Hello all out there

I am going through the age old kayaking problem of ''which boat'' to get.

I have recently got an offer on my old ''wavesport ez'' - yeah the baby version. Anyhoo, Im stuck on what next boat to get. My price range is up to and around £700:woohoo: I have a bit to play with. But I can't decide.

Im about 11 stone so I want a boat bang in the middle of that range, with enough room top last me quite a few years yet.....

I want somthing far more playable than my wavesport ez, but need somthing that won't crush me when running rapids or on a cruise. So Jacksons are out of this one then !!!!

Right now I am at school, AND THEY DONT BLOCK THIS SITE !!!!! so I spend the lessons I just can't be bothered with on this site trying to find the answer to my problem.....And am hoping by the time I get home in about 2 -3 hours, I shall have a better idea.


Why is this dilema always a hard one to solve.

Thanks

Chris ( Kayaking Wizard - on UKRGB )

bliss stick scud

I would say a Jackson Fun, but you may want to also look at the WS Fuse, Pyranha Recoil, WS EZG, Fluid Flirt, LL Crossriver, Bliss-Stick RAD, Bliss-Stick Flip-Stick. If you buy used, you can save lots of money, and Fluid is changing something for this year's models, so you could probably get one on sale.

I'd recommend a jackson all star. If you get the right size it'll be comfortable, It's certainly good a playing and its not too hard to keep it on line when running the rivers (took mine to the alps ran grade 4/5 in the daytime then went for a play in the evening), sure it won't run huge drops but not many playboat/river runners do this well either, saying that it 'll still tackle some small/medium drops. Other boats to consider would be the EZG or CR125

Jackon all star or fun

11 Stone is pretty much 70kg/154lbs for those that are wondering.

Try the medium Fluid Nemesis. It will definitely be way more playful. I paddled the Big EZ for well over a year. Very cool boat but not as loose and radical as the shorter boats these days. Given the fact that you live in the UK, most of the rivers there are medium to low volume, so a shorter boat will be perfect. You don't exactly have house sized waves and features where a longer boat would be better.

Also demo something like the Smoothy or RAD from Bliss Stick. And possibly something from Liquid Logic or Pyranha even. I personally wouldn't go with anything from Jackson. But demo a few boats, see what you like. Have fun.

AdrianTregoning wrote:

I personally wouldn't go with anything from Jackson.

Why not? I was also a bit sceptical to the Jackson boats before I tried one. But, I got to demo a super star from the local dealer, and I found out that I liked it a lot. So I ended up buying one. The outfitting seems a bit flimsy, but it actually works quite well.

I have not tried any other boats from Jackson, apart from the (Super)Hero, which I didn't like.

I know that there have been very many biased views on Jackson boats on the net, as with many other manufactorers, but I think they have made many things right with their fun and star series.

(i am not affiliated with jackson kayaks in any way, other than being a satisfied owrner of a superstar).


H.

cjcc wrote:

I would say a Jackson Fun, but you may want to also look at the WS Fuse, Pyranha Recoil, WS EZG, Fluid Flirt, LL Crossriver, Bliss-Stick RAD, Bliss-Stick Flip-Stick. If you buy used, you can save lots of money, and Fluid is changing something for this year's models, so you could probably get one on sale.

You just named about every boat that used to be on my list (although the pyranha s6 also looks good). I just got myself an almost new flirt for around 550 euro's (600 minus some discount on the complete package I bought, generally about 1000 for a random new boat), so I can confirm the slightly dropped prices (and I'm really looking forward to paddling some water now). It is quite play oriented (although not as radical as let's say a wavesport project or a jackson star), the fun, flip-stick, s6, ezg, fuse and CR are more in-between models with a little more emphasis on river running.

hey,

i have same problem except a much smaller budget at a little less interest in my perception full tilt

i want to play but i dont want to be squashed and want to start running rivers and do the odd cruise


why is it soo hard

How much smaller is that budget actually? Cause it's quite hard finding even a second hand at less than €300 (250 pounds). Hopefully for you you are avarage or slightly smaller of size, gives you the best chance of finding a fit. Try out popular slightly aged boats, pyranha s6/s7/s8/inazone, dagger showdown/honcho, some older wavesport models perhaps. But you already have a percerption full tilt, which seems to kind of fit the description of being slightly older as well as not too radical for a playboat, so I'm kind of put of idea's here. Perhaps you should just go demoïng a lot.

im looking at around £400 once i can finally get rid of mine

i am about 75/80 kg and my boat is becoming unusable for me as it just nose dives when on flat water it would be a great boat for what i need if i was slightly lighter my imposible criteria for my next boat is

something with more volume
yet more playfull