Edmontonians invent portable kayak

Inna Morgan and Tanner Pye-Richardson are the founders of the Justin Case Kayak, all folded up it spans 40 inches long and weighs 6 pounds, and was designed right here in Edmonton in their apartment.

All funded through their Kickstarter campaign, which just five days ago failed to reach its timed goal. The campaign started January 31 with a goal of raising $135 000, in the end pledges added up to $50,000. Although they did not reach their goal, the pair say the kayak is still set to begin production mid-March and will start being shipped to customers in June.

It all started when Inna, in her studio apartment, was fed up that she couldn’t own a kayak, so she decided to design one that could fit in her apartment. A team of Swedish designers have manufactured and tested the prototypes, while Inna and Tanner work on designing and launching the product here in Edmonton.

The carbon fibre frame is pieced together by 3D printed connectors, and wrapped by the fabric shell. It’s a bit of a learning curve getting it pieced together, but after a couple of tries it shouldn’t take any longer than 10 minutes.

Tanner and Inna are hoping to start testing the Kayak here in Edmonton as soon as the ice melts on the North Saskatchewan River.

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