Thread: Inflatable Kayaks

Originally Posted by gimp

How do the pack rafts handle in more open water, lakes or ocean with a bit of a breeze?

The main reasons that I was looking at kayaks more than pack rafts are - it'd be more for lake/sea use than rivers, durability is probably more important than super light weight/compactness.

The new long tail models are pretty good in high winds.
I did a lot of fishing in mine on Stewart Island last December and used it in up to 30 knot winds.
Ok they arean't as easy to paddle as a kayak and you need to watch out for serious wind changes.
But you need to do that with kayaks also.

In any normal windy south island day they are just fine.
And once you are where you want to be then they are a whole lot more comfortable to sit in fishing for extended periods of time because they are so stable.
I have a small sea anchore that can slow down the drift for drift fishing and jigging.
I also have a Windpaddle sail that can be deployed for down wind sailing and in a good old canterbury nor-wester you can really surf along.

Unlike a kayak the packrafts are quite flexible so are awesome in big windblown waves with deep short troughs.
That's also what makes them great in grade 3 and 4 white water if you care for that kind of adventure.

If it all goes pear shaped and you really get caught out by some serious wind the safest thing to do is partly deflate the packraft and tie it on to your PDF, slowly swim to safety and wait it out.