Lightweight boating

[Bobfly]

I was thinking four chambers from some snippets in the videos and taken to a fixed chamber volume so no excess pressure required per inner tube types of design. My float tubes have four bladders inside a heavy cordura outer. The bladders are fixed size each with a self blown lifevest valve and made from the heavy duty lining material from RAF fuel drop tanks so strong but heavy stuff. The load design is for a 100 to 120kg person plus some stuff.
The packraft looks to have a material very similar to that used for the lighter inner bladders in the Shakey Expedition model and that also has as a lighter outer. The Packraft should be really ideal for lightweight loch access which is just what is intended.
I always have in mind two friends when we were at the GBMH who took a two man Kavlor (?) down the Brittle in a spate and ended up carrying it back to the hut with a 20 inch rip down one side. Mind you they were not the most sensible of folk given bits of old fence and stuff poking out the banks here and there!!

[corsican dave]

some more fishing adventures by packraft
https://vimeo.com/204130373

[arawa]

I too have gazed out from the bank at impossible rising fish and thought I wonder if I could... So indeed I did; I have several small dinghy like inflatables and the smallest was a lightweight "2 man" - more like one adult man with bent knees! I had some small paddles too. I carried it up to the unmentioned loch and found that while I could get out on the water and fish - the whole affair was difficult.. When sitting in the boat proper (bum down and legs outward so you can row as purpose designed - I found that from this position it was near impossible to cast because being so low to the water the back cast 9/10 x touched the water surface behind. This made me carefully choose to change to be kneeling in the boat. Much better for casting - but after a while it got uncomfortable and blood circulation to the feet gave me pins and needles (metaphorical not actual!  :lol: )...
  So with all these experiences taken in - I stashed the boat behind some heather for a rethink for the next time. I came up with the idea of a 'sandwich' board seat made from B&Q polystyrene insulation boards and thin plywood. I made it strong enough to sit on and support my ample proportions and used waterproof glue. Then one day I carried the 'seat' up to the loch one sunny day and sure enough it was excellent - with the seat tied across the boat in the near middle, I could sit on it, and paddle to a degree - but more important - I could cast and fish in relative comfort - I don't remember whether I caught any more fish or not - this was years ago..

I then eventually bought a bigger 11' boat and have fished from it with great success sitting on a big cube of poly' fitted inside the 'stern' - great for the Ba waters - but these things do catch the wind and skate across the water - so its best to avoid windy days when it is near impossible to row back against the wind - I recall snapping an oar once trying to do that; it didn't end well!

If you plan solely to use them as a means of getting across a stretch of water - without fishing then that's fine - but trust me - actually fishing from them is not easy as above explained.

E.

Thanks for that. As shown in a old picture in my first post, I tried carrying a small inflatable boat (children's toy really) into remote lochs in the past. Like you, I found it was useless as a fishing platform but worked well as a means of paddling out to islands. I stopped about 10 years ago because the weight of the boat, pump, oars etc then available became too much for me to carry comfortably and the boat's material was too fragile to cope with scraping across rocks.

The modern packrafts are much tougher and much much lighter and the Alpackas come with an ingenious method of inflation that weighs almost nothing. So I thought I would try again .... And I will report back on my experience.

With the toy boat, I was rowing from one location to another with my flies trailing in the water behind me when a decent trout struck. It was amazing how far and fast the fish pulled me, and incredibly difficult to net it - all the while being aware that only one of the flies was in the fish and 2 more were available to puncture the thin plastic sides of the boat as I was dragged out into deeper water :shock: :shock:

[johnny boy]

The obvious point here for me (not already discussed) is stealth.

OK, you can get to the small islands but what about getting out to the shore, I bet that's a bit tricky/splashy.

Also, in a tube you can fish from the loch into the shore, paddling stealthily along at optimum distance, to me this is a lot more effective than fishing from the shore (maybe that's just me).

In the tube you can fish in almost all weather and control your cruising speed, you also don't need to constantly be 'on the oars', you can flip and cast.

Obviously I am a tube guy but to each their own, I have had plenty anglers tell me I am nuts so who am I to talk about which way is best, I just know which I prefer.

NB.  Cant believe you even tried the first option.

[arawa]

The obvious point here for me (not already discussed) is stealth.

OK, you can get to the small islands but what about getting out to the shore, I bet that's a bit tricky/splashy.

Also, in a tube you can fish from the loch into the shore, paddling stealthily along at optimum distance, to me this is a lot more effective than fishing from the shore (maybe that's just me).

In the tube you can fish in almost all weather and control your cruising speed, you also don't need to constantly be 'on the oars', you can flip and cast.

Obviously I am a tube guy but to each their own, I have had plenty anglers tell me I am nuts so who am I to talk about which way is best, I just know which I prefer.

NB.  Cant believe you even tried the first option.

Fair point about stealth although when fishing Scourie lochs and just using their boats (really noisy and clumsy) to travel from shore to shore or island, it did not seem to put the fish off.

A tube would be my preference too but I am not physically able now to carry one into where I want to fish.

I will bring my new toy over to Lewis in May and you can have a laugh at my efforts then

Just off to have a cast with my friend's new fishing toy. A 9 ft #5 weight 7-piece "wee loch rod" from Simba. It is the first of this size that Simon Barnes has made.

[Laxdale]

The obvious point here for me (not already discussed) is stealth.

OK, you can get to the small islands but what about getting out to the shore, I bet that's a bit tricky/splashy.

Also, in a tube you can fish from the loch into the shore, paddling stealthily along at optimum distance, to me this is a lot more effective than fishing from the shore (maybe that's just me).

In the tube you can fish in almost all weather and control your cruising speed, you also don't need to constantly be 'on the oars', you can flip and cast.

Obviously I am a tube guy but to each their own, I have had plenty anglers tell me I am nuts so who am I to talk about which way is best, I just know which I prefer.

NB.  Cant believe you even tried the first option.

Not nuts....nice safe way of fishing. Speaking as someone who did the big loch at Hamanavay in a tube, in a Force 8 westerly. Rather that than a glorified rubber duck!

[Bobfly]

A plus point for me is the ease of tubing right in rocks and skerries and wee islands often in bad weather. This would be hard in any boat and even scraping over the rocks with your heels pushing your tube along. As arawa says, that was his first option but horses for courses and fresh options come along and today's packrafts are miles away from a kiddies job from Argos !!  I would love to have one and live somewhere in British Columbia 

[Robbie]

Those videos are great, the packraft looks like a top notch piece of kit. I can see the advantages of the raft for remote waters and or those with islands. Also better suited to overnight trip than a tube.

[Part-time]

The packraft does look pretty good and sounds ideal for what you have in mind. I'd be interested to hear how you get on if you try fishing from it. If it's comfy enough to sit in for a while it could be good in a flat calm - wait for the rising trout to come to you kind of thing.

I have thought about carrying my float tube to some remoter lochs but it's the bulk rather than the weight that puts me off - I've not weighed it but I'm pretty sure the shaky tube I have is less than 10lbs and the fins 3 or 4 lbs max. Wouldn't want to carry it any distance inflated though and (deflated with the fins) needs a good size backpack to fit in.

I now have a problem though - I had to google "lightweight float tube" and found these for sale in the US : http://www.wildernesslitefloattubes.com/backpacker-pro.html
I'm very tempted

[corsican dave]

there you go John: a packraft alongside some everyday objects & weighed. 751g = 1lb 10oz
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