Many rivers, lakes and coasts are still unspoiled highways into the wilderness. A kayak or canoe is the ultimate way to travel in these regions, carrying gear and supplies for several months. A kayak, compared to a canoe, is a good choise if speed is required. It is also less susceptible for wind, making it more easy and safe to cross lakes or broad rivers. A disadvantage is that it takes more effort to get yourself and the equipment in and out the boat.
For information about camping gear and extra supplies for longer journeys, see the 'outdoor gear, food en tips' section.
In regions where a good boat can't be provided and the transport of five straight meters of plastic is impossible, one has to consider a foldable kayak or canoe. Once folded it has the size of a large backpack that can be brought anywhere on airplanes, boats, cars, and on foot. It also enables easy storage at your home.
The Ally 560 sea kayak
I use the foldable Ally 560 sea kayak, produced by Bergans, Norway. It has a length of 560 cm. It is fast, has excellent balance and weighs 20 kilograms. I have used it on class III whitewater with no problems at all. It has zippers at the front and the back, to fill the boat with lots of supplies quite easily. The kayak comes with an aluminium frame, outher fabric, foam matrass, a chair, back - and foot support, a rudder, and a steel cable to tightly span the boat.
At this page you will find a method of packing the gear, as well as adjustments and home made gear, to drastically improve the functionality.
Outher fabric and foam matress
The outher fabric is made of glassfiber covered with pvc which can, if necessary, be repaired with glue very easily. Inside, a layer of 1 cm thick foam is placed. The foam protects the outher fabric by absorbing shocks on the frame from the outside, and prevents sinking when the boat is full of water.
Tips
- The outher fabric expands when it’s cold, and shrinks when it’s warm. I guess that explains the damage in the fabric at the front and back edges: in temperatures above 25 degrees there is just too much tension on the frame.
I have repaired the damage by adding pads over the front and back edges.
- I attached straps at both ends to carry or lead the boat in the water by hands.
- Straps are placed at the large zippers, for easier handling.
- Subzero temperatures together with ice, cause the lower deck zippers (at the inside) to block and become damaged. This can be solved by pouring hot water over it. I strongly advice the maker of the Ally 560 to use the same type of zippers as on the upper deck.
Transport mode
The outher fabric is rolled around the foam, which is also rolled, and placed in a 100 liters lightweight nylon bag with a zipper. The bag from Ally that I bought for this kayak is horrible: heavy, unpractical and very expensive. The 100 liters bag is placed on top of the carrier system with four straps.
Aluminium frame
The aluminium frame of the kayak is made of several parts. From left to right: ribs, straight bars, tips, wedges for the tub, a little connector for the wedges (not on the picture), round elements for attachment of the spray skirt (not on the picture) and the steel spanner cable (not on the picture).
Tips
- The shrinkage of the outher fabric as mentioned before, also makes building up the kayak very difficult in warm weather. To solve the problem I removed 3 centimeters at 4 of the straight bars. The left over rings become extention rings for when it gets colder.
- I have removed two punch - pins of one of the ribs, so that the aluminium part above can be removed, and placed back again. This enables to place the backpack (the 70 liter Orlieb bag) at one piece at the backside of the kayak. I would not do this with more than one rib, as it might harm the sturdiness of the frame.
- I leave the steel spanner cable at home, because it blocks free entrance to the compartments, making it hard to pack and unpack the boat.
Transport mode
- Ribs are bundled with elastic cord, the one you use at the deck of the kayak, this also counts for the straight tub wedges.
- The ends of the straight bars (bound together in four bundles with elastic cords) are covered with water bottles cut in half. Because of the many clips, one of the bundles uses a wider bottle.
- Back and front edges (tips) are carried within the 100 meters bag (home made), left and right from the fabric.
Carrier system
The Alley 560 comes within a big box, with no vision about transport other than dumping all the items in the back of a car. Having different plans of how to get to my destinations, I developped my own carrier system. It is made by connecting the straight aluminium components of the frame, peddles, and a carrier with wheels you can buy in a shop.
For carrying an emptied boat over land without much effort, I use the carrier combined with the frame of the backpack. The kayak is placed on top of the rubber edges above. Now you can carry the boat over a distance of a kilometer with no sweat.
Transport mode
The four bundles of aluminium are attached to the carrier, together with the paddles. I used nylon cord to connect the paddles to the carrier via a hole in the blades. The other side is bound together by hard and soft pvc tubes, to hold while walking. In the user guide beneath, you will find a step by step approach on how to build up the Alley 500, and how to prepare for transport.
Other large equipment
Paddles, floating vest, drysuit, spray skirt, launch socks, helmet, and the back - and foot support (not on the picture).
Tips
- I choose not to bring an extra set of paddles. In stead I attach an elastic cord to the paddles and the boat. If you fear severe damage to you paddles, an option is to attach waterproof tape over the blades so that broken parts will stick together, enabling to fix the blades afterwards.
- I use a folded sleeping matress as a seat, packed in a lightweight waterproof bag (see the home made outdoor gear section). An elastic cord at the bottem keeps it inside if you may capsize. Unfolded the matress can be used to have little nap in the kayak.
Transport mode
In the 100 liters bag.
Small equipment
Gear nets, nylon and elastic cords, mini carabines, extention rings, spare bolts and nuts, tool, pvc glue.
Transport mode
In a 2 liters bag with four compartments (home made).
Overview
In the list below you will find an overview of the kayak gear.
Adjustments and home made gear
Transport bag for the kayak
- nylon fabric 100 cm high, 75 cm wide
- zipper 100 cm
- nylon cord 160 cm
- stopper
Bag for smaller kayak items
- nylon fabric 59 cm high, 29 cm high
- 4 zippers 29 cm
- 8 nylon bands 4 cm, 1 nylon band 25 cm
Lightweight integrated back - and foot support
Because I found the standard foot support rather heavy for its function, I designed a lighter alternative, where the back support is attached to the foot support with a nylon cords. With this method the cords do not entangle you feet when leaving the boat in a hurry.
- hipbelt (comes with the boat)
- plastic strip 30 cm high, 60 cm wide (to replace the heavy plastic strip that comes with the boat)
- 2 nylon bands with faster
- 2 meters nylon cord
- 50 cm hard pvc tube with curved ends, the connections covered with the inside of a rubber cycle tire
Material nets
One material net is placed at the backside of the tub, to prevent gear to fall out in the event of a capsize. A second one is placed mare at the back, to prevent the contact of water (which is always in the kayak) with your gear, shuch as muddy shoes or dry clothes.
- nylon net 40 cm high, 60 cm wide
- nylon net 50 cm high, 50 cm wide
- nylon cord 80 cm
- 4 cords of 25 cm
- 4 mini carabines
