We were about to buy a 13 ft raft with row frame with cooler and drybox, but I am now thinking of two duckies, which should have enough capacity to do multi days here in OR like the Rogue and Owyhee.
Any recommendations on which IKs both perform well and haul gear well? The Cronin has blunt ends, but there is so much rocker, I'm not sure they can haul any more than the pointy boats. The Tributary Tomcat Solo sounds like a good boat with a great price tag, but probably not much of a gear hauler.
Hoping to run III-IV, maybe the Illinois eventually, when we get better. While a light boat would be great, I'd rather have tough over light. I don't mind paying more for better boats either. It will still be cheaper than a raft.
I have a tomcat tandem, last year my GF and I hopped in it with her small dog and easily lashed on a cooler and enough gear for one night and paddled accross a small lake. That was definitely more gear then you'd want to take down a river, my point is you can fit a bunch of stuff in one. I think one person in a tandem would leave lots of room for gear. At 12'6" they are plenty stable as long as you keep them strait. If you want to run IV's I would consider thigh straps to keep you glued to the boat. Good luck with your search.
I have a tomcat tandem, lynx II and nrs outlaw solo. The tandems do well at hauling gear, but they are long and a bit barge like. The outlaws carry a dry bag in front, and a water jug in the back well, and maybe a little more. The floor on the outlaw is only 4" think, where the Aires are thicker, so I think the aire boat handle a load better. Also, I think that while the outlaws have lots of drain holes, they get covered by the floor, so they don't drain incredibly fast. So, with all that, and money not being an issue, I'd lean towards the lynx I. However, money has been an issue for me, so I have a few outlaws, and still like them. I think the nrs stars have replaced them. One other perk of the outlaws for me is that they are under 10' in length, which means they don't incur extra fees to paddle in Wyoming. But regarding bailing, I have started to consider if I can get flotation similar to the aire force or star viper and strap it into an outlaw to reduce the water that comes in.
I have an Aire Lynx 1. I have it fitted with foot pegs and thigh straps, seems super stable to me in whitewater. I just yesterday got home from a 6 day trip on the Yampa/Green, it had room for everything. I was with a partner but I carried all the required gear (spare PFD/spare helmet/spare paddle/pin kit, etc etc), as well as my tent, sleeping bag, food for 6 days, etc.
That said, IMO the issue may not be the boat, but the perspective of the boater. I think some paddlers have the perspective of..."glamping"? Multiple coolers, bigger tents, lots of big dry bags, etc. If you're going to go multi-day in a solo IK, I think a better perspective is that of a backpacker: take only what you need (but of course enough spare stuff to get by) and pack efficiently, lightly. Just my opinion.
That said, IMO the issue may not be the boat, but the perspective of the boater. I think some paddlers have the perspective of..."glamping"? Multiple coolers, bigger tents, lots of big dry bags, etc. If you're going to go multi-day in a solo IK, I think a better perspective is that of a backpacker: take only what you need (but of course enough spare stuff to get by) and pack efficiently, lightly. Just my opinion.
Yes to this! I have an Tomcat Tandem that I use for multi-night trips, but I look at these trips as a more comfortable backpacking trip and bring mostly my backpacking gear to easily fit everything on the boat, plus a few extra luxury items since I don't actually have to carry everything in a pack.
Hey, if your gonna go the single person small boat route, have you considered pack rafts? I was looking at Alpacka’s website the other day, and there pretty much inline with what your gonna pay for most duckies, plus you have the oversized stearn , which keeps you from being heavy aft, like you tend to be with a pointy ass ducky.
You also have the option of the zipper design, for the back of your boat, so you can open it up and pack gear inside the tubes. The material is tough, the boats are light, and you can buy either a self bailing design, or have a skirt like a kayak, if you think you’ll be running a lot of colder weather trips.
Just a thought, so threw it out there for you.
I like my big comfortable raft, but if I was buying a small boat to run stuff that my 11’er won’t make it down, I think I’d go pack raft.
I have a Sea Eagle 380x. Capacity about 700 lbs, not that I would want to carry that much in it. I do go out on 2-3 day trips completely self contained and can do longer trips with a water purification system and/or another boat (so that we both don't have to carry a stove, firepan, tent, etc.)
I have done a small handful of multi day trips, all of which were in a Tandem (~12’) with my partner. Difficulty below Class III. In this arrangement, we are able to fit the equivalent of 3 60L bags plus a few smaller ones. As a climber/ backpacker this is an excessive amount of gear and therefor equates to a high level of comfort. Now, if you’re going to bring a roll up table, cooler full of beer, dog etc, this may not work. I know you didn’t ask about the 2 people with gear in a tandem but I mention this to give an idea as to how spacious they are.
My partner and I still convinced our selves that our best set up is a tandem (paddled solo) and a single. Now that I have taken our new Star Outlaw tandem out by my self, I will say that it handles okay but you really have to be hauling a group worth of gear to need that space. I wish we had just gotten two solos.
Long story short, get a solos if you can go backpacker+ style. I’ve used the Tomcat, Sea Eagle 380x and Outlaw/Raven. My vote goes to Outlaw (solo or tandem) in the entry level price range. It’s durable and the drop stiched floor is awesome because you can set down a beer or stably stand up on it in easy water!
I've been using an Aire Tomcat solo for years for multiday trips around Oregon and Washington, and some (easier) whitewater day trips. It's a great value (~$650 new) and as mentioned above, works well if you take on a lightweight camping mentality (we usually camp as if backpacking except we also bring beer, camping chairs, and pvc tubes + wagbags for required toilet regulations).
