The story of the packraft table began as soon as I learned about the packraft itself. I immediately thought about all the fishing I could do with the boat.; however, as I was using the packraft more and more, I found fishing from the raft was very difficult. It was hard to manage one rod, pretty impossible to do two rods, and was hard to handle the fish once you caught it. This was a reoccurring problem that I kept trying to solve. After a near hypothermic accident that lead to me impaling my foot landed me in the hospital and on the couch recovering for 2 months, I finally had time to properly figure out my packraft fishing problem! (Click here to read and watch that whole experience)

While I was recovering, I was preparing for the trout season in Washington State and wanted to use my Alpacka packraft to explore the different fishing lakes. I kept thinking about how to mount fishing rod holders to the packraft and what to put my tackle on. That's when I had the idea for the Packraft Table. I made the prototype, put on my surgical boot, and immediately took it out testing!

Even though I didn't catch a fish, it worked amazingly! The Packraft Table made it so much easier to fish from a packraft and I knew this was a solution. I filed for a patent and got to work refining it. I tweaked a few things and took out again, this time getting a great lake trout!

I also started to learn about how it could be useful for a lot more than just fishing from a packraft. I took it out sailing and it was very helpful. The packraft Table was not only a great support for the bike., but it also enabled me to me to attach sailing leeboards to the side of the table for extra stability and control while sailing. I could also attach the Windpaddle sail to the table and sail hands free.

Next was to test the table in more of a wilderness application. I then took the table on a test run out on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. We did a packraft loop down a lake, through a rainforest, up a remote beach, back through the rainforest, and to the car. The Packraft Table once again blew me away. It allowed me to fish the whole time on the lake. I was able to troll different lures as we were paddling and caught a large perch on the way to the trailhead. It also allowed me to land the spiny fish and fillet the catch on the water. 

As I started to get the design down, I wanted to take the testing to a new level and took it on an international packrafting trip to Mexico. I wanted to test sailing, fishing, and diving off an island in the Sea of Cortez. It was easy to fit in my pack and take with me. It performed flawlessly in the field again and I learned about even more uses and applications. It enabled us to carry our water containers, heavier gear, and an anchor. It let us do so much extra things from the packraft and made the trip special. 

I will be launching three versions of the packraft table, one specifically for fishing, one for hunting, and one for sailing. I am excited to bring these to the worlds of packrafters, anglers, sailors, hunters, and all outdoor enthusiasts. I believe we have just scratched the surface of what packrafts allow us to do and I am excited to see what the Packraft Table enables next!