re: Anyone here have any experience with inflatable kayaks?

They are trashy.

quote:

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Saw some for sale at my local TJ Maxx for 80 bucks.

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Yeah no, don't buy cheap inflatable kayaks


I have two inflatable kayaks. Both are Advanced Elements ones. A single one that normally goes for $400 and a tandem one that normally goes for $700(both I bought on sale). For what I use a kayak for...it's perfect. I go kayaking a lot by myself and don't have a roof rack on my jeep so it's great to just throw the kayak in the back of the jeep and inflate it when I get to the lake. Once you get the hang of it you it takes like 5 minutes to inflate them.


I bring my dogs in them (I used the tandem one for that) and never had any issues worrying about it puncturing. I bought this special bar thing you place in the bottom of the kayak before inflating it that makes tracking better. Still...it's never gonna track as well as a hard shell kayak. So there is that.

Also...once you get home you need to reinflate it and rinse it off and let it dry or it will start smelling moldy. I usually just do that and let it dry in my garage for a few days...then pack it back up in the bag.


Single


Tandem




If you want to spend $1200 on up...you can buy one of those folding ones(as seen on Shark Tank).



We saw them at a kayak shop in Tahoe and the guy told us they are selling a ton of them. Said they allow for the portability of an inflatable, but have the better tracking of a hard shell one.