By Brandon Sanders, MTI Contributor
As I kissed my wife goodbye and pulled my Alpacka Mule into the river, my buddy looked over at me with an eyebrow raised. “How far have you gone in that thing?” he asked, insinuating that my tried and true packraft wasn’t up for floating the lazy 95 miles down to Shreveport. He was a dyed-in-the-wool kayak fisherman who seriously doubted anything you had to inflate. To him, I was an idiot for trusting anything other than roto-molded plastic from a big box retail store.
He was in for an education.
What is a packraft?
Before we get going, you need to understand what a packraft is. A packraft is an inflatable raft made of highly durable material. Don’t confuse this raft with something you would buy at your local retail store and inflate with a tire pump. This isn’t a pool inflatable.
The packraft was initially invented by a British naval officer, Peter Halkett. He needed a small craft that he could use to explore the Canadian Arctic. Though it worked for him, it was a dismal failure commercially.
However, one hundred years later, they would be included in survival kits for pilots in World War Two. Though they rarely saw any use, this produced a relatively large surplus of them after the war ended. People didn’t take long to start using them in the wild.
Dick Griffith, a godfather of the pack raft community, famously used one in 1982 to cross rivers in the Alaskan Wilderness Classic. An adventure race that traverses some of the most challenging terrains of the 49th state. Seeing his success inspired many to explore what could be done with these small boats.
Today, packrafts are routinely used in the Alaskan wilderness to solve access issues. You can inflate or deflate them with ease. They pack up small enough to be tucked into a compression sack or strapped over the handlebars of a bike. Packrafts are often the key to unlocking otherwise inaccessible parts of the wild.
An “inflation bag” is used to blow them up. An inflation bag consists of a nozzle that screws into your inflation valve attached to a cloth windproof bag that is open on one end. On the open end of the bag are two metal rods that provide some structure for you to grab onto. You pull the bag open, twist the handles, so they close the bag, then squeeze the trapped air into the packraft.
It may seem odd, but it is highly effective at inflating a raft comparable in size to a kayak in a few moments. A quick search online will yield videos of people inflating packrafts in under three minutes. Once the packraft is inflated, you can further “temper” it with a small valve attached to the side of the boat.
How I Found It
Years ago, I bought a dirt bike to help me get into public land hunting and fishing locations. As I accessed them, I noticed lakes, rivers, and creeks inviting fishing spots too deep to wade. I immediately began to scheme ways to get a kayak, canoe, or pirogue into the mountains to exploit these spots.
The issue was trying to get them up the side of a mountain. My only option was to use a dirt bike or to hike them in. Neither was conducive to success. However, the pristine mountain lakes and large pools of rivers were calling my name.
One evening, I was watching an Alaskan moose hunt on YouTube. As I sat wondering how they would get the horrendous amount of freshly killed meat back to their boat, they pulled out a little raft. The show star inflated the vessel in under five minutes using an inflation bag. He loaded up his meat and floated down the tributary he was hunting. I knew I had found the answer to my problem.
I had to have one.
How I’ve Used Packrafts
That was in 2011. These days, I use mine all the time. I generally keep one in the back of my truck so it is ready to go at a moment’s notice. The smaller one of the two can be compressed to the size of a football, so it is never in the way. It is perfect for getting to places that seem inaccessible. Here are a few examples of how I have used mine over the past decade.
Fishing Marshes: The Alabama Gulf
One of the unsung advantages of the packraft is the ability to take it anywhere. When I had to go to the Gulf but couldn’t take a boat, I took my packraft. That allowed me to drive a rental car to the marsh, inflate it, and go fishing. Had I not had the packraft, I would have been forced to rent a boat, kayak, or get a charter. Then I would have paid more and been on someone else schedule and forced into a location. With the packraft, I was in charge.
The packraft allowed me to fish areas I would not have been able to access otherwise. When you start to factor in the cost of renting boats on location, the packraft becomes a very viable and affordable option. Not to mention I wasn’t beholden to rental agreements or schedules. A packraft is distilled freedom.
