Necky Alsek (weight?)

Advice
#1

Does anyone know the weight of a Necky Alsek 14’ kayak (roto plastic)? I tried to contact the company directly but they apparently were bought out by Johnson Outdoors Watercraft in the later 1990s when that kayak was no longer produced. There’s nothing in the original paperwork (I am the original owner of the kayak, which I purchased in 1994).



The older I get, the heavier that kayak gets when I load it onto my roof rack so I was hoping to compare the weight of the Alsek to a newer 12’-14’ roto kayak to see if there’s a lighter option available now (without spending lots of money on a composite kayak).



Thanks!

#2

Fifty-eight pounds
Per this link that came up on Google:



http://www.coastandkayak.com/1998/jj98compact.html

#3

Put it…
…on a bathroom scale if you have one…

#4

Thanks!
Thanks for sending the link! I did some Google searching but didn’t find that info so I appreciate your help. 58 pounds it is!



Thanks also for the scale idea, but balancing it on the scale wasn’t providing a very accurate reading.



Happy paddling!

#5

Bathroom Scale
Balancing it end-wise on the scale with your hands maintaining light contact will surely cause the dial reading to fluctuate a bit, but it should be close enough for what you need. If the scale has a digital display, that complicates things (might be too hard to read when fluctuating).



Don’t forget the old standard. Hold the boat in your hands and stand on the scale (this should provide a pretty stable reading), then subtract your own weight to get the weight of the boat.

#6

Tare weight…
…keeping a cat in its carrier, then subtracting the weight of the carrier is about the only way to get a decent weight for a jumpy cat.



For the bathroom scale to work, you can also try this.



Keeping the boat horizontal, put one end of the boat on the scale, lift from the extreme far end, have someone read the weight. It won’t matter if the boat tips onto its side. Hold the extreme end of the boat, not the handle unless it’s right at the end. Also, the closer to the end of the boat the scale the better - maybe easier to do with the boat deck down.



Do the same thing with the scale under the other end, then sum the two readings to get the boat weight. If you keep the boat pretty close to level, and hold right at the ends, the sum should be accurate to within a few percent.

#7

I have the boat on/overn my head
and look down to read the scale. I step on the scale twice to get concurring weights.



I then weigh myself alone.



I then subtract my weight from the combined weight of me and the boat to get the boat weight.

#8

The boat feeling heavier can be due to
each of you being 10 years older. Even at 5’2", boats I lifted 10 years ago and still have do feel heavier. That’s why I bought a Hullavator, which is now my best friend when I go kayaking with friends.