Driftsun Voyager 2

Every tandem in this registry has to choose between hull length and packed size. The Driftsun Voyager 2 chooses packed size and does it decisively: 26 x 16 x 8 inches is 50 linear inches, a full eight inches smaller than the Sea Eagle SE370 and twelve inches inside the checked-bag limit.

Nothing else that seats two comes close in this registry, and it is the reason this boat exists.

The per-paddler weight is the interesting figure

Twenty-seven pounds for two seats is 13.5 lb each. That is lighter per person than every single-seat boat here except the PackLite and the Quikpak K1 -- and it is one bag instead of two.

If you always paddle with the same person, that arithmetic is a strong argument for a tandem over two singles: less weight, less bulk, one pump, one thing to dry out afterwards.

What ten feet costs

The Voyager 2 is 10 ft long with 450 lb of capacity, against the SE370's 12 ft 6 in and 650 lb. Two adults in a 10 ft hull sit close together and sit low, and 450 lb goes quickly -- two 180 lb paddlers is 360 lb before any gear at all, which is 80 percent of rating.

That is not a criticism so much as a description of what a small tandem is. It is a flat-water and slow-river boat for two people traveling light, and it is honest about that in its own numbers.

Driftsun publishes what Intex does not

Two psi in the side chambers, 1 psi in the floor, three chambers, Boston valves, and the packed dimensions. Both Intex tandems publish none of those. For two products competing at a similar end of the market, that is a real difference in what you know before you buy.

Who this is for, and who should skip it

Two people who need the boat to fit somewhere small -- a flat, a hatchback, a checked bag. It is the tandem that travels.

Skip it if you want to carry gear, a dog or a third person, or if you paddle any real distance. The SE370's extra 2 ft 6 in and 200 lb is what that costs, packed into a bag eight inches larger.