Hello, we just purchased a pegless Old Town Otter for my son. Should we try to install ourselves or take it somewhere. Can he learn to paddle without them. I am worried that he wont be able to reach them well enough for them to be effective. Any info will be appreciated.
DEFINITELY PEGS
Not sure how old your son is, but as a general rule the Otter is better with pegs added. I used mine for several months without out and had back pain every trip; since adding pegs - no pain. It really is a pretty simple thing to do,especially with a helper to give a hand now and then. Perception’s “Keepers” are my personal choice but I put the Old Towne pegs in my wife’s boat and she seems to like them. He can learn the basics without, but the small cost {about $25.00} is money well spent.With regard to his being able to reach them, you pick the placement, so just have hime sit in the boat wearing what he will generally wear while paddling {PFD, shoes, Ect.} and adjust the track placement accordingly. The Keepers give about 15 inches of track adjustment, and the O.T. pegs a little more. If he plans, or you plan for him, to paddle small lakes or short distances it won’t be as big a factor. But any lengthy distances will make a paddler glad to have the extra bracing, not only for back support, but it makes the stroke more efficient . I’m sure as more experienced paddlers reply to your message you will find they agree. Hope this answers your questions. BTW, Welcome to paddling . If you are like me, you will find lots of helpful info for us beginners here on Pnet.
Add the foot braces
The Otter was the first kayakI purchased to see if kayaking was something I really wanted to do.
I’ve since purchased 2 addional kayaks but still
use the Otter frequently for fishing. I added foot braces and deck rigging. Never regreted it.
I highly recomend the foot braces.