on or off a child and did I mention that they are U.S. Coast Guard certified as a Type III personal flotation device. I did, but it’s worth mentioning again.

We’re planning on adding them to our regular line of products at PortableKayaks.com, however Sea Squirts are also available on Amazon.com.

The pop-up sails made by WindPaddle have become very popular for use with kayaks, canoes and small boats. Previously available in two sizes, the 42 inch Adventure sail and the 56 inch Cruiser sail, WindPaddle has added a third sail to their line. It’s called the Scout and it’s actually the same size as the Adventure sail, however the Scout is made with a softer batten that still holds the sail shape but folds up easier. This is especially good for solo kayakers to be able to coil up the sail faster and easier.

My wife and I have used the Adventure sail for a couple years now and have found that folding it while in the boat can be a bit tricky. The Scout addresses this issue.

The WindPaddle “Scout” is made to be unfurled in low to medium winds (4 to 15 knots). Even though it opens to the same size as the Adventure sail (42 inches), the “Scout” is lighter, making it the lightest, most affordable and easiest to use sail currently on the market.

The WindPaddle™ Scout Sail is best suited for solo recreational boats to touring kayaks from 8 to 15 feet in length. The Scout is the perfect sail for smaller inflatable kayaks!

I’ve written a few articles about how to choose a kayak paddle and we’ve had others who have posted their ‘kayak paddle picking’ methods on our blog. The primary conclusion we’ve all come to is that choosing a kayak paddle really comes down to personal preference and an individual’s paddling style.

There are recommended lengths based on a paddler’s height and the width of your kayak, but those guidelines are simply good “rules of thumb” to get you started in choosing your kayak paddle.

Beginning paddlers shouldn’t fret or make a “big thing” out of picking the perfect paddle. The best choice is to pick a paddle that falls into the guidelines and head out to the water. It’s totally too early to tell what you really like until you get out there and paddle for awhile. It might take a year or two to decide what you really like. Then you can spend some extra dollars for a better paddle that fits your individual style.

I ran across this video that does a good job of explaining and demonstrating the whys and wherefores of paddle choices. Check it out and you’ll have a better understanding of how to choose a kayak paddle.