Oru Beach LT folding kayak: Unboxing & first impressions

We’re early users of the innovative Oru folding kayak, having tested the first Inlet design for over two years and purchasing a second Oru Inlet boat this past spring. The Oru Company sent us an Oru Beach LT kayak to test and review here on our Pacific Northwest flatwater rivers and lakes – and here are some photos from unboxing the folded kayak boat, Oru kayak accessories, and initial impressions on the Oru Inlet vs Oru Beach….

This website is unsponsored by Oru, but it does contain affiliate links, meaning if you purchase through my link, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you.

The Oru Kayak Beach LT is one of the brand’s designs suitable for flatwater kayaking adventures – or, as they put it, day trips, picnics, and mellow paddles on smooth water. And due to the innovative folding design, inspired by the art of Origami, you can hike, fly, and store these boats easily.

We’ve found Oru’s “Box to Boat” tagline to be true with our Oru Inlet review (I can put that boat together in less than 5 minutes), we’re looking forward to discovering if the 10 minute Oru Beach LT assembly time is accurate.

The Oru Beach LT is a bit longer and heavier than the Inlet boat model, and offers paddlers an increased weight capacity for a body + gear. The Beach also better accommodates taller kayakers in specifications (we’ll share if reality matches intention).

The high quality, durable material is the same as we’ve come to expect from the Oru Company brand. The Beach LT is a beautiful boat with lots of thoughtful details. We received the classic transparent + orange color as our testing model, but the Beach LT does come in other kayak color options.

We also received an Oru PFD (personal flotation device) and an Oru paddle to test with the Beach LT. We should note, though, that our Flatwater Kayak Club founder already owns and uses these two Oru accessories on her paddling trips.

One of the things we initially noticed about the Beach LT kayak is that it’s much taller than the Oru Inlet when folded up (check out photos of these two folded kayaks in a Winnebago Revel camper van RV). They’re about the same width when folded (there’s a very nominal difference).

This is notable for kayaker who prioritize quick and easy gear transport, because the Beach LT felt more awkward for me to carry with the shoulder strap (as a woman of 5’6” height) vs the Inlet model, with that caveat that I’m much more comfortable using the boat I own at this moment. Our tester in the above pics is 6’1".

As Oru sent us this Beach LT to test out and provide an unbiased review (without an honorarium or free kayak, as this boat will be returned to the vendor at completion of testing), we are very much looking forward to hitting the water over the next couple of weeks to see how it performs on our PNW flat waters.

READ NEXT: Milwaukie Bay Park paddling experience with the Oru Beach LT folding kayak.

Stay tuned as we explore how this origami kayak performs in real life scenarios – like packing the Oru Beach LT in the car, parking at a launch point, and carrying the boat a distance to the water – we’ll evaluate how our opinions may change and be sure to update this post.

We’re excited to hit the water!

UPDATE for Fall, 2023: Check out our full review of the Oru Beach LT kayak.

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