Packrafting

[akblue77]

Anybody into this?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6hHYxN_XRc"]YouTube - Montana Creek Packrafting[/ame]

and

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4dvuZj4Wts"]YouTube - Flipping the Bird is Packrafting Fun[/ame]

[HotCarl]

Pack-rafts are sweet.There's a badass TR on here somewhere from some people who did a sick multiday in those. I remember they even had pics of the actual bus in AK that Christopher McCandless(Into the Wild) lived in. Find it....

[XXX-er]

looks tail heavy ,buddy is looping the raft on almost every drop ,the spray deck which keeps out water looks like it would keep you from just getting back in easily ,I don't see where its any better than a ducky

[HotCarl]

Does look stern heavy. I'm guessing it packs down to a much smaller size than even,say,a NRS Bandit. Thats one advantage,the ability to PACK that bitch up. I've seen some great footage of PR's gettin gnarly. They both seem pretty flippy. I've def. flipped a duck in class IV....

I gotta try paddlin one of these someday. I've never even seen one in CO though.

[nate s]

That does look like fun. The bandit isn't much less packable though. My single weighs ~17 lbs and rolls up pretty damn small, and you get a real stern.

[Flaskman]

The TR that HotCarl is talking about involved both biking for miles and rafting for miles. When they were biking you could hardly even tell they were packing rafts, when they were rafting they took the wheels off the bikes and stacked/strapped them to the front of the raft, that helped weight the bow. The real benefit of these types of rafts, like HC said, is the packability...they roll up to nothing it seems.

[XXX-er]

probably if you were packing gear you could try to be nose heavy with one of those things

its the fishing season up here and the rich american fisherman have invaded with their little rafts,catarafts,drift boats ,river boats

I have never paddled a ducky but I was impressed by the ability of an aqiantance to get on one after 2 trips and make his way thru a couple of grade 4 drops ....couldnt do that in a hard boat

[wendigo]

packraft central

they weigh ~5 pounds and pack down the size of a sleeping bag. pretty much the best tool for traveling long distances in the wilds of ak under your own power (summertime). use your backpack to weigh the front down. people have been running some burly waters in them though and once you get the hang of it the unweighted float is fun, though don't lean back.

[highangle]

^^ Alpacas=the schnizz

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9mHJAd92zI"]YouTube - Ground Truth Trekking Seattle to Anchorage[/ame]

[akblue77]

looks tail heavy ,buddy is looping the raft on almost every drop ,the spray deck which keeps out water looks like it would keep you from just getting back in easily ,I don't see where its any better than a ducky

what's looping a raft?

speculation's not as good as experiencing something --
anyhow if you get a chance to paddle one, you might not like it first time but will fall in love second time. some (like me) find it more fun than a heavy ole ducky imo, as i've paddled both.

try one!

NYT ARTICLE YESTERDAY
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/tr...6packraft.html

Classic AK whitewater river
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4tmUv75-g"]YouTube - Talkeetna Canyon Weekend[/ame]


grand canyon

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEU9FJgX0OQ"]YouTube - Grand Canyon Packrafting[/ame]

[Jethro]

Was this whole thread stolen from mountainbuzz?

[XXX-er]

what's looping a raft?

speculation's not as good as experiencing something --
anyhow if you get a chance to paddle one, you might not like it first time but will fall in love second time. some (like me) find it more fun than a heavy ole ducky imo, as i've paddled both.

he wasn't actualy looping but almost , looping would be raft's tendancy to try going ass over teakettle at every drop

wendigo mentioning that we are only talking about 5 lbs answers the question for me "why packraft" and while it does make sense for moving a backpacker down a river from point A to point B it looks far from sporty ... I will stick with the hard boat for WW

[akblue77]

yesterday in Alaska, history was made:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBoyPTW_WY"]YouTube - Eskimo Roll in a Packraft[/ame]

This was accomplished by putting thigh straps in to the boat. Look at how much control this expert kayaker has with these straps in his packraft:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWBzJkKRIfw"]YouTube - Packrafting Thigh Strap Control[/ame]

[mattinak]

Heyyyyy its tim johnson, haha that guy is a crazy good kayaker.