Gnarwhal

Powerful or playful, addictive or intimidating, enlightening or terrifying, clean or chaotic. Whitewater can be the ultimate in contradictions, but the Gnarwhal will be there when you need it most so you can get to the bottom of the run with more laughing and less swimming. Advanced paddlers get the most from the Gnarwhal by setting up early and paddling hard, making it ideal for high volume rivers and messy features that require speed, power, and stability to clean. Novice and intermediate paddlers will get the most from the Gnarwhal’s unmatched stability and forgiveness, which makes rapids fun so that you can focus on honing your technique and building confidence without worrying about getting flipped every time you make a mistake.

The Gnarwhal is built with our Rally Hull, high-performance whitewater rigging, Cargo Fly zipper internal storage system, and either a Whitewater Deck or Self Bailing configuration. The Rally Hull is our highest performance whitewater hull with a center panel stern for stability and forgiveness and a rockered bow for punching over holes and carving eddy turns. The Gnarwhal is higher volume than the Wolverine to maximize stability, forgiveness, and weight capacity. The whitewater rigging includes an adjustable foam backband, ¾ length seat and foot brace and patented 4-point thigh straps.

Trying to choose between the high-volume Gnarwhal and the mid-volume Wolverine? You’ll love the Gnarwhal if you want a forgiving and easy to paddle packraft that takes the intimidation out of paddling moderate whitewater, if you want to charge hard in bigger water and features, or if you need to carry a large cargo load on a long trip. You’ll love the Wolverine if you want to squeeze as much as you can out of every run with our most engaging whitewater packraft that likes to hit every eddy and play feature, and boof off every lip. Both the Wolverine and Gnarwhal can be reliably rolled by skilled boaters with thigh straps, but the Wolverine roll is a bit easier for most people.  The Gnarwhal and Wolverine are sized to fit most average sized adults, but larger and heavier (over 6’0” and 200lbs) paddlers will fit better in the Gnarwhal while smaller and lighter paddlers (under 5’7” and 150lbs) will fit better in the Wolverine.

The Gnarwhal is available in Self Bailing and Whitewater Deck configurations. (See the other tabs for additional details and recommendations). Removable whitewater decks are available by special order.