Common Mistakes First-Time Packrafters Make (and How to Avoid Them)

A packraft takes you places a hardshell never could: down a river at the end of a long walk, across a loch, back to the road again. The trade-off is a boat that is light, forgiving and quietly demanding. On first trips, the same handful of mistakes turns up again and again — a rock-hard boat left in the sun, a paddler staring at their own bow, a rucksack shifting at the worst possible moment, a swim in water far colder than the air. None of them are difficult to fix. Most take five minutes of thought before you launch.

Pumping the Tubes Until They're Rock Hard

Packraft tubes run at lower pressure than people expect, and an inflation bag fills them so quickly that it's easy to overshoot. Heat makes it worse. Air expands in the sun, so a boat inflated on a hot shingle bank can be noticeably tighter by the time you're a kilometre downstream. Over-inflation makes the hull twitchy, stresses the seams and can split a chamber.

Under-inflation is the opposite error and, in my experience, the more common one. A soft boat wallows, sits low and makes every stroke feel like stirring porridge. Follow the pressure guidance for your specific model — most have a main chamber and a floor, and the floor often wants a little more. Inflate in the shade, launch, then top up once the tubes have cooled against the water. When you land, crack the valve for a second before dragging the boat onto hot stones.

Reading the River Like a Lake

The biggest jump for new packrafters isn't paddling, it's looking. Beginners watch the bow or the water immediately in front of them, then react far too late. Lift your eyes twenty to thirty metres downstream and read the shapes:

• A downstream V, where two currents meet, usually marks the deepest, cleanest channel.
• A smooth, glassy tongue of water above a drop often signals a shallow ledge. Find out what's below it before you commit.
• A horizon line — water that appears to end — always means get out and scout.
• Eddy lines behind rocks can spin or flip a lightly loaded boat. Cross them with speed and a positive angle, not hesitantly.

Then there's lean. If you drift towards a rock, the instinct is to lean away from it. That is exactly how you flip. Lean the boat towards the obstacle so the hull rides up over the water pushing past it, and let the current do the work. Practise the movement on flat water before you need it for real.

Loading the Boat Like a Shopping Trolley

Where you put weight changes how the boat behaves, and a packraft notices a heavy rucksack more than a canoe does.

• Heavy items go low and centred, close to your hips: water, stove, food.
• A bow-heavy boat dives into wave trains. A stern-heavy one rides nose-up, catches the wind and wanders off line.
• Lash everything down. A loose dry bag becomes a battering ram during a swim and can pin you against a rock.
• Keep one small bag within reach — snack, hat, gloves, first aid — but never attached to your body with anything that won't release instantly.

Test the trim before committing to a long stretch: float a few metres, take a few strokes, and see whether the bow or stern is dragging. Sitting position matters too. Most packrafts let you shift the seat a little, and an inch or two can be enough to settle the hull.

Dressing for the Weather Instead of the Water

Cold water is the biggest risk in packrafting and the one people most consistently underrate. Air temperature is a poor guide: a pleasant day in the UK often means water well below what anyone would call comfortable. Cold shock comes first — an uncontrollable gasp, rapid breathing, a surge of panic. Keep your head above water, float on your back with your feet downstream and at the surface, and let the first minute pass. Nobody swims well during it.

Dress for immersion, not for the car park: a wetsuit or a drysuit with insulating layers underneath, nothing cotton against your skin, and a buoyancy aid that fits properly and suits your weight. Carry spare dry clothes in a dry bag, ideally one that stays with the boat. If you plan to spend real time in cold water or whitewater, get instruction from a qualified provider and take specific advice on what to wear — kit choice is genuinely individual, and general guidance only goes so far. After any swim, get dry, get warm gradually and keep moving; if someone is shivering uncontrollably or becoming confused, treat it as urgent and seek medical help.

Skipping the Boring Skills

Most first trips unravel in the first hour: someone can't inflate efficiently in a stiff breeze, can't turn into an eddy, can't get back into the boat after a swim. All of it is learnable in an afternoon on flat water. Spend a session on forward and sweep strokes, bracing, ferry angles, deep-water re-entry and self-rescue — then load the boat as you'd load it on a trip, so you know how it handles heavy. For a first river, choose a grade I–II stretch with frequent access points and easy exits. Save the committing gorge for the trip after next.

A Five-Minute Pre-Launch Routine

1. Check pressure in the shade, top up, and confirm every valve is shut and the floor isn't sagging.
2. Check trim: heavy gear low, everything lashed, nothing dangling over the tubes.
3. Check yourself: buoyancy aid snug, no loose straps or cords to snag.
4. Look downstream from the bank and name the first eddy, the first obstacle and your first exit.
5. Tell someone your plan and your expected finish time.

A packraft is generous. It lets you be ambitious with limited experience, and that's the whole point of owning one. It just isn't forgiving of the basics. Get inflation, trim, looking ahead and clothing right, and everything else becomes practice.

Photo: Brett Sayles / Pexels