Curious about your experiences with Oru folding kayaks?

December 3, 2015 3:29 PM

Can anybody who owns an Oru folding kayak tell me what it's like and how well it works for them? My wife and I are considering getting a pair of Bay+ folding kayaks and we'd love to learn anything we can from you - there are reviews online, but not a ton of comprehensive ones, given how expensive these are. We've looked at inflatable kayaks, but we're looking for something that's really simple to assemble and doesn't involve inflation or assembling a whole frame, yet also stows reasonably easily into a compact car and can be hiked with. So far the Oru Bay+ seems to fit the bill best.

So, Oru Kayaks is currently running a promotion where you can save money on ordering a pair of their kayaks. My wife and I are both very interested in their Bay+ Kayak, since it seems like it's the right size and performance for us. We've both done a fair bit of kayaking before, mostly in freshwater bodies (I've done some ocean kayaking but prefer to surf when that's an option). Since I've mainly used cheaper kayaks in the past such as this one, it seems like the Bay+ would be an improvement in performance, and also be reasonably light and easy enough to use - given that we would not be stuck dealing with roof racks, storage, moving a big heavy kayak around, I think we'd probably kayak a lot more, too. We've never owned kayaks previously, only rented or borrowed from friends and family.

We don't need to carry a ton of cargo; this is for day trips only, we'd only be bringing along things like snacks and cameras. Not planning on white-water kayaking with it either - that's something I can explore in the future if I decide to go that route. It seems like this is the right blend of performance, convenience, and utility for what we'd like to do, but it is of course rather pricy. We're aware of folbot and pakboats, but I think we'd rather go purely foldable instead of inflatable. I personally like the idea of a folded plastic shell more than the alternatives. That's why we'd love to hear from anybody who has personal experience with these.

Tell us what you like, don't like, love or hate about these! Anything you can tell us is helpful.

posted by Strudel to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (2 answers total)

My only experience has been with one of us having one on a multi-person, multi-day kayak trip in sheltered ocean waters. It was hella slow in comparison with the rest of us and we spent a lot of time waiting on her to catch up. That said, I remember it tracking pretty well and the rest of us were in touring kayaks which are made to cover ground fast.
posted by Foam Pants at 6:09 PM on December 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

My brother bought one of the original Ora foldable kayaks when they had their Kickstarter and then he bought another one when they came out with their post-Kickstarter model. He loves them, and continues to use them on a regular basis.

He finds them much easier to transport than regular kayaks. He enjoys putting them together, and they work fine for his purposes: kayaking around small lakes in the Berkshires for a couple of hours. As far as I know he hasn't taken them out on rivers or gone camping with them. They are also very easy to store.

He says that the latest models have additional improvements making them easier and quicker to assemble and disassemble.

I went out with him once, with my kids, and thought they were fine, a perfectly good way to go paddling around. It was kind of amazing to see them fold up and unfold and yet still be seaworthy.
posted by alms at 7:29 AM on December 4, 2015