Inflatable Boats?

As I'm getting close to my big summer excursion, I've had to remove my canoe from the fun. It's just too heavy and big to be lugging around on such a long trip with long bouts of backpacking.

I'm looking into inexpensive inflatables as an option for inland lakes and the shores of the great lakes (mainly Superior). Just something for paddling around, checking out features only accessible by water, and keeping from being land locked. I'm leaning toward the Intex Challenger 2 at the moment.

Anyone have any experience?

I used a cheap inflatable I think made by Coleman a few years ago. i used it for 2 summers on a river with a bit of rapids but just to kind of shore hop near where I lived at the time. The first round of rafts my friend and I bought popped pretty quickly so we bought more and covered the bottom with a solid amount of duct tape and they did very well after that. Light enough to carry around with ease and maneuverable in the water.

Nice idea about the Tape. The ones I've used/owned lasted only a short time. What I remember most about them is their recommended size. "Two person -- really 1. My Four person -- really 2"

Duct taping seems like a good idea. Probably should put some on the sides where it might brush rocks in the cave formations on Lake Superior too.

Another option for you :


http://www.sunnysports.com/m/Product/Details?sku=kmtlwdr&fromProduct=True

And a review :

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/klymit/litewater-dinghy-lwd/#review31490

Wish I could tell you which brand my family used, but that was years ago. We live in Kansas City, but used to vacation in a cabin on the North Shore when our children were little. We would often go up the Gunflint Trail and go paddling with an inflatable boat in several of those small lakes. Those were the days!!!

Saw this on Shark Tank tonight

http://www.orukayak.com/

My friend bought a Sea Eagle before I went to Japan. He seemed to have liked it but I haven't spoken to him much in the past 4 years and don't know if the boat held up.