KLYMIT LITEWATER DINGHY (LWD) Packraft, Inflatable Travel Kayak, Packs Small for Backpacking

The LWD is a tank. Mine has been to dozens of alpine lakes, drug across granite rocks, stabbed by sticks and jagged rock and I can't even see a mark! It also pulls double duty as a sleeping pad in my tent at night and I've gotten better sleep on it than anything else I've tried. And I've thrown some money at gear! I've found a technique to get into the raft without getting my butt wet. The floor is incredibly tough and you start by putting your feet together at the pointy end and sort of buckling your knees and falling back gently. I use mine primarily for fishing mountain lakes and the tie off points are great for dummy cording paddles and fish stringers or just lashing it down against the wind at night. Lite weight ping pong paddle shaped oars work best.Pros:Light weight and durable! I'm rough on gear and this thing hasn't flinched. Never had to patch any of the 3 I own and it's not for lack of use and abuse.Can easily handle heavier loads. I'm a 6'4" 230lb male and with my pack and other gear it rides fine.Inflates easily with the included dry sack which is also a great gear bag when afloat.Cons:Only tracks in reverse, paddle forward toward your feet and when you stop it'll spin a 180 every time.The Stevie Griffin shape to the head of the raft could be streamlined a bit to help with the bending crease at the neck where you're most likely to take on water.Colors are too bright. The bright orange stands out way too much. More subdued colors would be awesome!Every alpine lake enthusiast should own one of these.

I like everything about this, but I was really disappointed in the 35oz weight claim. You'll see in my photo that this weighs 43.25oz WITHOUT the stuff sack. That weighs 3.60oz, so the TOTAL IS 46.85. Over 10oz heavier than the claimed weight is a lot when you're backpacking.I verified the scale that I used is working properly, weighing common items that I know the weight of (empty fuel canisters, soup can, my iPhone).1 star for the weight discrepancy, but I'll give it four stars for the actual product.One thing I want to try is leaving the stuff sack on this while paddling. Hopefully I will be able to reach back and add some more air while on the water since the water is usually colder than the air causing it to shrink a bit.Update 10/4/17: I finally used this recently to float down a creek...what a blast!! The water was only 2" in some areas and I managed to slide over no problem with only a few spots rubbing. It stood up against those rocks, but they were pretty smooth. I don't think my kayak would have made it in such shallow water. The tracking is pretty bad, but that was expected. The seat valve blew open right away when I sat down, so I only refilled it half way and that did the trick.Unfortunately I don't have many opportunities to use this, but at least I have one good creek/trail to do a fun float>hike loop.Plan on getting a little wet, but not much if you're careful. The only water I had come in was from my shoes but a small packtowel under your knees is handy to catch the water before it gets to your seat.

The raft inflated cockeyed right out of the box. One side is straight as it should be, the other side has an enormous kink on the side. I knew my butt would get wet from other reviews, and it did. I got in as carefully as possible. Some water came in but not too bad. It won't track across the water unless I stretch out full length, arch my back and push forward and backward with my feet and hands to get the kink out, then lie stiff as a board, pushing on the bow with my feet and the stern with the top of my head, carefully paddling with my hands. What a piece of junk. So I went to Amazon to return it. Amazon's return process said I had to contact Klymit and gave me a phone number. I called Klymit, the recording (no people) said to go to their website. At Klymit's website it said if you bought it from Amazon it's Amazon's problem.At this point I'm ready to bite nails! I called Amazon ready to read someone the riot act, but before I could utter an expletive the nice lady said no problem, sorry this happened to you, I've issued you a refund, no need to return the product.And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why I've been an Amazon customer for decades. It's also why I will never buy another Klymit product. I have several, and they've always been pretty good products. I've never had to deal with their customer service, but now I know. Don't buy Klymit unless you're prepared to be left high and dry on your own if there's a problem.

I used this to cross a river in Alaska. I did not fill the seat with air, which allowed helped keep my center of gravity a little lower. Very pack-able, but would not recommend for heavy rapids.

