Skeena/Telkwa review wanted re: handling and comparison to other boats

[unnamedpeaks]

Hi all. I just finished a UL Packraft, had a great time doing it. I had planned to build the UL DIYPackraft as my backpacking alpine lake boat, and had planned to buy a Kokopelli Rogue or Alpacka Yak as my whitewater boat. Now that I see how easy it is to make these rafts, I am considering just making another.

Alpacka has so many different designs with all sort of notes about handling, trade offs, responsiveness, stability, etc etc. I contacted a couple people who have said they prefer the Rogue and that the Alpacka’s aren’t worth the extra cost.

For those who have paddled many rafts, how does the Skeena/Telkwa compare to these other boats on the water? What are the tradeoffs of this particular hull design? What variables are being balanced, and what is the balance point? I don’t see much about this on this website.

Thanks!

Topic

[TOU-47]

This is exactly my thought…learn on building a UL DIYPackraft (at less than 2#) as I too want it for my simple “backpacking alpine lake boat”…then maybe move on making something more advanced.

In the mean time I did recently came across & purchased a very SLIGHTLY used 2018 Kokopelli Nervana with spray deck & accessories for about 1/2 price…for WW this spring.

I look forward to further responses.

TOU

[Matt (Admin)]

Hi Robin,

The Skeena  and Telkwa models are so new that probably only a handful of people have finished building theirs, and I’m not sure how many of them have paddled the other packrafts you’re interested in, so it might be a while before you get a useful review. In the meantime, I started writing some notes about things to consider and what to look for when choosing a packraft, and it got so long I decided to turn it into a blog post instead of posting it here, so that will be posted soon. In the meantime, I’ll just say that the Telkwa and Skeena are designed to fit the same niche as the Wolverine and the Rogue (a do-everything design). Cheers!

[unnamedpeaks]

For example, here is a breakdown of the Alpacka lineup https://thingstolucat.com/2019/05/17/alpacka-raft-lineup/

 

And I’m told the Kokopelli rogue is closest to the expedition.

 

Where would the newest DIY packrafts fit in here? They seem like they would be in expedition/rogue territory with a balance between stability and handling.

 

[Author]

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