One of the most common questions to this website has to do with renting a kayak or canoe in the park.  And it stands to reason: there are 32 lakes and ponds within Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks, but if you’re coming from New York City** by public transport, you’re not bringing your kayak.

Last month, I learned of an ultralight, inflatable kayak that packs into your backpack and weighs all of four pounds.

It hasn’t made much of a splash yet, but the new Advanced Elements Packlite ultralight inflatable kayak has made me break my “no gear reviews” rule for those who would like to kayak at Harriman (and elsewhere), but:

• know there’s not a rental place within “coo-ee!” of the park.*
• are coming from the city by train or bus, and wish they could bring a kayak with them;
• like the idea of always having a kayak handy in the back of the car, folded up to the size of a handbag.
• don’t relish the idea of hoisting a heavy kayak on top of the car (guilty!)

There’s nothing like the Packlite, which was introduced in early 2014.  It’s four (4!) pounds, plus the paddle and pump which add another two pounds.  It takes about six minutes to fully inflate the cherry-red boat, using the Advanced Elements two-way hand pump.

I’ve taken the boat out three times already: on a smallish lily pond (Little Dam Lake in Sterling), on the much wider Lake Skannatati, in Harriman, and around an elbow in the Hudson River, leading upstream to a winding brook through a marsh.

The Packlite kayak, I will admit, is not a kayak for every situation.  Knowing its limitations, though, I have to say that I’m really, really pleased with its simplicity, ease of set-up, handling and portability.

Four things I love about the Packlite:

• You can take it with you just about anywhere.  Carry it on the train, on an airplane flight, and of course on a hike into the back country or your favorite camping spot.
• The set-up time for this kayak is just lightening quick.  You can be on the water in about six minutes, from unpack to paddle off.
• It’s very comfortable to sit in, to paddle, and to float.
• The price — $299.00 — works for me, for a second kayak.  You’ll also need to get the four-piece paddle and pump, though — and don’t forget the life preserver.  I splashed out for an inflatable PFD so it wouldn’t take up too much space in the pack.
• It’s made by Advanced Elements, a company who’s been in the inflatable kayak game for a while and has built a strong reputation for standing behind their craft.

Three things I don’t like:

• Lack of glide.  I miss the glide of the traditional kayak.  And for some, that’s the heart of kayaking.
• That color (bright red) makes it difficult to “stealth” kayak, and that color is ever-so-slightly reminiscent of a pool toy.
• The two-way pump that makes it so quick to pump up is too bulky to make it the perfect pump for ultralight kayaking.  I’ll be getting the smaller foot pump.

Features:

The Packlite is a solo kayak, designed to pack down to 11″ x 11″ x 5″ and fit in the carry bag that also doubles as a gear bag that snaps onto the front hull.  It has 3 air chambers for optimum safety and increased durability.

It takes me a little under six minutes to set up the Packlite: unfurl, inflate, put it in the water and paddle off.  The valves — there are three you’ll use to inflate the chambers — couldn’t be simpler to use.  I used the Advanced Elements two-way pump for inflation.  It sends air into the kayak as you’re pushing, and as you’re pulling.  And it also vaccums the air out when you’re done,  which is important, because you don’t want to be trying to fold up a pudgy kayak and stuff it into a sack.

This pump has a drawback, though: it’s bulky.  The price of the quick inflate/deflate is less space.  It takes up way more room in my pack than I’d like, although if I’m just driving to a launch or hiking to a pond that’s close enough, and I don’t also need my sleeping bag and lunch, it all fits in the pack.

Advanced Elements also makes a much smaller foot pump (the Packlite bellows footpump), something I’ll probably pick up and bring for the longer treks to more remote lakes.

On the Water

On the water, the kayak is comfortable and extremely nimble.   It’s the perfect little lightweight boat for a mid-summer floattrip (I’m thinking of the nearby Delaware River, the Water Gap, or the Connecticut River), a downstream paddle, or a relaxing trip across a small lake or pond.

You’ll notice more yaw rotation to this kayak, owning to its lightness, but I solved this by putting all my additional weight — my pack, my shoes and the pump — in the front of the boat.  Gone is the yaw.  If you’re not carrying that much weight with you, find a rock or heavy-ish log near the shore to add to the front of the boat.  This almost eliminates the problem.

But this brings me to the main drawback of the Packlite for lake paddling: that almost effortless glide you feel when steering a kayak across flat water is missing in the Packlite.

