Any of you have good/bad experiences with inflatable kayaks?

[Stee6043]

My kids have been asking for a couple years now. I think I can finally trust them to scoot around the marina/river on their own this year.

This Intex Explorer K2 seems to have a ton of good reviews. Priced decently. What am I missing? Anyone have anything better? Bad idea all around?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[Strecker25]

My kids have been asking for a couple years now. I think I can finally trust them to scoot around the marina/river on their own this year.

This Intex Explorer K2 seems to have a ton of good reviews. Priced decently. What am I missing? Anyone have anything better? Bad idea all around?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

View attachment 124792

I grew up playing with similar stuff made of that thin pvc material. Kayaks, rafts, etc., until my parents trusted I get something with an engine on it. They usually lasted the whole summer as long as I didn't scrape it on a dock or rocky bottom. You'll have to re-inflate them every couple of days because the seams leak. Last piece of advice is if they like to fish make sure they keep the hooks away, I may have had to swim back to shore once when I was about 8

 

[OllieC]

We have an inflatable SUP that we use. We almost went with a kayak but decided on the SUP as it being more versatile because you can sit on it. The one thing that has me questioning the kayak you posted is the price. That seems inexpensive. IIRC, we paid about $500-$600 for our inflatable SUP. Is there a weight limit?

 

[Strecker25]

We have an inflatable SUP that we use. We almost went with a kayak but decided on the SUP as it being more versatile because you can sit on it. The one thing that has me questioning the kayak you posted is the price. That seems inexpensive. IIRC, we paid about $500-$600 for our inflatable SUP. Is there a weight limit?

its just because of the thinner material. These types of products are slightly thicker than your average pool raft so you have to be a little careful, and they don't hold nearly the same pressure as your SUP. The kayaks made of that thicker PVR (think RIB or dinghy as well) are generally 600+ but are designed to take a bit of a beating

I wouldn't spend $600 on my kids to row knowing they'd probably pop it, lol

 

[Stee6043]

its just because of the thinner material. These types of products are slightly thicker than your average pool raft so you have to be a little careful, and they don't hold nearly the same pressure as your SUP. The kayaks made of that thicker PVR (think RIB or dinghy as well) are generally 600+ but are designed to take a bit of a beating

I wouldn't spend $600 on my kids to row knowing they'd probably pop it, lol

+1. And with 22,000 reviews this thing can't be complete garbage? I'm not looking to spend $600 on something that has a 50/50 chance of being destroyed within the first 3 uses Maybe next year if this whole thing works...

Thanks for the feedback, guys. @Strecker25 I'm already picturing my two boys swimming a half deflated kayak back to the boat at least once this summer...

 

[yobub]

My wife has a Paddle North inflatable kayak which she loves but it is much more expensive - really high quality. We also have a friend who purchased one and loves it as well. It does double duty as a SUP and a kayak and works well for both.

If you don't need an inflatable I would look for a used one on craigslist. People are always selling used kayaks to get them out of the garage, and they take a beating pretty well.

One thing to consider - many of the plastic kayaks don't have inherent buoyancy - if they swamp they will either sink or sit under the waterline. That makes them impossible to get back into. The sit-on kayaks don't generally have that same issue because they usually have some internal air so they are inherently buoyant. Those would be safer for kids.