NEW BOAT! Tandem Alpacka Raft Forager
After much debate, hesitation, and overall unwillingness to buy another piece of gear, I decided to pull the trigger on a tandem boat for our upcoming wilderness adventures. While our solo Kokopelli rafts are awesome, we have some serious advantages with a tandem boat that we couldn’t deny for our future plans. This summer Montana, hopefully next summer: Alaska!
About the Boat!
Alpacka Raft describes the Forager “Whether you are doing fly in Alaska river trips, running western whitewater classics, big game hunting in remote areas, or fly fishing in the backcountry, the Forager is big and tough enough to handle any adventure.”
We went with the Forager because it has a whitewater deck and would give us a fighting chance should we encounter some larger wilderness rapids we can’t portage. Plus, look at this color!? Isn’t she stunning!
Packed Size: 10 x 20in
Weight: 13.4lbs
Components: Boat, Deck, Seat, Billow Bag, Pump
About the Paddle!
I’m still not sure if we could have just used our 4 piece Werner Kayak paddles, but Alpacka recommended the Aquabound Shred-Apart Paddle 240cm. The paddle breaks down into 2 canoe paddles (shown right), or into a single kayak paddle while the front boater fishes or makes lunch!
Combined Paddle Weight: 3.25lbs
Advantages
WEIGHT!
Our 2018 Kokopelli Nirvana’s weigh about 10lbs each (boat, deck, backstap, back booster) plus 2 individual Werner 4-piece paddles, so 2 paddles. The 2022 Forager weighs a little under 14lbs and requires 1 convertible paddle. Overall, we save about 9lbs in total gear weight!
Packing Size
Even though the Forager is basically a tiny canoe, it eliminated each of us having a packraft strapped to the outside of our pack. Now, 1 pack carries the boat upright inside with some camping items along side it, and the other pack has the rest of the gear and food. Plus, 1 paddle instead of 2! The more streamline we can pack our backpacks, the better on our bodies. We are carrying a whopping 9 days of food on our Montana trip!
Do Everything Once, Not Twice
It sounds silly, but two boats means two of everything, 2 boats to pack, 2 boats to inflate, 2 boats to portage. 1 boat means a little more streamlined of a packing process, which is something that gets mundane on multi-night trips. Packing and unpacking camp, PLUS “packing the boats” adds a whole new level for us backpackers. Rafters, cheers to you and all your totes, I could never!
Easier Communication
Unlike most of our boating friends that would rather boat down Lava Falls in a Walmart inner-tube than get a tandem packraft, we really enjoy being in the same boat. We also want to be able to make decisions together on the water without having to coordinate an eddy catch.
Overall Thoughts After Our First Trip!
(1) SO MUCH MORE SPACE! This boat is huge, there is so much more space for everything.
(2) SO MUCH EASIER TO PACK! Because of the location of Alpacka Rafts Zipper (center of bow) vs. Kokopelli (off-center of bow), and the size of the tubes, packing this was so much faster than the individual boat tubes. It took 2 people to pack the Kokopellis because you have to wiggle everything around the curves of tube.
(3) MUCH more comfortable to paddle and ride. In my solo Kokopelli, I often feel like I’m “too low” and “sliding down”, but sitting on top of the boat was much more comfortable for both of us.
(4) Andy can fish while I paddle! Need I say more?