In the Packlite, you’ll push your way through the water, instead of moving over the top of it, and this makes for a more strenuous day of paddling if the water isn’t cooperating.  Even in the perfectly still brook water of Peekskill’s Sprout Brook, it was still an effort to keep up with my brother’s kayak.

This is no performance-oriented kayak, and if it’s all about the perfect-tracking glide across a glassy lake for you, this probably won’t be your go-to kayak.

But for a downriver paddle, getting across a small pond or poking along the edge of a lake, it’s just fine.  And don’t forget: the Packlite is here to fill a niche, and that niche is remote, end-of-a-hike paddling in a lake or pond you could never access with a more hydrodynamic, but heavy, kayak.

I was expecting to have a wet seat while using the Packlite.  In advance, I purchased an inflatable “donut” seat from the local CVS to bring along,  But I left it in my pack and had no problem with dryness in the kayak.

I also expected the sides of this thing to be too bulky for a comfortable paddle, but this just isn’t the case.

Other Limitations:

Despite its weight (four pounds for the kayak, plus another two for the pump and paddles), this kayak will take up space in your pack.  So will the paddles and the pump.  I had no problem fitting the whole package into my backpack, but there’s room for little else.

So this still isn’t a kayak you can carry with you on a long overnight trek, unless you don’t mind extra bulk. If you have a half-full backpack and choose to carry the deflated kayak with your free hand, you won’t want to go for miles if you’re that encumbered.

Also: if you’re a big fella, the Packlite might not be for you.  It’s rated to carry 250 pounds, max.  (Airkayak.com did a review of the Packlite that included the reviewer’s dog, sitting in the front, to test the durability of the rip-stop material beneath his doggy nails.  The dog looked like a blue heeler type.)

What You Can Do With the PackLite Kayak:

• Use it to explore the many lakes, ponds and islands of Harriman (remember that all watercraft — inflatables included — need a $30.00 permit that can be picked up at the park.) ***
  
• Use it to incorporate a paddle into your hike.
• Do a hike-bike-kayak combo.
• Portage with ease.
• Have it in your car, all the time – it’s that portable.
• Birdwatch from the water.
• Bring it on the airplane.  The bag will fit in the overhead luggage compartment, or you can check it.
• Take a nap (or even sleep overnight) in the kayak, on the water, with it tied to shore.  (You aren’t allowed to do this in Harriman, though!)
• Use it as an air mattress (although the manufacturers might frown upon this use, and it might shorten the life of the kayak).  Hang a bug net “tent” from a tree branch, tuck it in under your overturned kayak, and there’s your tent.

It’s probably not suited for:

• Crossing wide open lakes in a strong breeze or headwind.
• Careering down a swift-moving river, or going over rocks, branches, etc.  The Packlite is rated for Class I and II rapids, so it can handle the mild whitewater.
• Any kind of paddling where speed or distance is what you’re going for.
• Fishing from, unless you’re an experienced kayak fisher.  You can use the kayak to paddle to other shores to fish.
• Stealth paddling.  I sort of wish it weren’t such a bright red, as this defeats the “stealth” uses of a super-portable kayak.  Maybe future models will include a green model.

This is one of those pieces of equipment that has you going back to the maps, expanding your boundaries as you’re drawn to remote places that you used to overlook.

On Little Dam Lake, I paddled a little, poked around the foot of a beaver dam, drifted past acres of lily pads and purple flowers as I listened to thru-hikers on the Appalachian trail, pans rattling.  At Lake Skannatati, I set out for the opposite shore and discovered, out of site from the boat launch (or anyone, for that matter) a grassy clearing near the dam that had been used as a campsite. Then I cut the engines entirely, laying back on the kayak, drifting above the bladderwort and nearly falling asleep under the wide blue sky.  Voices bounced around the lake: the laughs of a man teaching his children to swim, a family fishing near the boat launch, campers returning from a kayaking excursion.  It all sounded like a sweet dream of my childhood.

Note: We were not compensated or encouraged by Advanced Elements in any way to write this review.

*Not entirely true.  You can rent a canoe or boat at Baker Camp, on Lake Sebago, and you don’t have to be staying there to do so.

**As far as this website’s concerned, that’s a big demographic.  More than half of our visitors are coming from New York City, where less than half of all households have a car.  Hello, inflatable kayak!

***Regulations at Harriman State Park specify that boats may only put in at a boat launch.  This is a rule I only learned by reading the faint printing on the back of the permit once I’d paid for it at the Tiorati Park office.