Flooded Timber: Arkansas Duck Hunt
Another use of the packraft that has yet to be exploited by the general population is duck hunting. With the rise of full-body waders, people may want to explore just floating. I have used mine several times to recover ducks in areas that were too deep to wade but weren’t accessible by boat. Duck hunters often avoid oxbow lakes, deep creeks, and derelict sloughs because they don’t want to haul in a kayak or a pirogue and don’t own a dog. A packraft solves this issue entirely.
The material the packraft is made out of is extremely tough. You do not have to worry about running into a stump or cypress knee and puncturing the raft. Since it drafts practically nothing, it can often get into shallow water that kayaks struggle with. Culture and group think is the only thing that prevents the packraft from being wildly popular in the swamp.
Alpine Lakes: Cascade Mountains
If you find yourself out west, many alpine lakes hold fish that may have never seen a lure. This is an opportunity you simply cannot pass up. However, getting a boat to these bottomless, cold lakes is often very difficult. A packraft offers a unique solution to this problem. Since it is easily stowed in a backpack, then inflated without electricity or pain in minutes, it is the perfect solution to the alpine lake problem.
If you are a fly fisherman in the mountains, having a packraft in your arsenal can be a great way to access these lakes in the summertime. It is a much better alternative to fishing from shore and keeps you out of the water. Additionally, you will most likely have the water to yourself.
White Water: Floating Rivers
Packrafts were initially meant to float rivers in Alaska. While both of my rafts are not specifically built for whitewater, they perform admirably, even with a heavy load. Since they are so light and draft so little, they are highly maneuverable. While this works against you during high winds on flat water, it is a precious asset on white water.
Believe it or not, the smaller of my two packrafts floated myself, my wife, two dogs, and a fully loaded rucksack several miles downriver with no issue. Though Alpacka gives out numbers for carrying capacity, they state that the water conditions and paddler’s skill determine a lot of what you can carry. I am here to tell you that you can carry an untold amount in a raft if you are willing to sacrifice a degree of handling and comfort.
Expeditionary Floats: 95 miles down the Red River
How comfortable is a packraft? That is a question that I get often. Many people shop for kayaks based on the quality of their seat and the perceived comfort it offers them. I’m sure they are nice, but I doubt they ever come close to the comfort level of a packraft. Sitting in one is like sitting in a recliner.
Earlier this year, I floated for four days down the Red River from Garland City, AR, to downtown Shreveport, LA. All four of the 16-hour days were done in my Alpacka Mule. I started with the inflatable seat installed to give me a commanding view while still being comfortable. Yet, that didn’t stop me from sitting forward on my knees, sitting on the gunnels, laying back like I was on a pool float, and even standing up in it to fish from time to time. I even took a few naps in it. A packraft is so stable your imagination is the only roadblock to your comfort.
Getting Yours
When I started with packrafts, they were the laughingstock of the paddling community. Those who didn’t make fun of them still cast a cautious eye their way. Everyone is hilariously always expecting them to “pop”. Therefore, the only manufacturers were Seylor and Alpacka.
Seylor was, and to my knowledge, still is, a punch line in the rafting community. Their rafts are thin and cheap. I wasn’t going to risk my money, gear, or life on something that had a reputation for gathering holes every time it was used. So Alpacka Rafts was my only real option. To this day, I am thankful that was the case.
However, now the person venturing into packrafting can choose between several quality manufacturers. In addition to Alpacka, companies like Koaro Packrafts in New Zealand, Anfibio Packrafts in Germany, and Supai Adventure Gear have introduced their versions of the Alpacka packraft. Nevertheless, abandoning my loyalty to the original would take a lot.
Recommendations
That being said, Alpacka has my heart, trust, and loyalty. I bought my first raft over a decade ago and have bought another so my wife could have her own. I plan to buy a new one with each child we have so our family is water mobile. Each one will be an Alpacka raft.
Since I purchased my first Alpaca raft, they have changed drastically, but in a good way. They moved from Alaska to Colorado and began to improve their rafts in every way imaginable. Now they offer an incredible array of models, all of which have very advanced features that weren’t imaginable when I first started.
