Inside Outdoor Magazine

K ayaks, canoes and rafts share one big disadvan- tage in that they are hard for some to move and portage. It’s not much fun carting around a heavy, bulky vessel on a backpacking trip, and it can take a fair amount of coordination to use one — from finding a put-in to securing the boat to your car to getting back upstream at the end of the day. This process can sap the fun out of a trip and limit usage. For this reason, interest is growing in an alternative type of paddlesport called packrafting. Packrafts are light enough to roll up and carry on your back, mak- ing them optimal travel companions. Al- though not entirely “new,” it is a trending sport, which should be on every outdoor retailer’s radar this summer. Packrafts are small, inflatable boats that can be used in just about any type of water from lakes to oceans to class VI rapids. Most packrafts are designed for one person, although tandem mod- els are available. They are typically around 7 to 10 feet long, and between 37 to 44 inches wide. These boats are very easy to in- flate, making them ideal for use in areas where you wouldn’t want to lug around a pump or compressor. To in- flate a packraft, paddlers simply attach a bag to a built-in valve, trap air inside and pump it manually into the walls of the boat. A typical packraft can be inflated in about two or three minutes once a user gets the hang of it. Just about any type of paddle can be used with a packraft, although custom- ers should be selective when choosing one. Similar to all types of paddlesports, style and weight should correlate with the water the customer is likely to be fre- quenting. Heavy paddles generally fare better in whitewater and the ocean, but they can be uncomfortable to carry on long trips and so collapsible paddles are By Gerald Baldino MakingWaves Ultra-Light packrafts change the game for backpackers Alpacka Raft’s new Caribou packraft on the Green River; photo courtesy Thor Tingey. Inside Outdoor | SPRING 2018 18