An introduction to inflatable kayaking
Chris Scott shares his tips for getting started on the water
Young or old, just about everyone gets paddling: the marvel of gliding effortlessly across the water, marked only by the gentle splish-splosh of your paddle slapping the surface. But not everyone has the space to store, the means to transport or the strength to carry a solid plastic ‘hardshell’ kayak or canoe. An inflatable kayak (or ‘IK’), on the other hand, slips into a backpack or boot of a car, inflates in minutes and is more resilient than most think. And it’s easier to paddle than an inflatable SUP board.
For years I enjoyed days out in rental hardshells, none of which I’d ever consider owning. Then, while rafting Idaho’s Salmon River, I came across proper IKS. These were not flimsy vinyl pool toys – an image that stigmatises IKS to this day.
The Hypalon NRS kayak which carried my flailing limbs back down the Salmon’s Grade 3 rapids the following day was as tough and durable as the whitewater rafts running alongside. It was a revelation. As a lifelong outdoors and wilderness enthusiast and writer, I’d discovered a whole new way to enjoy and explore the hitherto ignored blue bits on a map. Inflatable Kayaking: A Beginner’s Guide is the guidebook I could have used back then.
Paddling is an exhilarating and low-impact way of enjoying the outdoors. It’s now a booming industry: one of the many life-enhancing recreational activities we’ve come to value more since the coronavirus outbreak of 2020. Inflatable kayaking delivers the same health and wellbeing benefits as walking or cycling and, as you’ll read, you can make it as relaxing or intrepid as you like. When your trip is over, you roll your boat up and chuck it in the car, or catch a train or even a plane home.
I hope the suggestions, knowledge, tips and safety advice in this guidebook will provide you with many enjoyable days out on our rivers, lakes and coasts.
About inflatable kayaks
Kayak or canoe?
In the UK the word ‘canoeing’ is widely used to describe kayaking, but these are different boats. Traditionally, a kayak is a long, slim boat powered by a solo paddler using a two-bladed paddle. It sits low in the water to dodge the wind and gain stability, and a deck helps seal the paddler in so waves won’t swamp the boat. Canoes are slower, wider load-carrying boats native to Canadian rivers. Paddlers sit on benches working singlebladed paddles. Canoes are undecked and aren’t suited to sea conditions, nor can a sea kayak manage rapids or bulky loads.
Inflatable kayaks
Inflatable kayaks blur this distinction by usually being open like a Canadian canoe but paddled kayak-style. For first-timers this is a big attraction: getting in is easy – even from deep water, and steering with a kayak paddle is easier to master. Fears of entrapment are reduced and it’s more agreeable to be sat in the fresh air, not sealed in a plastic tube. For these reasons IKS were popular river rentals in Europe and North America before heavy, plastic Sit-on-tops (Sots) and SUP boards came on the scene. Since the 1960s boom in recreational paddling, canoes have looked pretty much the same, but IKS and hardshell kayaks have evolved and specialised: short, agile whitewater playboats; easy-to use Sots; do-it-all river, lake and coast tourers; sleek expedition sea kayaks and longer tandems. As elsewhere, technology has made materials stronger, lighter, more durable and cheaper, but at the extreme ends of the activity, be it gnarly whitewater or big sea crossings, hardshell sea kayaks have the edge, while a good IK can easily match the technical abilities of a Canadian canoe, except payload.