«From box to boat in minutes». A lightweight folding kayak that’s «as easy on the eyes as it is on the water». My first encounter with this marvel left me gazing in awe as an Oru guru turned what I thought to be a simple shoulder bag into a boat for one within two minutes.
Simple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
Ahead of me, an equally astonished woman bombarded the gentlemen at the Oru booth with an onslaught of questions. I couldn’t help but listen as I myself was curious to know the answers. How many times can you fold the boat before it wears out? Does the material tear easily? Can you take the boat out in the waves? Will it rip if you hit a rock? Although this initial encounter with the revolutionary origami kayak made me want to find out more, it was some time before I made it to OutDoor by ISPO, a trade fair for the sports industry, to have a closer look. It turns out this floating wonder is even on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Who would ever guess that what appears to be a transparent box is actually a folded-up kayak.
Unlike inflatable boats, foldable boats are not so intuitive. At least not yet anyway. While you rarely hear folks asking whether a boat blown up like a giant balloon will hold in the water, you’ll notice that upon discovering the folding origami kayak, folks can’t help but question whether it’ll really stay afloat. That’s because our brains aren’t yet used to the concept of a foldable boat, even though such a product has already been on the market several years. But apparently this boat can survive collisions with rocks unscathed and be ready for launch in only three to five minutes. So I asked the rep at the booth for a short demo. He seemed quite pleased that someone was interested in the practical side of things for a change and wasted no time in demonstrating the ease of a folding kayak set-up.
And let me tell you, he needed neither five nor even three minutes to prep that baby. He had it up and ready in less than two. With a swift click, he had unbuckled the carpet-bag-shaped case and out had popped its folded contents along with a seat and other accessories, which he assembled with a series of deft movements. Clearly, once you get the hang of the Oru Inlet, the concept is quite simple: a little unfolding and re-folding, snapping, buckling and then a bit of velcro-ing for safety purposes. Put a bulkhead at either end of the kayak. And for a bit of stability, there’s the orange gizmo, which you cover by folding a few flaps. Once you get the hang of these few easy steps, you’ll be good to go and won’t even break a sweat.
As far as material, the kayaks are made of durable, custom-extruded corrugated high-tech OruPlast. This material is five millimetres thick for stability but also light for improved portability. «Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section», says Wikipedia. «Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex cross-sections; and to work materials that are brittle, because the material encounters only compressive and shear stresses».
The extrudate, which is formed into the shape of a kayak, barely weighs nine kilograms. According to Oru, the number of times OruPlast can be folded is an impressive «ten thousand». That means if you take your kayak out about 20 times a year, you’re good for the next 500 years. A competitor, Terravent, sells their own seemingly comparable version, but despite using a similar design and material, their kayak only lasts for about 2000 outings. Since even that means you’ll be covered for the next 100 years, I take it the real message here is, «Our product will last longer than you. Consider this a lifetime warranty.»
If not for the loose exterior plastic buckles, it would be hard to remember that the origami kayak started out as a simple box.
What confidence. And a bit hard to believe. Especially for a boat that looks like it was made out of paper. From afar anyway. But it does have an appealing design and surprisingly enough, it’s supposedly able to carry a weight of 125 kilograms and is suitable for kayakers of up to 1.88 metres in height. Three cords providing tension allow the kayak to retain its shape and provide comfort for its captain. One cord across the section behind the seat. One attached to the footrest. And one to the seat itself, to be attached last. And there you have it. A light and portable alternative to your conventional kayak. Onlookers at no extra cost.
