Support American Whitewater! Support American Whitewater!

[please login to make this ad block disappear]

Articles

My favorite gear:
Login first to add this to your Likes or Haves.

Karma L

 
4.1 (2)
6582   0   2   0   0  
 
Write Review
Karma L - _image-1-1344939945
Karma L - _karma-533x400-1344939946

Short Facts

Brand
Jackson Kayak

325 Iris Dr.
Sparta
TN 38583
USA

Phone: +1 931-657-3530



· Show brand details.
· Show all Jackson Kayak products.
Model Year
Intended Paddling Environment
Designer
Eric Jackson / David Knight
Type
Construction & Material
Recommended Retail Price
USD 1,199
Available Colors
Available In Red, Blaze Orange, Kiwi, Earth & Fire and Ice

Stats

Please login to see full stats.

Jackson Kayak’s Fourth Generation Creek Boat over the past 9 years takes leaps and bounds forward. The Karma takes a hard turn towards stability, carving ability and its sister: The Zen’s, speed. This boat is fast, stable, and forgiving, with predictable turning, boofing, and a bow that rises over anything in its way. This boat will be available in two sizes the Karma Medium and the Karma Large.
The Karma starts with a Hull that is flat and stable, providing a low draft to get over rocks easily, and be stable when on them, or on the water. The rocker profile on the Karma offers easy downstream paddling over waves and holes with little water on the deck, plus it ads speed into and out of drops to carry you past the holes, and over the rocks with ease.

The sidewalls of the Karma are massive and provide huge secondary stability, plus keep water off the deck making it less edgy.The parting line is as high as we could make it, also giving a very forgiving shape for side currents and holes. The deck is shedding and stable for resurfacing, while the bow lifting shape keeps it rising up downstream.Perhaps one of the biggest features that are built into this boat is the downstream speed. This boat will make the ultimate extreme racing creek boat due to the idealized shape of the rocker, hull, and dry bow. The boat will be outfitted with the Uni-Shock Bulkhead, sure lock backbend and our new Thermo Formed U-channel, and complete Boat Armor package for hull support/seat and deck support.

Some Key Features:

•Uni-Shock Bulkhead
•Carry Strap on Bow Wall for either right or left hand carry.
•Grey Sure-Lock Backband
•Grey Seat pad and hip pads
•New “O” Resin, high density plastic- as seen on late 2012 models.
•Grey Stainless Steel/injection plastic overmolded grab handles- 4 of them, plus security bar.
•Boat Armor Outfitting- (Seat/seat Brackets, welded floor support, Thermo Uchannel, 4pound density walls, Uni-shock Bulkhead, and Thermo seat)
•Nalgene Water Bottle

User reviews

2 reviews

Overall rating 
 
4.1
Design 
 
4.0  (2)
Perfomance 
 
4.5  (2)
Quality 
 
4.5  (2)
Value / Money 
 
3.5  (2)
Already have an account? or Create an account
Overall rating 
 
4.8
Design 
 
5.0
Perfomance 
 
5.0
Quality 
 
5.0
Value / Money 
 
4.0

Absolutely love the boat and would absolutely recommend to any bigger yaker. Makes everything I paddle about one full class easier. However, I bought a playboat in addition to my Karma Large to get some more exitement out of my local rapids during lower water.

Review

Affiliated
No
About Me
I paddle up to class 4 and feel pretty solid up to class 4-. Have not yet paddled any 4+.
Pros / The Good
Flared sidewalls with hard rails that do not catch un-intentionally; fast; great secondary stability; very forgiving; very easy rolling (boat feels like it snaps up on its own if rolled up over 90 degrees, likely due ti the flared sidewalls and the great secondary stability; first boat i ever had that comfortably floats my weight; I like the Jackson outfitting with the adjustment by strings and jam cleats. I also like the shock absorber function of the foot plate. Inside carrying grip to hold when carrying on shoulder. Boat is very dry with a broad rim and no holes through the hull. Great customer service.
Cons / The Bad
The big size has its weight but still a little better than most other big boats. Jackson boats are on the higher end of the price spectrum. Makes anything up to class 3- rather boring.
Recommend
Yes
Was this review helpful to you? 
Overall rating 
 
3.5
Design 
 
3.0
Perfomance 
 
4.0
Quality 
 
4.0
Value / Money 
 
3.0

i would recommend if you are looking for a larger boat

Review

Affiliated
No
About Me
6'5ft size 14 uk foot 19 stone . Mainly paddled this boat in class 2-3 water . wish i could paddle in bigger water but i couldnt help the weather while i had it
Pros / The Good
nice boat large volume which is nice . loads of storage space in front of the footrest and behind you . cockpit is huge no chance of getting stuck . foot area is huge as well i can get in with my huge feet and have a pair of DC's on as well. fast boat ,nice rails . dont catch unless you need them too. plenty of stability
Cons / The Bad
found it slightly hard to keep straight . i dont know wether i wasnt used to it or if its just for manoverabilty .. rolling is what i would say difficult but in fairness the boat is huge it was going to be anyway . the only flaw i see with the boat really in design is that the foot block is jacksons own one that uses the string to pull it up . im not a big fan of this due to it never being stiff . might be great when doing grade 5 rivers and having some play and cushion the blows but i wasnt liking it when i was racing
Recommend
Yes
Was this review helpful to you? 

Surfrider Foundation
See the AUP for our Acceptable Use Policy and a Privacy Statement. Verein Playak is responsible for all editorial content on this site (including all graphics). No part of this site may be duplicated in any way without explicit permission from Verein Playak. Verein Playak takes great care to only publish original content, but since part of the content is user generated, we cannot always guarantee this 100%. If you notice any copyright violations, please let the editors know through the contact form and they will take appropriate action immediately. As a news and information platform, we republish small text snippets and thumbnail images, but always link to original content on other sites, and thus aim to adhere to a 'Fair Use' policy. If you believe we violate this policy in any particular case, please contact us directly and we'll take appropriate action immediately.