Always good to hear from an actual user
– Last Updated: May-01-08 12:30 PM EST –
and owner. Good to hear that you are enjoying the kayak. Now, go catch some fish. BTW, that was a good deal, very good deal, on the package.
Yak for big guy
– Last Updated: Jul-27-08 10:23 PM EST –
I am 6'3 and currently weigh about 380 and I paddle a WS pamlico 100. It has plenty of room and is comfortable. I've only paddled flat water and generally stay close to shore. It's a great starter boat and is reasonable priced.
I've also paddled my wife's Dagger Echo 12, which is a nice boat, but I think the cockpit is designed for a shorter person.
WS Tarpon 160i
I weigh 240 and have a Wilderness system tarpon 160i. It is a great Sit on top. I had a sit in for a wile and just didn’t like being stuck in a plastic tube. I would get restless and couldn’t move enough to be confortable. Yes it was faster but I can make 3mph with no problems and 5.3mph if I work hard on my 160i. With the sit on top I can put in anywhere and not worry about rolling over while trying to get in. I have never had a wet ride and water only comes up the holes if I hit a large wave but some foam golf balls fix that. I’ve taken it up creeks to the point to where I didn’t have much water left to paddle in.
For a big person just looking for casual paddling a sit on top is the way to go.
Derek
Enjoy!
It is good exercise.
Another big guy kayak…
I am 6’5 and 300 and I am looking at the Ocean Kayak Trident 15 simply because I am a canoe person and I like a longer boat. It has 550 pound capacity and a rod locker too!
Bruce
big man kayak
Yes, I am 6’ and 290 or so. I got my Loon 138 when i was 340. I load this boat up with gear enough for overnighters on the Wisconsin River and it does extremely well. I can stretch my legs and after 27 trips, i have never even come close to tipping it over. The only water it takes on is from the paddle or rain.
It is agile enough to explore backwaters at high water and handles class 1 and probably class 2 very well.
I load it with a regular size folding chair, tent, sleep pad, tarp, small cooler, pack, sleeping bag, gallon of water, saw, pack stove, hiking boots, tackle box and fishin pole and me. No problem…it is slow? she holds a pace and because it is comfortable I can go for hours and hours. Wind? So what? Just padle and see the sights.
i love my Loon 138 with the old molded seat. And it is tough as hell. And yes 65lbs but I put it up on top of my Chevy Astro Van by myself using a rack that mounts the boat on its side. Another great thing to have by the way.
Pick up the boat on one end, walk your hands under it, flip it over, keep walking until your head is in the cockpit, hit the balance point, let ti tilt, bend your knees and pop it up like doing a clean and jerk.
Read teh classified ads Old Town Loon 138 is your boat. I was laid up after big big surgery and I read everything Kayak I could find as i knew this was something i always wanted to do before the bell and although I had never been in a Kayak before, I knew this was the boat. Then after trying a few, the Loon was the best for guys like us.
just paddle alot. Anyone got a problem with that?
joe
Check out the Native Ultimate…
Yes there is a Kayak for you…it is the Native Ultimate! It has a open deck so it is so easy to get in and out. I think the weigh limit is 350 pounds and there are others out there in the “angler Kayak business” that hold up to 450 pounds.
I just love my boat, even in high winds my boat doesn’t move abit because of the inverse pontoon system it has. I can sit sideway and hang my legs over the side and it doesn’t tip. I am one to do a panic with the thought of going over and with this boat I feel quite safe. Check out angler kayaks and good luck. I fish out of mine and am enjoying every moment. Kathy
kayak
x-factor holds up 650 pound…
Yup, SOT’s are the best
fishing machines. Visit www.norcalkayakanglers.com and see what the big guys favor. I’m medium-big at 6-2/215 and my favorite yak is the OK Prowler 15. I have had this on the Pacific near Mendocino in big 6-15’ swells and it’s a stable ride. I put a plastic milk crate in the back, have two rod holders, and lots of room for gear too. Pretty rare to see a serious fisherman in big water in anything but a SOT. Good luck!
Not in all conditions or for all types
of fish. In some situations, canoes and sit insides are a better choice than SOT’s.
what about this one
Has anbody tried the nucanoe?
http://www.nucanoe.com/
Looks like a good choice for a big guy, especially the 12 footer. I wouldn’t mind trying one myself and I am only 240#. Can set up tandum or solo. Vidios show it with a trolling motor and in whitewater.
Coy boy
Boats for big guys
I’m 5’9" and 290 lbs (someday less hopefully) I’ve had a walden scout for 5 or 6 years and it is fine. But not I’m thinking about something that is a little faster and lighter, like a Pungo 120 or 140 duralite. The Scout just seems too heavy these days, even with the help of the Thule Hullavator on the truck.
