Inflatable Kayak?

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RonnieL
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Inflatable Kayak?

Post by RonnieL »

Wife and I bought an RV a couple years ago and it has really limited my ability to get my kayak to the water. Actually just sold my wife's kayak because she wasn't gonna use it but that still doesn't solve my issue of getting my outback to the water when we are dragging the RV so I am considering an inflatable.

Any of you have an inflatable kayak and want to share the pro's and con's before I get knee deep in one. Really love my outback but if I can't get it to the water on any trip with the RV it isn't doing me much good.
SWFinatic
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by SWFinatic »

No experience with one. I've seen guys fish from inflatable SUP's before. Like with any inflatable you have to fight wind a lot more than in a kayak.

Is car/truck topping a kayak an option for you? There should be a way to put the kayak on top of your vehicle.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by Ron Mc »

if you haven't tried, the word gets 1650 hits and 64 pages on the forum archive.
http://texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/se ... inflatable.

Most recently, Chubbs was fishing his.
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JW FunGuy
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by JW FunGuy »

I have one, a NRS Pike. It has a dropped stitch floor like they use in SUP’s so you can stand up to cast and fish. I have taken it down the Guad, and on camping trips to high mountain lakes in CO and NM. But I don’t take it in the salt, I see what oysters do to my plastic boat.
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impulse
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by impulse »

These push the bounds of "kayak", but are pretty nifty. I bought this red and gray one in Thailand and stuck a 5 HP Yamaha on it to get 10 MPH. Then I stuck a 15 HP Yamaha clone on it and got 20 MPH. Crazy fast for a small boat like this 14'er.

They can paddle like a kayak (use a long paddle), though quite a bit slower. Or you can use the oars that come with them and row them like a rowboat. They're also a passable stand-up-paddleboard, coming with a drop stitched floor that makes them quite stiff. And, of course, with a trolling motor or an outboard, they're extremely versatile and pretty reasonable.

They fold up into the trunk of even a small car. In fact, the 3 boats are my fleet in China and I haul the 2 inflatables around folded up into the white kayak on that home-made bicycle trailer, pulled by my 3 wheel electric bike you can almost see in the photo. I just live 1/2 mile from the park where we paddle them all. The yellow one and the SUP are both 12'ers.

Amazon has them under several brands, with Bris being the most commonly available. Around $700 for the 14'. Probably a better known brand is Saturn, but they're often out of stock.
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Gibby
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by Gibby »

I had two Advance Element Straitedge Angler's (one for the wife, other mine) for about 5 years. All in all, enjoyed them. Here are my Pros/Cons.
PROS: (1) East to transport. Kayak folds into 3rds so it pack small and relatively light. (2) Easy to inflate. Had a foot pump that worked well. (3) Very rugged and well built. Hit plenty of big rocks with no issues (never tried it around shell). Would be hard to sink because it is made with 5 air pockets. (4) Easy to paddle. (5) Easy to fish out of.
CONS: (1) By far, the biggest issue I had was the Kayaks will be wet when exiting the water. So, they required 'hours' to dry out before they can be stored. [assume true for any inflatable] (2) Must have the 2 side inflated to the same psi for the Kayak to track well. This is a issue because it is hard to find a gauge that reads down to 5 psi - no bike pumps. If you have the gauge, piece of cake. (3) You sit so low it is very hard to get out of kayak - only a issue because of my age/agility. (4) It's a wet ride. Has 16 scupper holes, open 1 will be riding wet. (5) Expensive - ain't cheap.
Hope this helps.
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TexasJim
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by TexasJim »

I lived in the Caribbean for 25 years, and my inflatable dinghy was my car as well as my lobster-gathering boat. One serious rule for fishing an inflatable boat: NO TREBLE HOOKS! TexasJim
RonnieL
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by RonnieL »

Ron Mc wrote:if you haven't tried, the word gets 1650 hits and 64 pages on the forum archive.
http://texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/se ... inflatable.

Most recently, Chubbs was fishing his.
You are correct and I did read through many of them. Just wasn’t really seeing the pro vs con aspect of them.

I really like fishing the flats at the coast and I didn’t find much about inflatables and the abrasive environment you can find in the flats.
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by RonnieL »

SWFinatic wrote:No experience with one. I've seen guys fish from inflatable SUP's before. Like with any inflatable you have to fight wind a lot more than in a kayak.

Is car/truck topping a kayak an option for you? There should be a way to put the kayak on top of your vehicle.
Pulling a 5th wheel doesn’t leave room for a headache rack on a SWB Superduty. I did put a receiver hitch in the front but have been reluctant to poke holes in the top of the cab for a roof rack.

If I go with a shorter yak I could come up with a rack for the back of the RV but figure the inflatable may work.
RonnieL
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by RonnieL »

Thanks for the comments guys. Wife ordered me an inflatable paddle board so I guess I’ll spend a bundle on it and figure out how to use it.
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by SWFinatic »

RonnieL wrote:
SWFinatic wrote:No experience with one. I've seen guys fish from inflatable SUP's before. Like with any inflatable you have to fight wind a lot more than in a kayak.

Is car/truck topping a kayak an option for you? There should be a way to put the kayak on top of your vehicle.
Pulling a 5th wheel doesn’t leave room for a headache rack on a SWB Superduty. I did put a receiver hitch in the front but have been reluctant to poke holes in the top of the cab for a roof rack.

