I agree, it's a little fussy to get the Packlite into the outer cover etc. Then again, for only 3.6kg, that's not bad... but the option is to use the Packlite only for some situations which is more straightforward.
@@AirOnTheWater My wife and I will be inaugurating our PackLite ‘yaks this very weekend. 🛶🛶☺️☺️ The alternative of using this with or without outer cover is a good thing, I think. Next time I’m back to our beach house early next year, the sea will be quite chilly so I may go all the way with outer cover, spray skirt and all. ☺️👍🏻 In the summer you go open deck, paddle in your bathing suit, jump in and out of the water… 😌
@@VictorElGreco Nice! Congrats on the new yaks and wish you much fun! And you're right, in summer it's all nice and comfy 😎 Let me know how you both like the kayaks later!
@@VictorElGreco 😎 Yes, I think that too - with adjusted strokes and after a bit on the water it works better than one would expect! Wish you much fun with your Packlites!
Advanced elements made some strange decissions,.. why the pump? Why not using the storage bag for inflation? Is it that much faster at 2 psi compared to other light packrafts that use 1psi? The packlite is made for rivers up to WW1/2, that makes sense, its not self bailing, there are no knee straps,... but apparantly the material isn't strong enough because they sell a cover? But the cover doesn't make it self bailing and there is no way that deck is going to hold a spraydeck in place in class3/4, and there is still no way to brace yourself in the boat after adding the cover,..
Hi Arnout, good points... I think the Packlite has been around for a while, 2014 I believe, and there are more packrafts available now at a good price than there might have been then. But the Packlite follows their overall kayak logic and technologies with inflation, valves, etc, rather than the packraft system that as you say packrafts tend to have - an internal system for inflating without pump. While the Packlite is rated for rivers class 1/2, I would consider this most an option for hiking, biking or travel where you might use it on not too advanced rivers or remote lakes, for example. For class 3/4, I would definitely not use this and I don't think that's what it's made for. In that case you'd go with a quality packraft or river kayak of some sort. What the cover does is add a skeg (so somewhat better tracking) and a closed kayak so you have more protection against waves and rain, and of course against damage. But as noted, if one were looking for something for heavy conditions, I don't think that's what this is made for. On a side note, Advanced Elements have recently introduced the Packlite+ and Packlite+ XL which are actually packrafts and use dropstitch technology. Still with the pump solution though. 😎
@@AirOnTheWater on a lake or slow river there shouldn't be a need for a cover, it's a lot of bulck and weight only to add a skegg,.. A new version with a skegg box would make more sense,.. but looking at the dimensions, it will track poor, even with a skegg,.. A pump also has some volume and weight, and a small pump is rather slow,.. I like the idea of packrafting to cross waterobstackles on a fatbike trip or when hinking, to walk uphill and go down on the stream,.. On a trip from A to B water and no bridge is a problem, the packraft is a light and compact solution and one is willing to make some sacrafices on the navigation side to avoid hauling something bulcky and heavy like the X100 or X500,... On the other side, To kayak from A to A, with kayak as the main activity, i am not so keen to sacrafice that much on navigation, certainly not at the packlite pricepoint,.. That's where i would take the x100, X500, or rent locally, or even buy 2ehand and sell afterwards,..
@@kanaalvanNI I've previously only used the Packlite without cover. It works, but is kind of a "sit on top" experience. The cover makes it a sit-in experience and protects against splash, waves and rain, so that is the main advantage. I would consider it an option for certain conditions where you know you're biking for example and might use it on a lake during rain, or for travel where I'm ok to bring 4kg but not a full kayak. For hiking the outer cover doubles the weight and volume so it would need to be justified by the needs of the trip. I agree that being such a short kayak it has a lot of yaw/limited tracking with skeg or not - the skeg helps somewhat though. For trips A to A as you say I would certainly choose a faster kayak any time if it was a practical option to bring along. This one is naturally very slow. But for the conditions where bringing another kayak isn't an option, I like the versatility of the Packlite as an extra tool in my kayak toolkit! Allows me to kayak even a little bit more!
Funnily enough, not long before this test I had completed a full marathon (42km) with the Itiwit X500. So paddling this at little over 1/3 of the speed for almost 8km required some patience :D Got used to it after a while and had a good time on the water. But I'd say the Packlite is for a max of 5km unless you have a lot of time and are going to make breaks on islands or on shore, for example a full-day trip and can't bring another kayak, in which case this could work. But for lengthy paddling if you can bring another kayak, bring another kayak.
@@AirOnTheWater I guess that, if you had a hard shell touring/sea kayak you wouldn't be in the x500 for a marathon either, except maybe for proving the point that it can be done ;-). I think i would prefer hauling a dry suit with the packlite ( or better a packraft) over taking the cover,.. But as you say, a few years ago here were no mekon pacrafts, no itiwit pacrafts, the paclite was a cheap alternative, the pump a small disadvantage seen the price diufference with alpaca or mrs,... And if you have the paclite and you use it on flat water, the cover makes sense,..
![Winter WIND TEST - light inflatable kayak LIMIT! Advanced Elements Packlite [PART 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aTvHrP6ix1U/mqdefault.jpg)
A good idea But a lot of messing around, after all we buy inflatables for convenience of use. Great review buddy 👍
I agree, it's a little fussy to get the Packlite into the outer cover etc. Then again, for only 3.6kg, that's not bad... but the option is to use the Packlite only for some situations which is more straightforward.
