Joe Lingeman for TIME Kayaks are fun, but they’re also hard to travel with and store—unless you’re using Oru’s foldable Inlet. “It came out of my own personal need,” says chief design officer and founder Anton Willis, who had to put his full-size kayak in storage while living in a studio apartment in San Francisco and couldn’t easily get out for a paddle on the bay. The original model’s folding design was inspired by a New Yorker article he read about origami and pulled in nearly half a million dollars in funding on Kickstarter in 2012. A 2014 appearance on Shark Tank—and investment from Robert Herjavec—helped the company expand into a worldwide business. Since then, Oru has created a handful of models for differing uses: one for lighter, beginner use; another for comfort with longer paddles; a more advanced model for rough ocean waters; and one for two-person paddling. The new 10-ft., $899 Inlet is the smallest, lightest and least expensive option yet and is best for general recreational use on calm waters. Made of a custom extruded, UV-treated plastic and able to fold into a compact 20-lb. box about the size of a large duffel bag, the Inlet can be unpacked in less than five minutes (with a little practice) and is small enough to check on an airplane. The company also sells a custom duffel for toting and storing the boat, and even the paddles break down into smaller pieces that can easily fit into a closet, under a bed or up on a shelf in the garage. —Emily Price
Buy now: Oru Kayak Inlet