Nice things people say about IK&P
… without your website I’d have been completely in the dark … so thanks again!
… your website and articles are an incredibly rare and impressive source of quality content for IKs.
… the first [website] I’ve seen that’s really informative about IKs
… your blog [is] well presented and very informative
… simply to say that I find your pages the best (and I mean the BEST) and most objective … full of really useful information and tips
… as someone about to enter the world of kayaking … I’ve found your site really informative and helpful, so thank you
… wish I’d come across IK&P when I first started out with IKs
… [IK&P is] the best one ever … Been reading for days and can’t stop!
… you cannot imagine how helpful I find your website and it is very generous of you to share your knowledge with us
We can thank the pandemic and its associated restrictions for a spike in interest in inflatable kayaks and packrafts. Paddling provides the same health and wellbeing benefits as walking or cycling, but with a liberating feeling of weightlessness as you glide effortlessly across the water. An easily portable IK minimises transportation and storage issues, while a 3-kilo packraft can be carried up to the highest mountain lake.
I recently condensed this rambling website (tidied up and updated summer 2025) into a couple of inexpensive books:
• Inflatable Kayaking: A Beginner’s Guide
• Packrafting: A Beginner’s Guide.
Buy Packrafting or Inflatable Kayaking discounted off amazon.uk. Meanwhile, there is loads to read on this website without spending £9.49.
I was never into hardshells, but discovering IKs in 2005 and packrafts a few years later was like discovering mountain bikes back in the 1980s. Suddenly the outdoors became a whole lot more interesting and accessible. With a packboat the hitherto overlooked blue bits on the map became new byways to exploration and adventure.
Portable kayaks and packrafts are light enough to be backpacked to the water’s edge or even carried indefinitely. Once inflated, you can paddle for an hour or for days, after which time you pull out the plugs, roll up and head home or tramp on to the next body of water. With an IK or packraft you’re paddling on air.
Along with all over the UK and especially Scotland (above, below), I’ve travelled with my packrafts and IKs in France, US, Croatia, NW Australia (video below) Turkey, Venice, Sardinia, Iceland and New Zealand. I’ve owned a Gumotex Sunny (twice), Feathercraft Java, an Incept K40 and a Grabner Amigo. After five years with a Gumotex Seawave, I got another Seawave 2 and then a Zelgear Igla. I’ve also had a few Alpacka packrafts, enjoyed an MRS Nomad S1 ‘packayak’, an Anfibio Rebel 2K, and occasionally test or review boats, and have experimented with cheap vinyl slackrafts. Currently, my sole packboat is a 2.8-m do-it-all Anfibio Sigma TXL+ tourer, a slightly more durable blue version of the green TXL below.
You’ll find over 300 pages of articles here on IK and packrafts. First visit to IK&P? Check out A–Z of IKs or Packrafting Quick Guide.
Enjoy the website.
Inflatable Kayaks & Packrafts 