They are pretty stable through rapids - in hundreds of river miles, I think I've only flipped it twice unintentionally (Boxcar rapid on the Deschutes, and Wildcat rapid on the Rogue). But if a river has long continous rapids, I'd be wary of tackling it with an IK.
One thing I've found is that IKs perform better in rapids when not encumbered with camping gear. My general rule of thumb is to use a fully loaded IK up to about Class 3-, and a lightly loaded boat up to Class 4-. But I know others who are better kayakers than me exceed these levels regularly with IKs.
I've looked a bit into Packrafts since people do some crazy cool stuff with them, but it seems like they really only make sense if you are hiking a distance with them, and I generally don't know of many rivers in Oregon that are under Class 5 that don't have road access. This may be just a lack of imagination on my part, and I could see if you lived somewhere like Alaska where they would make a lot of sense.
Alpaca has some good options The internal storage puts the weight low which is good for stability. The JPW Fat Cat is a good option also. Don't be put off by unconventional. i totally agree with your rationale.
I’ve got a Hyside Outfitter II and it hauls allot of gear fine. Problem is also handles like a barge compared to Aire IKs. I got to try out a friend’s Aire Tomcat II with a similar multi day load recently and it handles way,way,way easier than my clunker Hyside. I was a Aire IK convert within the first 15 seconds of paddling it. It slid over rocks way,way easier, too. The Hyside felt like the bottom was coated with sandpaper compared to the Aire. I also wasn’t sitting in a puddle the whole time, as well. Stable enough to stand up in to scout rapids from the river.
Loads were roughly a 200lb dude with 2 watershed Colorado duffles bow and stern plus a small Chatooga day duffle for some load reference.
I’m not sure which Aire I’m gonna get yet this winter but Lynx II is looking good right now as it seems somewhat similar to the Tomcat but with urethane bladders.
Just returned from a 5 day Laby float on the Sea Eagle 420x. the drop stitch floor lets you stand up like a SUP, holds 855 lbs... we had 2 110l drybags on front and back, 30Qt cooler, groover, chairs, popup, table, ammo cans and water jugs and were super compfy the whole time. takes a bit of a tetris mentality, but well within weight. and you can make it like a hammock with the pro seats.
did Cisco to Moab last year in it as well, and it was a solid boat in the waves
love the IK trips.
that being said, we are probably gonna let this boat move on and get an oar raft and smaller ducky setup.
also forgot to mention the self bailing valves- run as a bucket boat in calm water, and open the valves to self bail in up to class IV
Cronin himself leads a crew down the Illy every year with a large Ducky. The large holds weight well, I've done some easy class IV in a large Ducky and I'm 350 lbs. Part of the Cronin design is a really flat floor where it meets the tubes, much like a Sotar IK. He makes a 12 foot model now as well. I told him I'd like to see an 11' boat, I think that would suit me well. Goodwater boat works typically has a large Ducky for Demo if you wanted to try it out.
I would not put the Outlaws in the best boats category of any kind (except maybe budget boats) but I have 2 duckies and a raft. My duckies are the newer versions made by Star, they did improve the design of the floor for faster bailing (better on the Seminole than standard but both are and improvement to the original design). The standard Outlaw is not a great gear hauler but I do like that it spins on a dime and the continuous rocker does help you to go over waves unless you but too much weight in the bow. I bought the Outlaw Seminole for my wife and she loves it, so does everyone who has paddled it. It has the same amount of rocker but a much longer waterline with bigger tubes and is a little wider than the standard Outlaw. You mentioned price was not a big deal so I assuming you won't go with the Outlaws but if you do and want to haul gear look at the Seminole.
SOAR inflatable canoes rock! I have a 14' model that I ran down Brown's Canyon all July at pretty high levels without issue.
Used an 8' kayak paddle, a seat off a zoik SUP and fashioned a foot brace with cam straps and a small piece of 2" PVC pipe. Sat on the floor, set the foot brace so my butt pushed hard against the seat and felt like I was one with the boat. Could even peel out and hip check similar to a hardshell.
As for gear, these SOAR boats are built to haul it with a grommeted strip running from bow to stern so lashing is easy. Bet I could run near a 1000 lbs in class 2/3s.
If you are running less aggressive water can use canoe seats and paddle it with single blade paddles.
Makes a great sleeping pad under the stars or for passing out as well.
I 'm a big fan of the hyside padillac 11 I've had em on the selway, rogue, cataract canyon, they are great durable manuverable IK's. I also have a frame to use the 2 IK's together for a raft. great for 2-3 people lightly loaded. the backpack light theme is a good idea. Just saying...
The pack rafts are nice too. I did a selway Aug 1st launch a couple years back I had the padillacs and another couple had teh alpaca with the zipper feature. While I was wrestling the IK's through Ping pong the pack rafters just picked up the boats and waded down stream til they could float'em again. That was the last we saw of them. I'm pretty sure they were backpack light on their gear.
I'll get a pack raft ...maybe. I like the Padillac
Having owned both the Hyside Padilllac 2 and the Aire Outfitter 2, I would vote Aire because of maneuverability. Both great boats. Pay the extra for durability, especially if you are considering low water trips such as Owyhee in summer or late season Middle Fork of Salmon or Yampa. Get what you pay for.
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