Inflateable Kayak - Best Bang for my buck

[Eoghan_Roe]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Nah, suits have to get pressed.

I can understand why Northface went into the fashion business instead of concentrating on their originas. But if I see one more urban item with a Northface logo on it, I'm going to start printing SouthButt t-shirts with an *** logo on them.

I will wear a cheap suit that I wont have to worry about destroying. The nice thing about this town is second hand shops are stocked to the gills with pretty decent suit jackets for pennies on the dollar.

Bwahah "Southbutt" I think you may have a multi million dollar idea there. Print them for a buck and sell them for $60.
I can just see people wearing their southbutt tshirts under their northface jackets.

[hellosailor]

Your humble servant.(G)

[Eoghan_Roe]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Your humble servant.(G)

I just heard the sound of a million hipsters pulling their parents credit cards out of their vintage fake leather wallets.

Chilled me to the bone. *grin*

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Your humble servant.(G)

AWE. SOME.

[hellosailor]

"Serious outdoor gear for the serious outdoorsman."

[cue theme music, Deliverance dueling banjos]

Next stop, Zazzle. Sorry, but I don't know any better values for where to place it.


If you've got an I-28, there's logowear for you too.

[MarkSF]

I have a Sea Eagle 370 which I love. It's great for messing around on lakes etc. It's tough, has incredible buoyancy, and it's really comfortable with the inflatable seats.

However, for longer voyaging it has a few problems :

Poor tracking, despite the skeg.
Lots of windage so tricky to control if it gets windy. It's actually not so bad directly upwind, but trying to paddle at any angle other than directly up or downwind, if the wind is strong, is a challenge.
It is slow.

[mr_f]

Not inflatable (and I have no direct experience with one -- yet) but I have heard good things about these:

Home | Oru Kayak | Explore outside the box

(I would love to hear alternative opinions if there are any)

[northwestsailor]

We too have the Advance Elements tandem unit marketed and sold by West Marine. They often have sales which we took advantage off. After 5 years it is still going strong. We will soon inflate it and leave it so for the remainder of the season.

It is always our first choice when going ashore unless 1) we have more than the two of us 2) heavy, heavy items that would not be safe to take in the kayak 3) we feel the need to exercise the outboard to see if it survived another year of neglect.

[nmuir]

Another vote for Advanced Elements.

We went with the Elite. They have been great. many people don't even realize they are inflatables (not that this is the biggest criteria though ).

Have taken them around Desolation Sound and the Broughton Group.

Definitely get the skeg for longer distances.

Cheers!

[strangertides]

I don't know anything about advanced elements but I bought a West Marine double inflatable kayak and it was a death trap. Folded in the middle in even mild chop and took on water. "Took on water" is really too mild a term. Flooded or swamped is more accurate.


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[northwestsailor]

[QUOTE=strangertides;1778744]I don't know anything about advanced elements but I bought a West Marine double inflatable kayak and it was a death trap. Folded in the middle in even mild chop and took on water. "Took on water" is really too mild a term. Flooded or swamped is more accurate.

If you don't mind me asking how much do you weigh? I have loaded up our tandem WM (Advanced Elements) kayak with my self, my wife and two back packs, five gallons of water etc and never the slightest indication that it was about to fold or swamp in any way. We have been out at night in some pretty windy and wavy conditions without any problems. I would say combined weight was 300 to 325 lbs.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by strangertides

I don't know anything about advanced elements but I bought a West Marine double inflatable kayak and it was a death trap. Folded in the middle in even mild chop and took on water. "Took on water" is really too mild a term. Flooded or swamped is more accurate.

If this is the same as my AE Convertible then I'd say you're probably under-inflating. Does yours use the backbone like the official AE's? With this in I can stand in the centre of my boat with no folding ... and I'm a plus-sized guy . Even without the backbone my boat does not fold once I'm seated. As for taking on water, there's no way my boat would do that in any conditions I can still paddle in (and I'm a pretty experienced paddler).

[hellosailor]

One thing I give Sea Eagle credit for, their "plastic fantastic" tow-person inflatable (they call it a kayak, I'll call it a canoe) has that clever little pressure gauge printed on it, so that you can measure the main tube's stretch versus a plastic card and get it filled to the right pressure without a real gauge. Beats all heck out of "Soggy? Or gonna explode?"


Lewis & Clark wouldn't be impressed, but there's a place for fun toys, too.

[roygee]

I have experimented with a variety of paddle craft, for my 33 ' ranger, for dinghy purposes. I am not a rower, I am a paddler. I enjoy seeing exactly what I am coming upon [more miles paddling than sailing]. The ultimate solution for my limited space was a 2 person, Innova Helios, which has a very respected skin lay-up, which equates to high pressure[relative to inflatables], which equates to standing up to a higher class of rapids[waves]. The craft handles very well in flat water and also functional in surf type conditions. The valves are very good and they are replaceable [just like boar's tits], though probably never necessary. The down side is, you must carry 40# in the bow if you are out alone, for trim, otherwise it squats. I figured I needed the extra volumn for hauling diesel, kedge out, etc. They have another craft, a little less volumn, that has the seat orentation that will allow the solo paddler to assume the bow position, to more center the longitudinal axes. Hope this is value.

[muttskie]

Does anyone have experience with the Innova Sunny? I have been considering this inflatable would appreciate input.
Inflatable Kayak, Inflatable Canoe, Inflatable Boat, and Accessories by Innova Inflatable Kayaks and Canoes - for Touring, Whitewater, and Adventure.