Thanks! 😎
Ah… so there are inflatable deck lifts in the exterior casing? 😯
Indeed! Two of them. Didn't expect that either. Helps with shape and avoiding water pooling.
@@AirOnTheWater My wife and I will be inaugurating our PackLite ‘yaks this very weekend. 🛶🛶☺️☺️ The alternative of using this with or without outer cover is a good thing, I think. Next time I’m back to our beach house early next year, the sea will be quite chilly so I may go all the way with outer cover, spray skirt and all. ☺️👍🏻 In the summer you go open deck, paddle in your bathing suit, jump in and out of the water… 😌
@@VictorElGreco Nice! Congrats on the new yaks and wish you much fun! And you're right, in summer it's all nice and comfy 😎 Let me know how you both like the kayaks later!
@@AirOnTheWater First impressions: Once you accept this little yak for what it is and you paddle it gently and evenly, it tracks just fine. 🛶🥰
@@VictorElGreco 😎 Yes, I think that too - with adjusted strokes and after a bit on the water it works better than one would expect! Wish you much fun with your Packlites!
Advanced elements made some strange decissions,.. why the pump? Why not using the storage bag for inflation? Is it that much faster at 2 psi compared to other light packrafts that use 1psi?
The packlite is made for rivers up to WW1/2, that makes sense, its not self bailing, there are no knee straps,... but apparantly the material isn't strong enough because they sell a cover? But the cover doesn't make it self bailing and there is no way that deck is going to hold a spraydeck in place in class3/4, and there is still no way to brace yourself in the boat after adding the cover,..
Hi Arnout, good points... I think the Packlite has been around for a while, 2014 I believe, and there are more packrafts available now at a good price than there might have been then. But the Packlite follows their overall kayak logic and technologies with inflation, valves, etc, rather than the packraft system that as you say packrafts tend to have - an internal system for inflating without pump. While the Packlite is rated for rivers class 1/2, I would consider this most an option for hiking, biking or travel where you might use it on not too advanced rivers or remote lakes, for example. For class 3/4, I would definitely not use this and I don't think that's what it's made for. In that case you'd go with a quality packraft or river kayak of some sort. What the cover does is add a skeg (so somewhat better tracking) and a closed kayak so you have more protection against waves and rain, and of course against damage. But as noted, if one were looking for something for heavy conditions, I don't think that's what this is made for. On a side note, Advanced Elements have recently introduced the Packlite+ and Packlite+ XL which are actually packrafts and use dropstitch technology. Still with the pump solution though. 😎
@@AirOnTheWater on a lake or slow river there shouldn't be a need for a cover, it's a lot of bulck and weight only to add a skegg,.. A new version with a skegg box would make more sense,.. but looking at the dimensions, it will track poor, even with a skegg,..
A pump also has some volume and weight, and a small pump is rather slow,..
I like the idea of packrafting to cross waterobstackles on a fatbike trip or when hinking, to walk uphill and go down on the stream,.. On a trip from A to B water and no bridge is a problem, the packraft is a light and compact solution and one is willing to make some sacrafices on the navigation side to avoid hauling something bulcky and heavy like the X100 or X500,...
On the other side, To kayak from A to A, with kayak as the main activity, i am not so keen to sacrafice that much on navigation, certainly not at the packlite pricepoint,..
That's where i would take the x100, X500, or rent locally, or even buy 2ehand and sell afterwards,..
@@kanaalvanNI I've previously only used the Packlite without cover. It works, but is kind of a "sit on top" experience. The cover makes it a sit-in experience and protects against splash, waves and rain, so that is the main advantage. I would consider it an option for certain conditions where you know you're biking for example and might use it on a lake during rain, or for travel where I'm ok to bring 4kg but not a full kayak. For hiking the outer cover doubles the weight and volume so it would need to be justified by the needs of the trip. I agree that being such a short kayak it has a lot of yaw/limited tracking with skeg or not - the skeg helps somewhat though. For trips A to A as you say I would certainly choose a faster kayak any time if it was a practical option to bring along. This one is naturally very slow. But for the conditions where bringing another kayak isn't an option, I like the versatility of the Packlite as an extra tool in my kayak toolkit! Allows me to kayak even a little bit more!
Funnily enough, not long before this test I had completed a full marathon (42km) with the Itiwit X500. So paddling this at little over 1/3 of the speed for almost 8km required some patience :D Got used to it after a while and had a good time on the water. But I'd say the Packlite is for a max of 5km unless you have a lot of time and are going to make breaks on islands or on shore, for example a full-day trip and can't bring another kayak, in which case this could work. But for lengthy paddling if you can bring another kayak, bring another kayak.
@@AirOnTheWater I guess that, if you had a hard shell touring/sea kayak you wouldn't be in the x500 for a marathon either, except maybe for proving the point that it can be done ;-).
I think i would prefer hauling a dry suit with the packlite ( or better a packraft) over taking the cover,..
But as you say, a few years ago here were no mekon pacrafts, no itiwit pacrafts, the paclite was a cheap alternative, the pump a small disadvantage seen the price diufference with alpaca or mrs,... And if you have the paclite and you use it on flat water, the cover makes sense,..