Oru Kayak: Origami That Floats!

In the market for a new kayak but don't have a lot of room to store one? Then have a look at this intriguing new model from a company called Oru. The boat, which is 12 feet (3.6 meters) in length and weighs just 25 pounds, seems to be a work of ingenious design. In less than five minutes it goes from folded flat and stored inside its included case, to fully functional and ready to hit the water. The secret? A permanently molded skin, with only a single seam, that makes the transformation quick, painless and easy.

The kayak is currently in the Kickstarter phase with plans to bring it to market in the Spring of 2013. The designers were hoping to raise $80,000 to build their pet project, but with 27 days (as of this writing) to go in their campaign, they've already managed to collect $170,000+. As always with Kickstarter, the various levels of donations get you a variety of perks, but in this case, a pledge of $800 actually reserves one of the first models for you.

I'm curious to see how well this paddles. I have to admit, I'm definitely interested in this boat. It really is quite an interesting design and I look forward to hearing how it performs on anything other than flat water.

Thanks to reader Will Kirby for sharing this very cool find!