This Folding Kayak Is Surprisingly Seaworthy
Every good thing has its downsides, and for the average kayaker, the downside to owning a small boat that you can take with you whenever you want is that you’ll have to somehow get it to the lake and store it somewhere when you get home. . Car carriers range from annoying and cheap to convenient and expensive, but what if there was another way? That’s where Oru Kayak comes in: the company makes kayaks that fold down to the size of a suitcase.
Unlike cheap inflatables (which have their caveats, but can still be fun ), a folding kayak promises to be a little more durable. No inflation is required, but you will need to learn how to make origami using corrugated plastic.
For this review, I tried the 9-foot Lake+ model from Oru. It’s based on the $499 Lake , Oru’s most basic model, but has thicker seat cushioning and an adjustable footrest and backrest. You can spend much more on more luxurious models, such as the 16-foot Coast XT for $1,999. There are other brands of folding kayaks on the market, notably TuckTec , but Oru is the best known.
As noted, these folding kayaks are nothing like the inflatable kayaks I’ve written about before . Inflatable boats require you to inflate them at the lakeside; if you don’t make them firm enough, they will sag under your weight. (Many cheap inflatable boats have a fairly low weight limit, which puts the front and back of the boat high in the water unless you’re, say, a small child.) Lake Oru promised to be rugged and seaworthy, so I borrowed one from Oru and took a ride on it.
How annoying is it for Lake Oru to fold and unfold?
Lake+ promises “1-minute builds,” but you probably won’t be surprised to learn that this is an optimistic estimate. When I first practiced assembling a boat in my backyard, I found myself sweating and straining to complete the job. It turned out that I did some steps in the wrong order and had to undo and redo some of the work; my total build time was about 15 minutes.
However, once I had some practice under my belt, I really picked up the craft quickly . My next attempt, while actually walking around the lake, took about five minutes. (Oru notes that plastic can be stiff and difficult to fold when new, but over time the fold lines will break and get easier.)
Luckily, there is a QR code printed on the boat itself that will take you to a video tutorial on folding and unfolding. The tricky part is that the boat is folded into one set of lines for packing and a completely different set for use as a watercraft. When switching from one to another, you have to unfold some lines (press hard!) and bend others.
But everything works and the parts fit together perfectly. The seat is attached to an orange rectangle made of a stiffer material than the rest of the boat; you place it in the center of the floor. You then go to the front of the boat and tighten the sides with the buckled straps. At the back of the boat you follow a similar procedure. This tightening is probably the most physically demanding part of the process; When it’s new and stiff, the sides don’t come together easily, and in real life they don’t necessarily connect as neatly as they do in the video, but I expect that with time and some more break-in I’ll be able to get closer to the promised minute.
How is Lake Oru doing on the water?
One cool day I took the Lake+ for a ride at a local lake. (Kayaking season is a little cold, but that’s what I do for you, dear readers. Always wear a protective suit and appropriate clothing —I wore a wetsuit—in cold weather.)
Speaking of PFDs, Oru Kayak sent me one to test. I almost said no thanks because I have several PFDs of my own, but the Oru PFD is one of the most comfortable life jackets I have worn for paddling. The back of the vest only has buoyant foam on the top half so you can sit comfortably on the kayak seat without the back of the seat hitting the vest.
Overall, the Lake+ is quite comfortable to sit on. The seat feels nice to the touch, although the footrest, held in place by the tension of three different cords, is not as stable as a kayak with more traditional footrests on the sides of the boat.
And yes, the ship, as promised, is suitable for lakes. I didn’t have any leaks or surprises. Being a 9-foot kayak, it turns a little to each side with each stroke, but this is typical for short, flat-bottomed boats. (I expect longer, more expensive models to stay much straighter.) It doesn’t ride as straight as my molded plastic Pelican, but it’s a reasonable trade-off for the convenience of a foldable boat.
Having finished the tests, I folded the boat again. As with inflatables, when you’re done using your kayak for the day, it will be wet and a little dirty. Oru recommends standing the kayak for 10 minutes to allow the water to drain out of the corrugated plastic.
Conveniently, all this is packed into a package the size of a suitcase. In other words, it becomes a suitcase-sized package with a handle and clasps, without the need to pack it in a separate container. Oru also sells a backpack to help you carry it, but I didn’t see the need for that; I just threw my suitcase in the back seat of the car and drove home.
A previous version of the article stated that I tested a Lake kayak; in fact it was Lake+.