Inflatable Kayak

[jbm]

I'm thinking of getting an inflatable to take camping. I'd probably get a tandem to put my wife + 9 year old in, while I take the 5 yr old in my X-13. Something that could hold all 4 of us would be handy too. Not looking to do any whitewater with it.

Anyone have any experience with them? Which brands are worth looking at?

[mtnbykr2]

I don't know about inflatables, Hobie makes em I am sure they are fine
but BT has a Malibu tandem for cheap....

[Hypoxic1]

I own a hobie inflatable which I got for my wife. I dont recommend it for fishing the ocean because a gaff and big game can mean the end of the boat. Its made of hypalon, the same material that zodiacs are made of.

It can carry a massive amount of weight. She has had the pedals out, put the cartridge in and had both of our big white sheperds cruising around on the kayak with her. I have actually ridden on the back with her and the dogs aboard and it took the weight just fine. Incredibly stable boat. You can stand up and walk fore and aft on the thing, it wont flip. This wasnt the tandem model either. I wasnt even aware that there was an inflatable tandem.

The downside may be the cost. Last time I checked the M 12 was retailing for about 1800 new. This included the pedals, the boat has a fully functional rudder as well. I got mine used but in new condition for 1200. The other downside is that if you want to sell it later they dont move very fast. We were considering getting my wife another plastic boat and I posted the inflatable on CL and here for a few months and never even got a nibble. Seems most of the people who buy them buy them as a motorhome accessory.

Just my .02

Good luck.
Chris

[MalibuJohnny]

I have a single I keep in my trailer "just in case" single though...don't really need it anymore


Sevylor River XK1 Kayak, 1 person

Originally Posted by jbm

I'm thinking of getting an inflatable to take camping. I'd probably get a tandem to put my wife + 9 year old in, while I take the 5 yr old in my X-13. Something that could hold all 4 of us would be handy too. Not looking to do any whitewater with it.

Anyone have any experience with them? Which brands are worth looking at?

[PapaDave]

I demo'd a Hobie tandem one once with my grandson, seemed very stable to me. I would even venture to take it fishing, just be careful with the gaff and knife.

[Rambo]

I have the Sevylor Inflatable Colorado Hunting and Fishing Canoe. For portability and storage, it's great. The only thing I hate about inflatable is that your gonna have to paddle 2x harder because it creates a lot drag. This is from experience. Remember, the more weight you have on that inflatable, the harder your gonna have to paddle, that means more people, more weight, more paddling.

A quick tip is to get a car pump to help ease the pain of pumping by hand, but finish the rest of the pumping with the double pump because the car pump does not give you the PSI you need to keep that inflatable at the correct PSI.

Cleaning up and packing is a bit of pain because you need to inflate and deflate after your usage or else your inflatable will smell bad due to bacteria growth if your don't properly rinse and dry.

It's also a good idea to travel with your pump, you might need to add some more air through time.

http://www.advancedelements.com/straitedge2.html

[805gregg]

Originally Posted by Drake

http://www.advancedelements.com/straitedge2.html

Don't get this POS, I had one, and one of the valves leaked from day one and I could not get it fixed.