Inflatable yaks

[cj001f]

Not the shitty ones, the 3-4+ ones. Anyone have any experience? Do they work? For several reasons, approach, storage, pussiness, I'm considering buying one. Specifically an Aire Tomcat because it's cheap and I'm on fumemployment.

[Steven S. Dallas]

All I know is that they're a step up from the Love Ewe.

[Snow Ranger]

Learn to roll and buy a plastic kayak. You won't regret it, surfing waves and hucking water falls is as fun as a three foot day at Snowbird, plus no $$ lift ticket required. In an Inflatable kayak you will be sitting in the water and wet and cold most if not all of the time. With a plastic kayak you will stay warmer and dryer. Plastic kayaks are also cheaper. With a good instructor or a good instructional video you can learn to roll in a few hours. Put the time into learning to roll it is well worth it.

[cj001f]

Learn to roll and buy a plastic kayak.

I've done plastic boats and rolls before - fun.

I'm interested in an inflatable yak because I'm doing some plane travelling to places where they kayaks they have are expensive and rare and it'd be nice to have a boat that I could semi easily take with me, unlike plastic boats which suck to travel with. Inflatable boats are also easier to pack in.

[Snow Ranger]

Not the shitty ones, the 3-4+ ones. Anyone have any experience? Do they work? For several reasons, approach, storage, pussiness

Oh I see...
I paddled an inflatable on the Colorado River threw Westwater Canyon class III, IV and it worked. I wouldn't want to run anything more than a class IV+ in one, so you should be fine with what you want to do.

As far as storage I image the inflatable doesn't take up to much space, less space then a plastic. I have a 16 foot raft that when rolled up is about the size of a keg. and if you are wondering about how much you can store while floating, my wife was able to fit a large dry bag and a small cooler in hers for a 5 day trip= Storage in an inflatable is more spacious then a plastic.

I think approach would be a bitch if you had to hike in very far, unless someone makes a pack that would fit yer boat, pump and all that other crap you would need.
Last year I almost bought an inflatable and the Tomcat is the one I almost bought.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I've done plastic boats and rolls before - fun.

I'm interested in an inflatable yak because I'm doing some plane travelling to places where they kayaks they have are expensive and rare and it'd be nice to have a boat that I could semi easily take with me, unlike plastic boats which suck to travel with. Inflatable boats are also easier to pack in.

IKs weight a shit ton. Traveling with all your kayak shiz is a PITA, hardshell or rubber. Packing in an IK would suck.

[cj001f]

IKs weight a shit ton. Traveling with all your kayak shiz is a PITA, hardshell or rubber. Packing in an IK would suck.

They quote 40lbs? That correct? 70-80lb pack does suck, but isn't unmanageably sucky. The advantage would come in flying with the thing - lots of airlines are making it a pain to fly with a hardsided boat. Like $100 each way or more pain. I'm mostly researching the idea right now.

[myles long]

the thirllseekers are made in west virginia, they are really nice and i know a bunch of guys who have really been pushing the limits of some runnable creeks in these things over the last few years. i have also heard that they can be rolled up and fit into a backpack, almost small enough as a carry on bag.


http://www.tseeker.com/thrillseeker.html

[Lurch]

Paddling an IK is more lie rafting than kayaking. It's hard to get them to do anyhting other than follow the current. Once you've been in a hardshell kyak the IKs just dont seem like fun. It's like having sex with a condom once you know what the alternative is like.

[vancitykayaker]

I am also considering one of these inflatable kayaks. The weight of these ones seem to be all under 40lbs, which would make it easy to pack on trails. I'm just concerned about the actual handling on water now. I don't plan on doing anything crazy with it, like waterfalls or rolls. I just want to be able to avoid those kinds of things with a comfortable ride. Are inflatable kayaks pretty slow moving compared to plastic? Do they tip over easily? What about durability?

[Nohillsnearby]

Thing 2 & I had a "duckie" inflatable. That thing was a heavy bitch to carry at the takeout point. But it was FUN!
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[tenex198]

The tomcat is a great cheap boat. A couple of my friends have tandems, and I have a solo. They have held up to a lot of abuse between all of us, and have shown no signs of wear. The local raft company has also been running the same tomcats for the past three years, and they have not had an ounce of trouble. If you wind up getting a solo tomcat, you can outfit the thing for pretty cheap compared to the higher end boats. They are not as maneuverable as the rest of the higher end boats, but improvements can be made. Also, if you seam seal the seams the run along the hull of the boat, they will last much longer.

[Conundrum]

Aire Force if you will be running bigger stuff. Aire is located here and the guys from that shop will sometimes take the Forces down the NF Payette which is a local V run. They only do it at low flows but still, pretty burley for IK runs.

[Yonder_River]

There's a decent amount of IK'ers running IV/V+ up here in the PacNW. Not that I'm into it, but they do run the shit. Probably more than anywhere in the country due to the bigger water and smoother rock.

[Elvez]

For long-term confidence and durability, see if you can find a used AIRE Force. The standard AIRE boats are made near Boise, Idaho. The Tributary series boats are made overseas with inferior materials and craftsmanship. They can hold up for years... or they can fall apart after a season or two of heavy use. You'll be happier with the AIRE label, and the warranty or non-warranty repair options are worlds better.

Another option, if weight is a major concern, is the NRS Bandit. Again, the overall durability will be lower than the AIRE or even the standard NRS Maverik. However, the Bandit is made of a pretty hefty but lightweight urethane material. The one-person Bandit weighs 17 pounds. No worries on class 3/4 type stuff. I've been talking for years about taking one down our local class 4 run, just to make the 2 mile hike out of the canyon easier. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=1625

For hiking, check out the NRS Paragon Pack. It's a soft backpack frame made to cradle drybags, dryboxes, or rolled-up IKs.
http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2933#

[Conundrum]

Elvez knows his stuff.

[dookeyXXX]

sweet thread!

my buddy and I did the "pussy" Cache Creek last summer in inflatables and it was a blast, mostly because it's probably a Class 0, so the weenie rapids felt BIG since we were sitting so low pro in the saddle.

i can't remember what all we were riding in, though, as the guy we went with was a friend of a friend and he just showed up with a Ford packed with inflatables and we just started airing them up and then took off. I think we had a Tomcat in there and a few Aire's.

same buddy and i have been flaking on taking a hardshell kayak course with the whole rolling and whatnot, hopefully sometime this summer.

in other news, I just rafted the Middle Fork of the American River. I think that would be a blast in an inflatable. Though I didn't see any nor any hardshells out, which was strange.

[Storm11]

You can also get cosmetic blem Bandit I IKs on the NRS website for 15% off of retail. Haven't had a single one come back to the shop, but have had a load of the Trib/Aire Tomcats come back. For the price and the weight, you can't beat the Bandit.

[Flaskman]

We paddle IK's all the time on the Kern River...great fun. We also paddle hardshell kayaks...that's a different sort of fun. The IK is a much more relaxing, comfortable ride...but not as good in gnarly whitewater. We pack them down to the put-in for the forks and do a nice 2-3 day trip...it's great fun. Our Airs run around 35-40 lbs and you can haul all sort of gear with you. As you can see in my avitar, they can be quite the ride! Even in the grarly stuff...Carson Falls...