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I 'm tired of driving out into the country to pick up my canoe(apartment dweller) Anyone use a pakboat? I tried a Sevlor Rio and just didn't like it.
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I just purchased a used pack boat. Swift 13.6. Love it. Do you have any specific questions?
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Different "packboat". ;-) Pakboat's are foldable boats that are probably most commonly used for fly in trips.
Overall I would say they have a good reputation but at the same time I would say that is tied to special purpose niche. Even for fly in trips, standard Royalex whitewater boats get used far more commonly.
I haven't paddled one myself so I can't offer a first hand opinion. You might also want to post this question over on Canadian Canoe Routes ( ) I expect you will find more folks over there who have first hand knowledge from using a Pakboat.
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As an apartment dweller the idea of a Pakboat is something that gets my attention. Every year I spend hundreds of dollars renting ultra light canoes because I have no room to store a canoe of my own.
ShawnD wrote:
I just purchased a used pack boat. Swift 13.6. Love it. Do you have any specific questions?
A few, if you don't mind.
How much room do you find you have for gear? Even when solo I tend to have two bags, a big one with my gear and another smaller one with the food barrel in it. I just can't see how they'd fit in the canoe and I feel like strapped to the front would off balance the thing.
Also, how do you think it would fare against ice? I don't make it up to Algonquin til well after ice out but last year I sunk an inflatable kayak while duck hunting because a millimeter of ice on the pond result in a large gash along the side of kayak. Luckily it was a cheap used kayak and I was close to shore.
Thank you
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Sorry as Rob pointed out correctly. I misunderstood.
I have a Pack boat. Not a Pakboat.
Didn't realize there was such a thing.
I'm not going to be any help to you.
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Ah right, after re-reading what you said that is clear now. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
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Rolf Kraiker likes Pakboats and he might still be offering paddling classes (maybe test-paddle)... eg. this thread, one of several at CCR.
I have heard that they can take some time to assemble... a half-hour at least, maybe an hour solo and some flat ground area at the access is needed to do that.
PS... and you better not lose any of those parts however many there are... one part gets lost and the canoe won't work.
Last edited by frozentripper (8/29/2015 10:20 am)
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I have a PakCanoe 170. It is a big big boat and handles far differently than a hard shell canoe. It acts in waves more like a raft. It is slower.
It takes some time to assemble. Eventually we will get down to 30 minutes but we are still in the hour range. All those little clips. Our boat is older and we need to tie electrical cable ties to each support intersection..Otherwise the plastic clips are not sufficient.
If I wanted to paddle every day with it.. I would just give up.. It is durable, It can handle ice and gravel. But I would get real tired of assembly and disassembly were it often..
Just as my hubby is tiring of packing and unpacking the tent every day.
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