Kayaking

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.

New Atlas' Mike Hanlon recently spent several nights in the villages of the remote hill tribes of northern Laos. The villages are entirely self-sustaining, generate their own electricity, and life has changed very little in thousands of years.

​If you're a serious kayaker or canoeist, then chances are you already know how to get in and out of your boat while it's sitting alongside a dock. Should you just be renting one for a bit of fun, though … well, that's where the EZ Personal Launch enters the picture.

​Cyclists in Canada will soon be able to pedal from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific Ocean, without having to share a road with a single car. The Great Trail will stretch 15,000 miles through each of the country’s 13 provinces and territories and touch three oceans.

An add-on electric drive like the ElectraFin is a great way to take some of the "paddle" out of paddle sports. The all-new Bixpy Jet is the latest, and it packs serious versatility. It'll power your kayak, your canoe, your stand-up paddleboard ... and even you. ​

While kayaks are great for exploring your local waterways, they can be a hassle to carry over long distances. It was with this in mind that Pakayak created the Bluefin 14. It's a modular kayak that comes apart into six pieces, that can then be carried like a backpack.​

​Sea kayaking is like a lot of other activities, in that just because you enjoy doing it, doesn't mean you're doing it right. Well, that's where Motionize Paddle comes in. It's a system that uses your smartphone to assess and improve your paddling.​

Traditional PFDs are an important part of water safety, but they can be entirely uncomfortable to wear in or out of the water, especially during activity. To improve comfort, startup Aegis Lifeshirt integrates inflatable protection into the shirt you're wearing anyway.