Folding Kayaks - Another Failure of Capitalism

For some reason I became obsessed with folding kayaks. I think I watched a YouTube video of someone dragging a large bag to a riverbank, undolfing it into an amazing-looking kayak, and exploring abandoned ruins not accessible by land...

Now, I've never kayaked, and am not particularly a water person. But over the next few days I watched a few more videos about Oru kayaks, with some serious envy.

That is, until I saw the price. The ones I appreciated are well over a thousand dollars! WTF. I even looked on Craigslist, but even at half-price it's pretty nuts for something that will last for maybe a handful of outings. And will likely be stolen as imaginary me leaves it hidden while exploring Chernobyl or something.

But my DIY sensibility was completely aroused. This is a $40 sheet of coroplast, the plastic kids use for their presentation tri-folds. With some folds and cuts. And a few straps and latches. And a $30 stadium seat.

As a businessman of sorts, I get that this is a specialty item with a small audience, and the company needs a healthy margin, and labor is expensive, etc. But $1500 for a few hours of folding, shipping, and depositing customer funds seems just idiotic.

Luckily, there are a few people with DIY projects copying these, and others, with original -- and much simpler designs. Sharing freely, along with tips on technique and DIY tools such as rollers for folding.

Will I make one? I can't seem to get off my ass to do anything, so in all likelyhood not. I really don't need another project, and I should go rent a kayak and see how much I hate it.

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