Does anyone have any ideas of a 12 or 14 foot sit in kayak that weighs less than 50 lbs other than the pungo?
I rec kayak and average 3 hours on the water on ponds, lakes and rivers. I average about 4-6 miles per paddle trip but have done 8-12 miles with friends and the boy scouts (my son’s troop).
Any ideas for me are welcome.
WS Ride
I demo’d a Ride last month and I was sitting in about 2 inches of water. If you weighed a measly 200 pounds, it might be nice.
I weigh 205lbs and had a Cobra
Tandem. That thing had tons of storage space underneath, and was so stable that I could actually stand up near the bow. But here were the problems that lead me to sell this boat:
First, it’s 36inch width was great for stability, but awful for speed. I really got a workout trying to move this barge. This was not a kayak I would want to paddle very far. However, I’m sure it would be a great fishing platform (something I never used it for), with it’s rock-solid stability and loads of storage space.
Second, the weight was a real chore to deal with. I had the optional rectangular hatch in the middle, so I would remove it so I could get enough of a grip to lug this beast to the beach. I would say a good dolly (not that cheap piece of #rap offered by Cobra) is a necessity for making the process of carting to/from the beach more bearable. When I sold my pickup truck and only had an SUV with a toprack, I figured I was going to injure my back trying to load/unload this kayak by myself, so I put it on ebay and sold it.
The guy who bought it was a lot bigger than me, and said he planned to use it for fishing & family outings around San Diego. I hope he is enjoying this yak, but it just wasn’t right for me.
Anyway, I am only posting about the Tandem because if I recall correctly, it has the same width and near weight of the Cobra fish-n-dive.
prowler 15
never got a chance to try the nucanoe. I found a Ocean Kayak Prowler 15 Angler on clearance today and decided it should work for my fishing and recreational kayaking needs. BTW I’m 6 ft and 240 Lbs. I’ll report back as soon as I get a chance to try it out.
Coy Boy
big kayak
So? Did you ever find one? Necky, Wilderness System both make really nice,large kayaks. You still want performance . If you just want stability, presumably you went with a wide recreational kayak for playing around the pond or close to shore as they don’t track especially well. Whatever, have fun and be safe out there!
Old Post
Tom, this is an old post. The original poster wrote about what he bought if you look at the posts above.
About using kayaking to lose weight, I find that working out, whether by paddling, some other sport or in the gym, yeah, you’ll burn some calories, but the best way to lose weight is by calorie reduction. Exercising is good in conjunction with calorie reduction to stay fit.
-Capri
P15 update
– Last Updated: Mar-26-09 2:48 PM EST –
as promised an update, I have taken the OK Prowler 15 out 4 times and I am loving it. 2 - 4 mile paddles and 2 - 6 milers. Compared to my Carolina 14.5 it is slightly faster, slightly easier to turn and 100 time easier to get in and out. The paddles have been on the lake and slow moving creeks but with some pretty good waves and wind on the lake. I made some scupper plugs for the cold water but may take them out this summer. Then again I like the drier ride so they may stay. at 250 (gained weight this winter) it is a good boat. YMMV
OK BG
I’m a large-frame paddler as well, at 6’6", 260 lbs., and I fish off of an Ocean Kayak Prowler Big Game and, at 12’9" and 34" wide, it is one stable craft. Check the specs yourself. I am relatively new to the sport with just a season under my belt, but I’d recommend going to a paddle expo, talk with reps, check out the gear, and you might even find what you need at a discount. See what feels right.
As a big dude…
I’m in the 300-350 range at the moment. when I hear “go for a sit on top” I think the people doing the suggesting are nuts. SOT’s are MUCH heavier (you won’t want to load it on your car or portage it to your body of water), wetter (your season will be about 2 months shorter unless you live in the tropics), and not quite as stable as a standard kayak (your center of balance is higher, and eventually you get tired of crawling back up onto the thing).
For the above reasons, I prefer a cockpit in my kayak…with one caveat: if you have bad knees and weak legs, you may be better off with a sit on top…but I have bad knees and it’s not generally a problem.
My current ride: Wilderness Systems Tsunami 145. It’s a 14’ boat with a large cockpit opening, a roomy cockpit, and a great seat. Down side: I was stupid enough to go for the “duralite” model and the thinner plastic has been nothing but trouble. It’s plenty durable, but it flexes so much they had to add extra support (a pillar right between your legs which makes emergency reentries difficult and an itch on your ankle a real pain)and I have yet to get the thing to seal properly. Both bulkheads leak, always have and probably always will. I’ve also been somewhat less than thrilled with Wilderness systems customer support…but not enough to not buy their products.
Anybody wanna trade a well loved two season old (turned 1 year old in June) tsunami 145 duralite for a tsunami 145 standard plastic? 
Bryan “large but trying to get smaller” Paschke