The most innovative one is the Cargo Fly and internal dry bags that are now available. They are installed inside the gunnels of the raft and are accessible through a waterproof zipper when the raft is fully inflated. Since the raft is small, storage comes at a premium. Therefore, this is a feature you must have on any future purchase.
Here are some recommendations based on what you are doing and what you are likely to encounter. I will only ever recommend Alpacka rafts because I believe you dance with who you came with, and Alpacka has always done me right.
Whitewater Kayak Replacement
Whitewater is a world I have only dabbled in, but Alpacka very aggressively pursued the whitewater kayak crowd early on. The result is an extremely lightweight, innovative design they call the Valkyrie. The Valkyrie has all of the modern amenities that Alpacka puts on their new rafts but is unique in the design of the bottom. The model comes with a whitewater skirt made from a piece of PEX that keeps water out of the boat as you shoot rapids.
Light Backpacking Trip
I can’t recommend the Classic enough for tucking away in a backpack for exploration or exfiltration on a backcountry trip. It can be collapsed to the size of an overinflated football if you use compression straps and only weighs a few pounds. I kept it under my truck’s back seat for years, so I could float on the fly if I wanted to. Backpacking is the original intended use of a packraft, and the Classic is optimized for it.
Caption: My Classic on an impromptu float in Arkansas that I went on because it was in my truck.
Bikepacking
Once packrafts started gaining popularity, mountain bikers quickly realized they could go even farther if they bought one. So they started strapping packrafts to the handlebars of their bikes as they went on long expeditions across vast wilderness. When they encountered a body of water, they didn’t go around it. They would inflate the packraft, break down the bike, and then strap it to the boat’s bow. The places you can go with a packraft and mountain bike are endless.
Alpacka jumped on the opportunity to help its customers and created the Caribou specifically for bike rafting. They introduced the “late rise bow,” which allowed the raft to float the bike and gear more effectively. There are also extra cargo loops in the front for the connection of bike tie-downs.
Expedition
For a long-distance expedition, I highly recommend The Mule. This is the boat that I floated 95 miles down the Red River in. I can’t sing its praises enough. There was plenty of room in the boat for everything that I needed or wanted to do. If I could do it over again, I would use the same boat but add the Cargo Fly to keep my gear more organized and dry.
Hunting and My Future Raft
When it comes time to order a packraft for our future child, I plan to pass down my first Classic to them and order a Forager. The Forager is perfect for the backcountry hunter with a family he needs to float. It is exceptionally long, so you can accommodate a second person, extra gear, or meat you are packing out. I would be very excited to put another person up front while I paddle to jump-shoot ducks. That would allow us to get back into very hard-to-reach places far away from the roaring boats that spook them.
For Further Reading
For those interested and want to investigate packrafting further before you commit to a boat, I recommend the following books. I read them before I bought my first boat, and they set the expectation appropriately for what I was about to get into.
Packrafting! An Introduction and How To Guide by Roman Dial is the classic book on packrafting. He will go over the history of the boat and all the technical nuances you need to know to float one safely. Dial is mainly focused on whitewater, but there is something there for everyone interested in the boat.
Packrafting: Exploring the Wilderness by Inflatable Boat by Molly Absolon is excellent for those who want to see how packrafts can be used. Molly has pictures from the Bob Marshal Wilderness to little-known rivers in Bosnia. She takes her packrafts worldwide and is an excellent source of inspiration for anyone considering venturing into the world of packrafting.
Alpacka also produced their How To Series as a customer knowledge bank. If you have a technical question about packrafts, you will likely find the answer somewhere here.
Brandon Sanders is a freelance writer and chaplain in the Washington National Guard.
Want to be a paid, MTI Contributor? Email a current resume and three specific topic ideas to rob@mtntactical.com. Writing topics can include fitness, nutrition, quiet professionalism, leadership, and all areas of safety and professionalism in the mountain and tactical worlds.