Greetings fellow PaddleWisers (or is that wise paddlers?) I am thinking of adding a folder to my expanding fleet of paddlecraft, and am considering a Feathercraft K-1 because of its high capacity and good reputation for handling. I see, however, that Feathercraft has recently redesigned the boat (with the most prominent change being a new upswept bow). Does anyone know anything about the handling of this new boat? I am also considering a Khatsalano, which is more similar to the narrow, hard-chined boat that I usually paddle. I am concerned, however, about the carrying capacity of the Khatsalano. (I will be using this boat primarily for long wilderness excursions in remote parts of SE Alaska.) Does anyone have any comments on the ability of the Khatsalano to carry 2-3 weeks worth of food and gear? (I realize that this depends on how much stuff one takes. Based on other folks with whom I have paddled, I would say that I am about average in terms of the volume of gear that I like to bring along.) Dan Hagen Bellingham, Washington *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
Dan Hagen wrote: > > Greetings fellow PaddleWisers (or is that wise paddlers?) > > I am thinking of adding a folder to my expanding fleet of paddlecraft, > and am considering a Feathercraft K-1 because of its high capacity and > good reputation for handling. I see, however, that Feathercraft has > recently redesigned the boat (with the most prominent change being a new > upswept bow). Does anyone know anything about the handling of this new > boat? Hi, Dan... The boat has only been in prototype and the production boat is not due out until Feb or March. It stands to reason that it will carry a bit less because of the upswept tapered bow. I suspect that it will not track as well as the older version of the K-1, which really hung on in there in the worse conditions, rear quartering winds and waves. But it really is hard to tell what a boat will do unless in it. > > I am also considering a Khatsalano, which is more similar to the narrow, > hard-chined boat that I usually paddle. I am concerned, however, about > the carrying capacity of the Khatsalano. (I will be using this boat > primarily for long wilderness excursions in remote parts of SE Alaska.) > Does anyone have any comments on the ability of the Khatsalano to carry > 2-3 weeks worth of food and gear? (I realize that this depends on how > much stuff one takes. Based on other folks with whom I have paddled, I > would say that I am about average in terms of the volume of gear that I > like to bring along.) I really followed the development of the boat and tested it two years ago or so. Doug Simpson, prinicipal owner of the company, paddled it up north in a fall trip in which he managed to get something like 140 pounds of gear in it. I published his packing list in my newsletter back then with precisely what went in what size bag and where in the boat. I saying this from memory but I recall that the difference between the Khats and the K-1 (older model) was the matter of two bags or so. Anyway that is listed also in the article. As the article has columns, I prefer to send it to you (or any one on the list) by regular mail or even fax. In sum, all of these boats, even the K-Light are capable of supporting fairly extensive trips. I have had several readers report to me on two-week trips with the K-light up north. If a website ever gets created in conjunction with PaddleWise, I would be happy to place some of this boilerplate stuff on it regarding how to pack a folding kayak. I am particularly a fan of doing this with smaller boats such as the K-Light. I think we think too much that big is better when it isn't necessarily so. best, ralph *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > *************************************************************************** -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
Ralph Diaz wrote: > > ...SNIP... > > In sum, all of these boats, even the K-Light are capable of supporting > fairly extensive trips. I have had several readers report to me on > two-week trips with the K-light up north. > > ... I think we think too much that big is better when it isn't > necessarily so. ... Isn't there some law of packing which says that gear will expand to fill the space available? That has been my experience. I have boats of various sizes, and it seems that they always fill up regardless of which one I take--excluding day trips, of course! Dan Hagen Bellingham, Washington *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
Dan wrote; > Isn't there some law of packing which says that gear will expand to fill > the space available? That has been my experience. I have boats of > various sizes, and it seems that they always fill up regardless of which > one I take--excluding day trips, of course! When I first started traveling in canoes I was young and tough and stupid. I carried everything I could stuff in the packs and then tied stuff on the outside thinking that "I might need that". As I got older and did more solo paddling I started cutting back using the philosophy that if I hadn't used it in the last few trips I didn't need it. I have carried that over into my kayaking and it is remarkable how much less stuff I take than others. The neat thing is that if I don't have it, some one else probably does :-). Occasionally such and such a piece of equipment seems nice but I have gotten so use to the Spartan mode that there is a lot of subconscious resistance to adding to the gear box. Kayaks really encourage one to "fill-it-up" because there is so little carrying. Cheers John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
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