What should I buy? SUP, Packraft, Sea Kayak

Live in the PNW, I had a tandem sea kayak for a while. Did a couple nights in the San Juans and an Orcas Island circumnav. It was fun, but I sold the tandem because...it's a tandem.

Now I'm trying to decide what water sport to get into. River running in a packraft sounds fun. It's also small which is a nice benefit. SUP sounds great for after work chilling on Lake Union, also packs small. Could get another single sea kayak - transporting and storing it is a bitch. San Juan trips are fun and I love doing multi-day trips. Yaks are super efficient in the water but...I'm young not 50.

Bitches love SUPs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...;v=36WN52dftoA



http://solowatersports.com/

ive been pretty stoked on
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
not a bad mix of weight to stability
id be even more stoked on a micro skiff and motor at times
https://www.boteboard.com/collection...e-micro-skiffs

That is one fully loaded SUP rig. With that amount of gear it would be hard to just grab the board and run off.

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Originally Posted by skifishbum

ive been pretty stoked on
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
not a bad mix of weight to stability
id be even more stoked on a micro skiff and motor at times
https://www.boteboard.com/collection...e-micro-skiffs

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Any SUP that packs small will not be a great paddling board. What do I know tho, I’m over 50


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I have a 12 foot (?) NRS something or other if you want to test it out. It's not as compact as some of the other inflatables but it feels decent in the water. It's small enough to do interesting bike shuttle paddles.

I've wanted a packraft, I still want one, but I decided at least for now that I'm going to spend enough time on lakes are the sound and they are just too inefficient for that.

Sea kayak. Go for the classic

I would say it depends on where you want to paddle, I have a blow up sup and a real sea kayak
,
A good reason to get a blow up SUP is the storage issue also the hard boards will dent when you drop them whereas you can drive over a blow up with your car and it will be fine, they are a little slower maybe but if you really need a faster SUP you already know that

right now with my 60 lb 17 ' seakayak I am at the limit of what i can load on my truck solo, in comparison the SUP is <30lb, I can thro it in the truck bed, its real easy to handle/ its faster to get paddling, it makes a small lake bigger

Big fan of my inflatable sup. I use it on a big flat, slow river and mountain lakes.

For moving water going downstream the pakraft or ik is a better option.

Based on my experience on my sup in the ocean, I would probably choose a sit ski, hard board sup, or kayak. The inflatable sup was kinda rough in choppy swells.

A SUP just sounds the most versatile for the actual use case whereas a packraft is an aspirational, but yet another hobby.

A sea kayak of course is a classic and can do everything a SUP can. But drinking beers on a SUP is better, and transportation for an iSUP is much easier (which is what I would go for, performance be damned).

sups are nice

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you should get one

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Originally Posted by jackattack

Big fan of my inflatable sup. I use it on a big flat, slow river and mountain lakes.

For moving water going downstream the pakraft or ik is a better option.

Based on my experience on my sup in the ocean, I would probably choose a sit ski, hard board sup, or kayak. The inflatable sup was kinda rough in choppy swells.

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What inflatable sup are you using? I have a 10’6” 325L one and it seems unstable for my size.


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When I lived by the ocean a few years ago my roommate was really into the SUP game. He had a 14-6’ hulled race/touring board, epoxy. He had a 10’ fiberglass surf sup. And he had a 12’6 allrounder, inflatable.

When you have the right tool for the job it’s pretty impressive. A hard, longer, touring style SUP with a hull is going to haul ass in the sound with the ability to carry the gear you need to make those San Juan trips…. Any sort of inflatable is going to be a compromise IMHO.




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get the red one

iSup all the way. Sea kayak rarely sees action - PITA to transport. Plus, its just flat water paddling done a bit faster. Outdoor gear lab had some positive reviews for inexpensive iSup's.

I have an ancient NRS - still holds up for river/lake/sound use. 36" width makes it stable enough to haul gear and a kiddo. Under, say, 32" makes it less suitable for a party barge. But since this is TGR - get 4-5 of varying widths and lengths.

Check out Klymit if you want an inexpensive packaraft to scratch that itch.

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Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn

What inflatable sup are you using? I have a 10’6” 325L one and it seems unstable for my size.


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Red Paddle Co Voyager 12’6”
Hala Rival Nass 12’

I wouldn’t go less than 12’ for a guy your size unless you’re trying to surf or run swift water.

You’re welcome to try our boards out sometime.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn

What inflatable sup are you using? I have a 10’6” 325L one and it seems unstable for my size.


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I had the 9'8" redpaddle now I have a the 10'6,

at 160lb I fell off the shorter board a lot while the bigger board is much more stable and I've only fallen off once

when you do fall off an inflatable its softer to land on,

GF has a hard board she bought used so it has a few dings, its easy to slop a little slow set on a minor ding and tape a piece of plastic over it but a major ding would destroy a hard board

whereas an inflatable can take the abuse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8eOIQ-f8_c