The Foldable Kayak

So i found plans for a foldable kayak online. Its interesting because all the different boats out there are answers to different problems. I want to buy a kayak sometime after I graduate. I'd love to take it down to New Orleans. The thing is is you have to have the right tool for the right job and even then your rig becomes integral in the experience. All of them have their pluses and minuses. Like ease of transport vs. efficiency in the water vs. setup time. But I feel that my ability to deal with problems that I face as a human will trump all of them and I'll have a good experience.

For example, Kelly and I took Fawn's Dad's old canoe down the Ohio River to Louisville. It was terrible suited for that job. It was too short and the hull shape wasn't designed to go very fast. We did though make it all the way to Louisville after six days with aching arms and backs. It was one of my favorite trips of all time though.

The question here lies in how much does the design of something effect experience and does that even matter? If we would have taken a yacht down the Ohio we would have had a completely different experience. Or even if we each took a nice new kayak down the river it would have been different. The canoe we had was an old, dented, paint chipped boat that we rigged up a sail to with drift wood about 500 ft of rope and a tarp as a sail. It definitely added to the experience because we weren't afraid to drag it up on land. We maybe did 3 mph in it while we were paddling, and sailing didn't make us go much faster. It also made us feel like folk heros just going down the Ohio in a homemade boat.

I guess the answer to this question is that the experience gained from the trip depends on the values of the user. And my assessment of the situation is people have to stop complaining about stuff and use it. When it comes down to most "issues" people have or product designers see, they turn out to be minor inconveniences.

One problem that I've seen that's been maybe been worth it in recent times was the ergonomics in kitchenware as assessed by OXO. After that problem was solved and old people could use a potato peeler, what worthy thing has been done in the design of kitchenware? True solutions of problems are rarely seen. Now you can go out and buy about 100 different solutions to the potato peeler.

So back to the question of my boat. What kind of kayak should I buy/make/rent? Does it matter? I'm just going to get a boat and have all kinds of problems with it. Like I'm going to have to strain my arms to paddle it, and be in the middle of water, and where am I supposed to put my case of beer and cable hook up? That thought just made me sad. I'm going to try to finish rendering these files through my tears. Looks like I'll never get a boat.