One of the things that I have found a love for over my years of travel is kayaking. It is fun being able to see certain places in the world from the perspective of these tiny boats as I go places where many people never see. Most of the time, I find a company that rents out their boats, show up, hop in a kayak, and spend the rest of the day floating on a lake or ocean. It might cost a little bit of money, but it is always worth the experience.
Though this experience is great, there is a certain amount of freedom to having access to your own kayak that changes what can happen while kayaking. When renting from a company, you are limited in the amount of time you can use the kayak, or you have a guide that will take you to the places where they want to go. There have been times when I have been to some amazing places, but steered away from places I wanted to see, and this can only happen if I have the freedom to go where I want to.
But there is a dark side to this that many people who own kayaks know about. These boats are not easy to get from one place to another. It always takes a considerable amount of time to load them on to a vehicle to take them to those far away places that would be fun to explore. There is also the stress of transporting them as well. Though I know I have always strapped them tightly to the car, I still worry about a gust of wind, or a lost strap, to see the kayak flopping about on the road causing an accident. It always forces me to keep one eye on the top of the car when I transport them.
This brings me to the Oru Kayak that I have been showing it being opened up to get ready for an afternoon of kayaking on Sparks Lake in Central Oregon. This is a new type of kayak that does not require all of the trouble that comes with the traditional types of kayaks. It is a kayak that folds up to a portable size roughly around the size of a large briefcase. It weighs less than 15 pounds, and can easily be thrown into the back of a car to be taken to your favorite spot to go kayaking. It only took me 15 minutes to put it together as well, and this was the first time that I did it while using the instructions to to get it seaworthy. I am sure that the more I put it together that I will get quicker at the process.
But here is the big question that I am sure many of you are asking right now: how well does it work? I will be honest that I was very skeptical of the capabilities of this kayak when I was putting it together. The material was sturdy enough, but I did not know how secure it would be when I put it out in the water. Surprisingly, it was a great boat. It worked just as well as any other kayak that I have used throughout the years I have been kayaking, and the lightweight of it made it even easier to get it in and out of the water. Now, I wouldn’t take it to any location where the water would be choppy like the ocean or a river, but for a nice relaxing row on a mountain lake, it worked perfectly. The only other complaint I would have would be the exposure my legs had to the sun, but this can be easily fixed with a towel over the bow.
Overall, it was a great experience, and I loved the fact that it took care of all of the grunt work that makes kayaking more of a chore than a fun experience. An Oru Kayak is a game changer in the world of kayaking, and I suspect to see more of them on the mountain lakes in the upcoming years.
John Collings 