Read real reviews from real customers (and some pros).
Unlimited adventure in a portable bag! Yes please! We have been paddling our pakayak kayaks since the original model first hit the water. We have 3 and room for one more in the garage. I can easily fit 2 Pak’s in the back of my small SUV. No worry about the boat flying off the roof on the road. Easy to unpack and pack up at the end of your trip. This is a legit Kayak that cuts through the water, true and easy. Great investment in good times!
– Ron
I am not a small man and it is stable and tracks great. As an added bonus, my wife and I can fit both of our Pakayaks in her very small Ford Fiesta.
– Sean
(Bluefin 142) adds some extra legroom, which is more than enough for both of us (I have a 32” inseam and my wife has a 34” inseam!!). Assembling and disassembling is a cinch, and the paddling dynamics rival any sea kayak we’ve tried. It amazes me that this 14’ boat is so packable without any compromises in performance or durability. You CAN have your cake and eat it too!!
– Mike
I just got my Pakayak! It’s still here in the living room. She hasn’t even touched water yet and I am sold! I put her together and it was pretty darn easy… I reckon carrying her downstairs is the only drawback but it still beats carrying a whole kayak! At 5’11 I feel snug in the cockpit, but the placement of the seat seems to really support my back, exactly where it really needs it! I was worried I may need to get a new seat for it but right now it feels as if I’m going to SHRED some water everywhere I go! My car trunk needs some permanent space cleared away so she can be ready to go.
For the 1st year anniversary with my Sunshine, I gave it a treat and brought it to Pulau Besar for a 4D3N getaway. It handled the waters there beautifully as we island-hopped, and while we encountered a storm that did not fully develop over us, I never doubted that we would have been able to ride it out together should the $&#% ever hit the fan.
– Ow Meng
We bought two of these for a wedding gift for my son and daughter in law. They are in LOVE!!!
They stored them in their condo, they can fly them anywhere (with an oversized luggage fee) and bring them to places that may be harder to access with a conventional Kayak. You miss nothing of the conventional models either; they look and behave even better then a lot of regular ones. Customer service too is top notch. You WILL NOT be disappointed !!!!
I did some kaykaking when I was a boy but then abandoned the sport for decades. Last summer I somehow wanted to restart, then 43 years old. I wanted to approach this sport in a relaxing but nevertheless sportive way. I get my adrenaline kicks from caving, scuba-diving and cave diving explorations, so kayaking should be something where I can get a lot of fun with not so much effort. In office hours I am an Project Manager (civil engineer) with enough stress to loose all of my once so long hair. So, I needed some stress killing hobby.
What should I say…the Pakayak is perfect. I have looked at dozens of other models, as well modular systems made of ultra-bulky single elements as well as inflatable or aluminium-skeleton-models. Nothing could convince me until I found the Pakayak. It’s so easy, even non technical persons (I tried the test on my accountant) could assemble it within minutes.
And it stows away like a russion matroschka doll (in russion I would translate Pakayak to Matrosch-Kayak).
On the water you simply forget that the kayak is made of 6 elements. It’s stable, it’s quite fast (me with modest technical skills 9 km/h with non too much effort) and it’s FUN FUN FUN.
In my Volvo XC60 I can easily transport 2 of those with camping gear for 2 persons/ 2 weeks. With no extra gear probably I could transport 3 maybe 4 kayaks. Inside the car, so no worries about aerodynamics on the highway, no problems to drive into a parking deck or underground garage without smashing the boats, much more difficult to steal frome inside the car, no need for roof carrier or trailers, no need for an extra garage.
It even works brilliantly with public transport. In Switzerland, where I live, we have water and we have trains everywhere. So easy doing beautiful one way trips and go home by train.
And I see millions of other possibilities which I would not have with a one piece-14-ft-kayak. Take it to the sea. Take it to (normal) rivers. Take it to Norwegian Fjords. Take it to any lake you could immagine. Everything except white water, which is not what I was looking for (at the moment). The independence which comes with this package is 100% compatible with my lifestyle and now, after 3 weeks that I have it, I would not want to miss it for anything in the world.
PS get a Werner Cyprus 2 piece foam core paddle with it, it’s like the cherry on the pie
..once it arrived I was amazed. It fits together in less than 5 minutes and is rock-solid. It actually takes longer to assemble on some days, because I end up with lots of looki-loos asking me questions as I put it together. In the water, it handles like a dream.
– Rich
…it travels with me on flights to beautiful places around the world! The handling on the water is better than other sea kayaks I have owned. As an ocean canoe paddler, speed and glide are important to me. I did not expect those qualities in a sea kayak and was pleasantly surprised that the Pakayak tracks very nicely.
– Cort
I even fish from mine. I am an avid camper and take it everywhere I go.
– Cynthia
I followed the Pakayak development from its first mention on the internet. Good thing I waited because I seriously considered a take-apart kayak from a company far, far away that will remain nameless. Pakayak’s design was vastly superior in all respects. It would even fit in my truck SIDEWAYS! A backer offered hers on Ebay and I hung in there until it was mine in chili red! I have nothing to complain about. It fits me. It transports effortlessly. It assembles and disassembles easily if you follow the pictures. It paddles smoothly, and the seat is very comfortable. It may not look it but it is.
