so…now that my son it taken care of, and my wife “stole” my pungo, I am looking for another boat…Tis the season I guess. i have narrowed to the Axis 12 or Dirigo 120, want/need a 12 ft’er and decided on these two due to local availability - and SALES! they are both priced right.
any owners of either want to chime in and help sway me? couldnt find any reviews of the axis 12…
I don’t
own either boat, but have been eye balling the Axis 12. Once you decide, let us know what you think.
Dirigo owner here
We have a 120 and a 140. The sales guy recommended that I get the bigger boat to keep up with my wife. I like both boats just fine but actually prefer my wife’s smaller one. The cockpit is TOO large on the 140: I can not comfortably reach the “features”. The 120 tracks straight and is very stable . It handles very well. Neither boat is particularly effected by the wind. The old ones had problems with the seats: they would pop out of their mounts. The new ones have redesigned seats and this shouldn’t be a problem any more. Even on the older ones this “problem” is on a boat-by boat basis. The rear hatch stays 95% dry and the cup-holder hatch stays 85% dry, sometimes they both work 100% but you can plan on that. What else do you want to know?
bit the bullet
I bought the Axis 12 and never want to get out. I love the feel (I learned to paddle in whitewater and first boat was a response) the axis feels like an old friend to me. I dropped in my old hip pads, (am going to order some thigh braces), but the drop skeg and hull shape are great. to me it does not feel like any of the rec boats we have, but still doesn’t feel like a real rockered WW boat. that said, my wife and son hate it - thinks it is tippy. 2 yr old daughter loves it and thinks the rear hatch is her seat - and actually can sit comfy in it.
for some reason the dirigo paddled like the vapor to me (maybe it was just because our vapor and the demo dirigo were both sky blue!!) but I was not completely sold on it, although I liked the seat. I liked the axis retractable handles, pebble finish, drop skeg, cockpit size, depth (dirigo felt too shallow for me), uhh, sentimental value of another dagger in my boat house!, optional thigh braces, center floor “console”…I guess in all, the dagger axis 12 won my money…but if I didnt already have a vapor 12xt and wanted a flat water boat, the dirigo may have won.
cool…
I think the Axis is a good boat. I do a lot of small river and stream paddling and think this would be a good boat for me.
Glad you like it. Congrats.