The dinghy is easy to inflate and made of tough material so didn't suffer when I pulled it onto a pebbly beach. My pooch has not damaged it with her nails either. Despite its strange shape it tracks in a straight line provided you paddle gently.The only negative I can find is that It does soften considerably when you put it in the cold water so you need to top the air up. Because the rear of the dinghy is higher it supports your back in a comfortable paddling position. You do get a wet behind though.

Actually, t‘s fine in moderate whitewater if you don‘t mind getting a bit wet. The secret to getting the most out if this boat is to buy a good double paddle for high-angle paddling - and not the cheapest you can find (just because it seems light for the money). By honing your technique and adding elements of the j-stroke normally used with a single paddle, you can even reach acceptable speeds.

Great piece of kit

Incredibly easy to set up, use, and take down. Its volume is similar to my ultralight summer sleeping bag, and doesn't take up much space in my pack. I'm 160 lbs and it had no problems keeping me afloat, even with an additional 30 lbs of gear. I use it for skipping across lakes that would take several hours to hike around. When I first tried it, it seemed a little odd that it kinks in the area where it widens, but that's an intentional feature - the sides come up and almost hug you when you sit and put your weight into it. The underside is pretty thick, and I've scraped it on rocks and branches without issues. My only criticism is that it isn't very efficient for paddling. It doesn't track as well as a canoe or kayak, and if you have any kind of headwind, you'll be putting more effort than you'd like. For what it is (an ultralight, reliable 1-person raft), it's still spectacular.

Leggerissimo e piccolissimo da piegato, vi segue ovunque. Lento come pochi, ma per attraversare un lago di montagna è ok.Il mio ha manifestato un difetto, dopo neanche un mese: perde il cuscino/sedile a causa del cedimento del materiale attorno ad una dei 3 cerchi di incollaggio, ritengo per un difetto di fabbricazione, che non ho affatto gradito. Per il resto è ottimo per certi usi, pratico ed immediato come nient’altro; hai una barca nello zaino anche in posti dove non avresti mai pensato di usarla.

You are not going to travel down raging rivers in this raft, but it does work well for traversing lakes and floating down calmer rivers. It is very compact and light. It does not track well (though it does not claim to). Your rear will get wet. The self-inflating bag works surprisingly well. I am happy with it.

Pretty good for the size and weight. Plus the load capacity puts it well above all others in this class. However you will have a wet butt. I bought the klymit cush seat/pillow but have not had a chance to use both together.

The raft tracks well. Not very fast, but it performs as expected. Most importantly it is super small when packed. This is great for day hikes and amateur AR's.

Très belle matière, un peu flashy mais au moins on est bien visible des autres sur l'eau !Très bonne stabilité même sur une mer agitée, par contre je ne sais comment l'utiliser sans se mouiller... encore moins avec un gros sac.Idéal pour partir en avion et/ou en camping !Son énorme atout est le poids de 990g et son sac de rangement qui peut servir à le gonfler grâce à l'ingénieux système, et ensuite ce sac permet de mettre quelques affaires au sec et en flottaison !Un peu cher, mais je ne regrette pas cet investissement.

Super light, packs small

Buen tamaño y materiales

Brilliant!! Well made, light but tough. 10 mins up and 1 min down !!!

Trop cool!!! Produit de qualité , confortable à l'usage et de conception solide et rassurante !Serait id la avec une petite pagaie en kit....

After researching packrafts I settled on the Klymit for various reasons. Price, weight, etc. But also, the Klymit seemed to be made of the most durable material of them all; many of the others seemed to suggest they were made of the same rubber-plastic as your average beachball. Having now received the Klymit, I haven't been disappointed; material seems extremely durable! What's more, it does indeed inflate very quickly - @ 10 minutes? And is light and compact. Love the mooring grommets not offered on many of the others. Drawback? - perhaps the carnival colours - how about something somewhat less beach-party! Black/green/brown. Otherwise, very satisfied; thank you, Klymit!

This packraft is amazing . You cannot beat it for the price and it opens up an endless amount of opportunities to get and explore ! I use a dry suit with it because where I live the rivers are glacial melt rivers high in the Canadian Rockies. It's the lightest packraft on the market and it's the cheapest , it's the size of a Nalgene bottle !