If I go with a shorter yak I could come up with a rack for the back of the RV but figure the inflatable may work.
Ronnie I think there is a way to haul your Outback if that's the route you're interested in. There are several different manufactures that make a clip on roof rack so you don't have to drill any holes. Get you an adjustable T-style hitch for the front receiver hitch and that would be plenty to hold the Outback.
Clip on Roof Rack- https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/malone- ... lsrc=aw.ds
Something like this for the front hitch- https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/magell ... 4916746683
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Ron Mc
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by Ron Mc »

I'm pretty sure @Chubs fishes his inflatable in the coast flats - not sure where he's been lately, but maybe he'll reply to this thread.
RonnieL
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by RonnieL »

[/quote]
Ronnie I think there is a way to haul your Outback if that's the route you're interested in. There are several different manufactures that make a clip on roof rack so you don't have to drill any holes. Get you an adjustable T-style hitch for the front receiver hitch and that would be plenty to hold the Outback.
Clip on Roof Rack- https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/malone- ... lsrc=aw.ds
Something like this for the front hitch- https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/magell ... 4916746683[/quote]

I have a homemade receiver hitch similar to that one. Can go low for in the bed or high for matching up with a headache rack. I probably need to look a little more at roof racks and be more open to the various types available.
RonnieL
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by RonnieL »

Ron Mc wrote:I'm pretty sure @Chubs fishes his inflatable in the coast flats - not sure where he's been lately, but maybe he'll reply to this thread.
I have seen a couple of posts that I believe were made by @Chubs about oysters not doing much more than scratching the inflatable. If I remember right he had 4 chambers so he wasn’t too concerned as he would have to damage more than just 1 to have a real issue. The one the wife ordered is a single chamber so if I poke a hole on the water I’m on foot or swimming. Hope I don’t find out.
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impulse
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by impulse »

RonnieL wrote:
Ron Mc wrote:I'm pretty sure @Chubs fishes his inflatable in the coast flats - not sure where he's been lately, but maybe he'll reply to this thread.
I have seen a couple of posts that I believe were made by @Chubs about oysters not doing much more than scratching the inflatable. If I remember right he had 4 chambers so he wasn’t too concerned as he would have to damage more than just 1 to have a real issue. The one the wife ordered is a single chamber so if I poke a hole on the water I’m on foot or swimming. Hope I don’t find out.
Oysters may be fine, but I found out the expensive way in the south of Thailand that barnacles do a real number on inflatables.
Tenore
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by Tenore »

How about a folding kayak? I have a Tucktec (checkout on YouTube) that folds smaller than most inflatables. I can put it together in 2 minutes, weighs 28 pounds and it is hard plastic. It paddles surprisingly well and they have improved the seat. Attached photo is mine on the Colorado River just above Columbus. Landed a 6 pound drum that afternoon which was fun. I am taking this with me to fly fish in Northern New Mexico in a couple of weeks. This thing was about $300 purchased from their website. They give a price break if you purchase two.
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MYTACO
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by MYTACO »

I have a Sea Eagle. A thousand times better than my Wilderness. Tracks better. Very durable and an awesome warranty that includes full replacement.
RonnieL
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It went BOOM!

Post by RonnieL »

So I took the inflatable to Port A a couple weeks ago. Had planned on taking it out just to try it out but weather was bad and decided to leave it in the bag.

Today we are at Lake LBJ. Figured this is the perfect place to try it out. Aired it up to the recommended PSI strapped the seat on it and paddled around for about 5 minutes. Felt pretty good. Went back to shore to get my gear so I could try a little fishing and it went BOOM. Blew a seam and looks like it tore at least one of the layers.

I guess it heated up and the pressure inside increased. It is a JP Australia fishing paddle board. It recommends 15 PSI and has a pressure relief valve that is supposed to prevent over pressure.

I called ACK and started the warranty process. Hopefully they cover it. Based on the JP Australia website it doesn’t appear that they make this model anymore so I’m not sure what they will do.
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JW FunGuy
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Re: Inflatable Kayak?

Post by JW FunGuy »

That’s one of the issues with inflatables, you always have to watch the tubes. On river rafts even while on the water on hot days we had to pour water over the raft to cool it down. Here is what my NRS Pike manual says.

As the outside air temperature and altitude change, the air pressure inside your Pike
will also change. You may need to make adjustments to the pressure in the chambers throughout the day. Transporting an inflated boat on a hot day or when gaining altitude can lead to
overinflation; check the pressure regularly. Cold air and water temperatures will reduce
the air pressure inside the raft. Always bring a hand pump along for adjusting air pressure as needed. Later in the day, as the air temperature outside warms up, the pressure inside the boat will increase. As this happens, you’ll need to release a small amount of air from each chamber. Check the air pressure in your boat regularly throughout the day, and adjust accordingly.
We build all NRS boats to withstand substantially higher pressures than we recommend. However, overinflation puts strain on the seams and shortens the life of your boat. An overinflated boat is also in danger of explosive decompression (blowing apart at the seams). The NRS warranty (see page 6) does not cover damage caused by explosive decompression.
RonnieL
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ACK did take care of it

Post by RonnieL »

I forgot about this post. In case anyone is wondering, ACK did finally refund the full purchase price. There was several months of back and forth with them while they tried to make contact with JP Australia but they did finally get me a refund and they will continue to attempt to deal with JP.

Now I need to decide which way to go since I sold my outback and don't have anything now. Guess I will have plenty of time since there really aren't many options available right now.
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