Alpacka Scout weigh-in

The Scout arrived today. As expected Alpacka fulfilled my color request well (I don’t like yellow, and black on the tubes behaves poorly on hot days).

My intention with the Scout is to see how well is stands up to technical water, or to put it another way, when smaller forward tubes and no deck become a prohibitive disadvantage. The small Scout will be an easy choice in summer with a smaller pack, and obviously unsuitable for hauling a bike or cold whitewater. It will be interesting to enumerate where the transition point between the two lies.

The Scout as pictured, with cap and a 2mm cord tether for it, is 3 pounds 10 ounces. Disappointingly over spec, but the tiny packed size is impossible to quarrel with.

The lesser size and weight will appeal to everyone, and if the Scout proves worthy enough, the price point will get a lot of folks off the fence and on the water. I will report back.

DaveC

January.21.2013

Packrafting, Tech

9 responses to “Alpacka Scout weigh-in”

samh

January 21, 2013 at 7:19 pm

I don’t know if photos from the weekend are out there but I ran a big chunk of the Yellowstone over several days in a Scout – my legs dangling out the front, my pack resting ‘tween my legs and the whole boat full of water from floor to top of the tubes everytime I hit whitewater. It was great fun.

Reply
Spelt

January 21, 2013 at 10:49 pm

Completely superfluous questions: why don’t you like yellow, and is that orange available in single-color boats (it’s not listed as an option)?

Reply
1. DaveC
  
  January 22, 2013 at 7:55 am
  
  No particular reason. The middle of my new boat is the same Sierra Red Alpacka has had for several years now. Does look a bit orange under our hi-zoot sewing room lights.
  
  Reply
  1. Spelt
    
    January 22, 2013 at 11:20 am
    
    Ah, okay. Could be my monitor too. It looks really orange from over here.
    
    Reply
Jeff

January 23, 2013 at 6:50 am

I really want to try packrafting but the cost is pretty prohibitive by the time you add a dry suit, paddles ect. I think there are packraft rentals available here in Salt Lake City. May have to rent one and give it a try. Maybe I can talk someone into giving me some lessons since I don’t know much about rafting.

Reply
1. DaveC
  
  January 23, 2013 at 7:55 am
  
  If you have any kind of moving water boating background packrafting is dead easy to pick up. The rentals aren’t cheap, but if you find someone to take you on a cool beginner’s trip that would go a long ways towards establishing whether you’ll want to spend more money on it.
  
  Reply
Applicability of the Alpacka Scout | Bedrock & Paradox

May 8, 2013 at 1:14 pm

[…] Scout is 2.25 pounds less than the Yak. More significantly, it packs into 3/5 the space. It is short enough that I can’t fit my feet inside and have my knees low enough to not […]

Reply
Applicability of the Alpacka Scout | Bedrock & Paradox

May 8, 2013 at 1:14 pm

[…] Scout is 2.25 pounds less than the Yak. More significantly, it packs into 3/5 the space. It is short enough that I can’t fit my feet inside and have my knees low enough to not […]

Reply
Alpacka Scout: the verdict | Bedrock & Paradox

August 20, 2013 at 9:34 pm

[…] of Alpacka’s annual holiday sale and bought a Scout. You can read about the initial weigh-in here and my thoughts after a few months of use here. Since that May post I’ve put the Scout to its […]

Reply