i have been looking into buying a kayak now for some time. At first i though i wanted a white water kayak, then a play/rodeo kayak. then i realized these extremes may be out of my league. one thing i do enjoy is being outdoors, hiking, takin in scenery and i would love to do that flowing down a river.
through all the kayaks ive looked at the one that appeals to me most is the Prijon Chopper
http://www.paddling.net/buyersguide/showBoat.html?boatID=664&boattype=Kayaks.
My question is would this kayak be sufficient for carrying enough gear for a 2-3 day trip?
No hatches…
So you are depending on dry bags for your stuff to stay dry. If you aren’t doing anything more than Class II (maybe a little III), I’d look at the CombiTour by Prijon. Large, very watertight rear hatch; day hatch and plenty of room in the bow for other stuff in dry bags. And I’ve had mine in class II very successfully, class III I’ve spent a lot of time swimming, but I tend to think it’s more my lack of WW experience than the boat.
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well i like the chopper better as far as looks go. and i was trying to avoid a pure touring kayak. how reliable are dry bags/boxes? would it be to hard to keep dry what i need to keep dry?
Trip Kayaks
Mike,
I do long distance kayak trips in a 12 foot Current Design “Kestrel” 120HV. In March a friend of mine went on a semi-extreme 115 mile 3 day trip using a Dagger Zydeco. He carried his tent and food in his boat which is similiar to the “Chopper”. It was OK but the boat is slow on a flat water river and has no dry storage compartment. I prefer most people have at least a 12 foot boat. They work well in creeks, class l, ll and lll rivers. I’ve been known to take mine on class lV and over 8 foot waterfalls.
I just finished a 49 day 851 mile trip in my boat.
When my Zydeco friend goes with me on the river he has to really paddle. I’m 59 and want to “stop and smell the roses” enjoy my day on the river. I would not go over 13 feet for a kayak and I’m considering the Wilderness Tsunami 125 and I wouldn’t buy a kayak under 11-6.
Maybe you could rent one for a day or find someone who has one, I’m sure he will let you try it out. If you are in the Atlanta area look me up at www.georgiakayaker.com. and I’ll try and get you some boats to try. Go luck with your choice.