This is more important than learning to roll! Well it is for Australians and New Zealanders anyway – due to our steep low volume technical rivers.

To ‘boof’ is to lift the bow of your packraft and to drive the boat forward at the same time. A good boof allows you to jump hydraulics or holes as well as to drive over the top of submerged rocks and into eddies. Boofing also allows you to clear the bottom of large drops which keeps you from going deep and potentially getting caught in the backwash of the hydraulic at the bottom or from hitting a submerged object. The opposite to boofing is diving, traditionally a common problem with early packrafts, and often seen in early packrafting videos. This is particularly because the short soft boats would get driven deep underwater at the base of a drop due to the weight of a heavy pack on the bow and the lack of rigidity in the tubes.

Mastering the boof will get you out of a whole lot of trouble. The ability to keep your bow up allows you to retain control of your boat rather than having the current decide which way to send you.