Packrafting with my dog

[Jaahan]

Anyone here have any experience with packrafting with dogs?

I’m 1.83 m (6 ft) tall and have a 23 kg (51 lbs) alaskanhusky that I go hiking with. Measured my legs as instructed, and I end up at about 1.25 m (4 ft 1″)

If I order a large kit with a zipper and put my 20-40 kg of gear inside the raft itself and my empty backpack in the raft with me and my dog – will life be terrible or just mildly off putting?

If the answer to that isn’t what I’m hoping for, are you getting close to finishing the plans for a 2 person raft Matt?
Thanks!

Topic

[Matt (Admin)]

Hi Jaahan,

I don’t have experience paddling with a dog, but I think your comfort will have as much to do with your dog’s temperament and the distances you plan to paddle as anything else… I have paddled at a leisurely page with two people in a Small size DIY Packraft for an hour and that was fine in regard to buoyancy, handling, and comfort – in fact, that extra weight improves handling by reducing yaw. In general, I think paddling with a dog would be more to the “mildly off-putting” end of the spectrum. For safety’s sake, I would avoid unpredictable whitewater though!

I’ve stopped giving ETAs on new plans, as they always seem to take longer to develop than I anticipate. If people want a stretched version of the Large packraft, I can make that pretty easily, but it’s not going to be the ideal 2-person boat because it will have the same characteristics as the other extra-long packrafts that are commercially available (flexible and floppy).

[Jaahan]

Thanks for the reply!

I’m lucky enough to own a husky that actually thinks it’s ok to lie down and have a rest, so I’m fairly certain she’ll get used to the raft soon enough. And having zero experience with whitewater, I would definately not bring my dog with me if I decide to give it a try 😀

Ok, sounds like a good decision. Floppy rafts sounds like a bad time, so I would rather take my chances on a Large and reinvest at a later point of that doesn’t work out.

At this point I think I’m gonna invest in one of your kits sometime in the near future Matt. I just need to convince atleast one of my friends to do the same, so we can split the shipping cost. And how large does an order need to be to qualify for the discount mentioned on your shipping page? You can PM me the answer if you prefer.

Thanks again!

[Author]

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