Alpacka Packrafts for Whitewater Paddling | Ep. 90

[@troysmith8420]

I've been an Alpacka user for 8 years. I have owned a Denali Llama (now the large Alpacka Classic) and a Gnarwhal (whitewater hull and thigh straps). My Llama was the first boat I ever went down a river on. You do not need to have kayaking experience, you just need to go with experienced boaters and start with easy rivers and work your way up. It's no different than any other boat. You don't have to become an expert skier to start snowboarding, you just don't want to go to the hardest runs on the first day out. I live in NW Montana near the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Unlike many other wilderness areas only one of the rivers in the Bob has an airstrip and that airstrip is halfway down the river. Most of the floats through The Bob require hiking in or paying a guide to pack you in with stock. The South Fork Flathead, White, Spotted Bear, North, Middle and South Forks of the Sun, upper half of the Middle Fork Flathead, 3 forks of Birch Creek, Dearborn, North Fork Blackfoot, Youngs Creek and Danaher Creek are only accessible by foot or horse. The beauty of the Alpacka raft is that you can hike it in anywhere. I'm not hauling an I.K. 20 miles over a 3,000 foot pass. We regularly take the boats out for 8 day trips and could easily fit 2 weeks of food and gear in the boat.

[@IdahoOutdoorDad]

Also the cargo fly is to hold all your backpacking gear. Also watch some inflation vids on alpackas. There are way easier ways to pump it up lol.

[@IdahoOutdoorDad]

Should test the alpacka wolverine. It’s supposed to be their most ‘hardshell like” alpacka

[@GearGarageTV]

Yep I would love to test that boat

[@russellbiggs6006]

You should probably review one of the two Alpacka boats that are actually marketed for whitewater. The classic was never intended to run technical drops, for the very reasons you show in the video. The new boats have been used on the Grand Canyon, Upper Cherry, and Black Canyon and can be paddled and rolled very similarly to a hardshell kayak.

[@GearGarageTV]

That is the boat the Thor at Alpaca suggest we use for the Chetco River

[@dgrfsthrgsergwrtghasefq]

Outfit your boat, 4 d-rings 2 straps and a kayak backband and secure that stupid seat. One hour of your time and some glue and you will have a actual usable boat. You will have most of the same results if you do not outfit your kayak and take it out.

[@cloggerdogger]

They didn't want to put any effort into anything. Had no clue on the specs of the boat. Didn't paddle it with any gear to see how it handles extra weight (a throw bag on the bow is way different that 35 lbs between your knees). It sounds like it was out for one run and most of this video is speculation on what you "could" do with this boat. There is very little information here that couldn't be obtained by reading the product website. I am not familiar with any of the individuals in this video, so their opinion means very little to me. C'mon guys, a little effort next time!

[@betterearthcomposttea838]

In my opinion, you don't need any kayaking experience to packraft. Packrafting is easier than kayaking.

[@GearGarageTV]

Thanks for your opinion

[@Olmer1990]

Hi guys) From Russia with love

[@ryanlowe-portlandrealtor8362]

Wow! Crazy how negative people that comment are. Get a life!

[@Wyoutside]

Cringe info here.

[@SethNeal]

Where's the normal guy? Because this is awful.