This kayak is the real deal! I bought one used a few months ago and have taken it out a few times. I needed a collapsing kayak because I have a small car, and I was afraid of buying a folding boat with no bulkheads. Pakayak was the one kayak that checked all the boxes: a modular, hard-shell, full-blown sea kayak that takes no time at all to assemble. I had to spend a little time learning how to work the snaps; they’re pretty intuitive, but some are at an awkward angle and some you have to handle without being able to see them. After about a half hour of practice, though, I had it down. It takes me less than ten minutes to go from having the kayak in its carrier in the back of my car to having it assembled and ready to launch! I definitely recommend this kayak. It’s been the bell of the ball every time I’ve taken it out, too. If you have space issues, or if you just don’t want to deal with lifting your kayak onto the top of your car after a long day of paddling, get one!
I ordered the Pakayak after testing out multiple ‘packable’ kayaks from other vendors trying to find a way to live in Seattle but still have a proper sized Kayak that didn’t require a storage fee somewhere. The Pakayak mostly solves those issues.
It tracks perfectly, but can be a bit tippy if you are used to lake kayaks with more stability due to their width. Once you get use to the different handling it glides well and is very comfortable.
The only issue is the length, at 6’4 and 220 I can use the Pakayak, but I can’t put my legs fully inside so my knees are sticking out the top. Not idea or conformable for a long period of time. But Pakayak has told me that an extended center section will be available later this year, so I look forward to getting a second Pakayak then!
I tested the Oru, and I was just to large to fit well and it seemed a bit to fragile. Not to mention the stack of returned Oru’s at REI. The Advance Elements AirFusion Elite fit me well, but was a bit tight for my wife and it did not track or glide very well.
I have been a proud owner of the bluefin 14 for about a year and it has been wonderful! The structure of it is sound and it stays as dry inside as any other kayak I’ve used. The real benefit is that it can be easily stored in a closet or the birth of a sailboat. Truly a hard shelled kayak you can take anywhere!
…perform incredibly similarly to any other high end touring kayak, it tracks very well, is tough enough to handle bumps and scrapes and portages over logs and branches with ease, and packs in to a bag that can fit 3 times over in my hatchback! Seriously, a 14 foot boat that packs into 3.5×2 feet… I was (and am) in love! Now, I paddle more days than I don’t
– Matthew
I’m new to the sport and love this kayak! It’s super easy to assemble, paddles like a dream, tracks straight and true.
– Suzanne
Living in an apartment with limited storage, this was the perfect solution. The ease with which they assemble and disassemble continues to amaze us (as well as anyone around when we are out kayaking). We continue to completely love our Pakayaks.
– Alexander
I wanted to be able to get out and kayak solo, and didn’t have a roof rack. I love this kayak – it is fun, easy to assemble, comfortable, fits in the back seat of my Corolla, a great boat that allows me the freedom to cruise our local waterways. I roll it in its case to the water’s edge and assemble it there, as it is heavy, but glides beautifully in the water. It’s allowed me to explore so many new places, and see our beautiful world from a new perspective ?
I backed Pakayak on Kickstarter and have two pakayaks. I consider myself being of intermediate skill level and also own two fiberglass Current Design kayaks, a Solstice GT and GTS high volume. I wanted a take apart kayak as sometimes more that one person wanted to go kayaking with me and this allows me to have two kayaks on my roof rack and another two in my minivan. Also, if someone wants to borrow a kayak I no longer have to give them my car as well.
I had also looked at the Oru kayaks, bay and coast models and also the Trak kayak. I decided on the pakayak for several reasons:
1. It has bulkheads to create storage compartments separate from the cockpit you sit in. All the other kayaks require float bags to give floatation in case water gets into the cockpit. I feel the bulkheads are better from a safety standpoint and also better for keeping your gear dry.
2. When assembled the pakayak is similar to any other rotomolded plastic kayak. It has a very comfortable seat and the construction is durable.
3. It comes with a very nice travel bag included in the purchase price.
4. Value. The pakayak is priced comparable to the Oru Bay kayak and less than the Oru Coast Kayak. But the pakayak is made of the same material as a one piece rotomolded kayak, has a better seat and again bulkheads and hatches that the Oru lacks. The Trak kayak appears to be a sleeker kayak and more seaworthy in rough conditions but at a significantly higher price. Also, the pakayak is priced reasonably compared to one piece rotomolded kayaks and if you factor in the savings of not having to buy a roof rack is cheaper.
It performs comparably to other rotomolded kayaks I have used. It has good stability, good tracking, turns easily and has relatively good speed for its 14 foot length. I have paddled in two to three foot waves with waves breaking over the deck without any problem.
It is not as fast as my fiberglass kayaks, nor would I expect it to be given its shorter length (kayak speed is dependent on the length and width of the boat). Also, it does not have as much storage as my fiberglass boats so if I were to go on a multiday trip would still prefer the fiberglass boats.
The Pakayak assembles easily and at 55 pounds is similar in weight to other rotomolded kayaks. Also, is easy to clean off with a hose following use and let it dry in pieces on my driveway before packing away.
The only annoyance I have had is that you have to return the foot pegs to the far forward position for storage in the bag and sometimes sand gets into the channel the foot pegs move in making it difficult to reposition the next time I went to use it. So I carry some WD 40 with me to loosen it up.
I would definitely purchase again.
If you are new to kayaking I would strongly recommend taking lessons to learn basic safety skills and also different paddling strokes to allow you to enjoy the kayak to its full potential.
