Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthn
That clear one is cool!
I always wondered how the fold-up ones are....
I would like a solo, but we want the kids to appreciate it; they are 6 and usually about an hour in they are getting tired so we just let them coast. I wonder what the weight limit is on top of a 911?
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There are many brands of folding kayaks.
The Feathercrafts are the Porsches of folding kayaks - sleek, fast, expensive. The hull is a very tough rubber-like material, welded to a waterproof top skin. The frame is aluminium tubing that slips together much like a tent frame or a light aircraft. It is all very well made, on Granville Island in B.C. A single weighs from 40 to 65 lbs depending on model, they make everything from small singles (Whisper) to narrow Greenland-style boat (Khatsalano) to large-volume expedition models (K1, K2). Ours are K-1s.
The kayak flexes like a traditional skin boat, so it sort of slips over waves rather than cresting and slapping down like a rigid boat. And they pack up into backpacks for air travel - although, toting around my boat as a 75 lb backpack is no fun.
They are very strong. One time I was landing on a rocky beach in Mexico, boat loaded with camping gear, food and water for 4 days, probably 380 pounds including boat, gear, and me. I misjudged, a wave picked me up, whooshed me in, and slammed the boat, hard and tip first, into a large boulder. I sat there, up-ended like a push-pin, then fell back in the water and paddled to shore. I thought I'd broken something, but the only damage was a dime-sized missing bit of the reinforcing strip of hull material, leaving the main hull intact. I've never even bothered to repair it. A fiberglass boat would have been cracked.
The disadvantage of Feathercrafts, besides the cost, is that they take time to assemble and disassemble. I used to be able to put my boat together in 45 minutes. Smaller models can take 20-30 minutes. You shouldn't leave them assembled indefinitely as you risk having the tubing joints seize up after a while, especially if lots of salt water in the boat.
They make the Klondike model now, which is really what I need. Open cockpit, can be configured as a single or a double with spray deck. I might buy a used one but they are $3K.