Kayaking

While kayaks are great for exploring your local waterways, they're also pretty awkward to transport – especially if you don't have a car-top carrier. The Tucktec is designed with that in mind, as it folds together from a single sheet of plastic.

Already the go-to for light, packable origami-inspired kayaks, Oru is now launching its lightest, most portable model to date. Sized down for the everyday commute, the new grab-and-go Inlet kayak rides to the water on your shoulder and sets up in well under five minutes.

It can be difficult, lifting a kayak up onto a vehicle's roof rack by yourself, and then reaching up and over the boat to strap it to that rack. These challenges prompted Indiana-based inventor Ira Mercurio to create the easier-loading EZ Rec Rack.

​Although fishing from a boat can be way more effective than casting from the shore, many anglers don't want to tow a motorboat behind their vehicle, or mount a kayak on its roof. That's where the KingFisher comes in. It's a modular fishing trimaran kayak that can be transported inside a car.

Sand and water: there's plenty of both at Lake Havasu, Arizona, making it a bit of a mecca for high-octane vehicles built to tear across both the desert and the lake. Here are our photo highlights from the Southwest's biggest motorsports and outdoor recreation expo.

​It was back in 2012 that we first heard about the Oru, a touring kayak that can be folded up origami-style when not in use. Well, after releasing a couple of other solo-paddler models in the intervening years, its makers have now unveiled the two-person Oru Haven.

​California's Oru Kayak has found great success with its origami-inspired approach to boatbuilding. The refreshed Coast XT is its flagship model for 2018, and continues the company's evolution by incorporating a few new bells and whistles that promise faster setup and better stability. ​

A memorable year, 2017 saw high-flying hydrofoils make a step down from boats to boards and bikes and new water toy debuts ranging from personal submarines fit for James Bond to underwater propulsion systems slapped on like a smartwatch. Here are our favorite water toys of the year.

We've seen a lot of creative ways to brew coffee on the move, but many require an external heat source for bringing the water up to temperature. The self-heating Bripe Coffee Brew Pipe kit makes brewing truly pocket-size, putting a shot of coffee in a pipe.

Trak has been building portable skin-on-frame kayaks for over a decade and is now ready to enter the 2.0 phase. Its Trak 2.0 is a combination of carbon fiber, aluminum and polyurethane that travels to and from your destination by car trunk, rail car, plane or shoulders.

​If an Indiegogo campaign goes as planned, there will soon be yet another folding boat on the market. Already we've got the Oru folding kayak, along with the Onak and MyCanoe folding canoes. The makers of the HYPAR kayak are hoping for similar success, with a boat that sports a unique design.

Kayaks may offer a fantastic means of exploring your local waterways, but they are kind of big and heavy. That's why Inna Morgan invented the Justin Case kayak. It weighs only 5.7 lb, and packs down into a shoulder bag when not in use.