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FirstLight Kayaks
New Zealand, home to some great kayakers and some of the finest
sea and river kayaking in the world, is also the home of FirstLight
Kayaks, a company founded by designer Murray Broom and dedicated
to the design and production of lightweight folding kayaks.
Murray’s vision was a folding kayak that would be:
- light enough to be easily lifted and carried by anyone
- compact enough to be back-packed considerable distances
- rugged enough to withstand regular and prolonged use
- tough enough to survive frequent handling by airport baggage
systems.
To realise this vision Murray has used the lightest of modern
materials and an innovative design approach to produce a range
of kayaks folding to a compact parcel weighing between 17.6 and 22.2 pounds (8 to 10.1
KG). Over a three year period he developed and tested the
kayak with input from a variety of paddlers and expert advisers.
The result has been a range of folding kayaks which will satisfy the
needs of recreational and light touring paddlers.
FirstLight folding kayaks are proudly New Zealand designed and made,
incorporating the finest materials and components from New
Zealand, Australia, North America and Europe.
A Kayak in a bag....
Click here to see the Anatomy of a Firstlight Kayak
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Folding Kayaks
Folding kayaks, with their skin over frame design, have all
the performance benefits of traditional kayaks used by hunters
for thousands of years. The first folding kayaks were manufactured
early last century to meet the need for a boat that could
easily be transported and that could easily be stored in a
minimum of space. In today’s world, folding kayaks meet
a range of needs:
- Urban dwellers with little space to store a kayak
- Light plane and boat owners
- Those wishing to transport their kayaks by plane, train
or automobile
- Anyone seeking a light weight kayak that they can easily
carry and handle on their own.
FirstLight Features:
- Ultra-light weights of between 17.6 and 22.2 pounds (8
to 10.1 KG).
- A simple and intuitive assembly process taking 15 to 20
minutes.
- Excellent paddling speed and tracking thanks to the light
weight of the boat, a fine bow and a water line length that
is virtually the same as the length of the boat. Our boats
perform as well as longer folding boats whose waterline length is
similar to ours, but whose overall length can be considerably
longer.
- The ability to tune the kayak by altering the position
of the small cross ribs and varying the degree of rocker
in the boat according to paddler weight and paddling conditions.
- A minimum of metal components to reduce the possibility
of corrosion.
- Very low packed volumes to enable easy storage and transportation.
- Once the kayak has been assembled, any of the recommended
packs will fit behind the seat for use as a dry bag.
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