perspectives
When i was 18 you couldn’t tell me anything because I knew exactly what I wanted in life…
When I got the inflatable K1 I was convinced that this was all I was ever going to need.
Two days later…
When I went to Outdoor World and bought the Old Town Rush I was flabbergasted that I would actually be buying such a long boat (ahem…it’s 9 feet 6 inches)
Now I have a Tempest (17 foot), a SOF (skin on frame) at 19 feet, a Sit on top at 15 feet, A KEA Ocean Kayak sit on top for the kids, and another Peter Strand SOF storm boat residing in my one car garage.
BTW, I can carry three boats on top of my Toyota Echo so your Scion does not pose any type of challenge with a little ingenuity.
And I am still looking for that boat that will roll like my SOF, tour and pack like my Tempest, and be as much fun as my Scupper Pro.
And you still can’t tell me anything because damnit I know exactly what I want…
sigh…
get your inflatables, I guess we were just trying to help you avoid the inevitable.
Paul
Re: Inevitable
Brasilbrasil, I fully understand you and where you are coming from. But the difference is: I am not buying the inflatable (say a K1 like you) and expecting it to be equal to a 12ft SOF. Like you had going into it. I want a nice small singl eperson kayak to basically be an innertube you can paddle for quick excursions or camping trips where I see a nice lazy river to go down.
As I’ve already stated numerous times, once my roof rack is installed and I buy the stackers (an additional $175) I do plan on buying two rigid kayaks around the $300-400 range each, which will suffice for my needs.
I’m not some clueless noob, I have seen inflatables with skegs, or rigid bow/stern’s for tracking and I have looked at foldables like the Puffin and similar ones at $800+ each. If anything I’m approaching this properly, instead of spending a ton of money on a foldable that is a jack of all trades and master of none, I am buying two inflatables fairly inexpensively to basically be glorified tubes for simple and easy portability and then buying two decent rec kayaks for a little more spirited outings. Total I’ll most likely spend about $1k-1.2k which is still less or equal to what a single upper end boat would cost me that will see use a total of about 4 times a year.
I have been looking at the Pemilco’s, Pelican’s, and Old Town’s and while these may still not be some super-duper high-end kayaks either, they will be more than adequate. When we took the 8-mile tip down the Shenendoah we were in old, junky fiberglass kayaks and had a blast and were able to go anywhere and do anything we wanted.
My point is that not everyone wants or needs the high end gear, sure it is nice to have and has advantages, but in the end is not 100% needed just to have some fun.
Oh, and to the person who brought up the Walmart guitar. Last christmas my brother-in-law picked up a cheesy “Esteban” (from the shopping channel) guitar that had been a kids gift and played a rendition of “The Messiah Will Come Again” by Roy Buchanan that brought the whole place to tears. Similarly I could take a Walmart guitar and gig with it without a problem. Will it have pearl inlay, rosewood, grover tuners, schaller locking pegs, etc.? Nope. Would those “in the know” laugh at it? Yep. Would 99% of the audience notice or even care? Nope. It’s the same thing here.
I’m not some bull-headed kid, my thanks to those who offered advice. Take care and enjoy your message board (by the way same parallel can be drawn here, this message board is archaic and lacking even basic features, but works just fine for communication and the user just has to adjust a bit to it and it serves it’s purpose).
Just Do It
my First kayak… ( ? )…was a Sevlor inflatable.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted or where I wanted to paddle… I just wanted someting to float In…
Well…The Bug Bit and it wasn’t long before I bought a Recreational Plastic Kayak for just 200.00…Now I was Cooking…Went to some nice rivers and learned some Valuable lessons…The Bug Bit Deeper…I recently Bought a CD Breeze
and have been kayaking my ASS Off…While there is a world of diference between all three…They each have a Place…US EXPERTS…Prolly don’t remember How we Learned…But Give advice on what we know Now…which is Kewl…But Now I have 3 kayaks,and I can invite Friends (girls)…
Along for a paddle…LOLOLOL…Just Learning Keep it Simple…You’ll Know when to Upgrade…
Ken
not sure I understand the need
for hundreds of dollars of roof rack. I managed with a couple of foam blocks for almost 6 months at a very low cost.
I suggested previously a tandem style rec boat. What about an Ocean kayak tandem sit on top? Kinda a hard inflatable? 
Paul
Or …
maybe an innertube
hate to say it.
But a crappy borderline unsafe kayak is still a crappy borderline unsafe kayak, no matter how often or seldom you use it.
Something like an Innova Safari would be a good recreational portable boat that i wouldn’t be afraid to pop because it’s made of material similar to whitewater rafts, has 3 chambers and actually fits the paddler.
but sorry to tell ya, anything you’ll find for 100 bucks a piece, new, is going to be absolute shit.
Stearns inflatables seem OK-ish, but i still haven’t seen one for less than 300-400 bucks used for one. My first kayak was a 20+ year old recreational double, fiberglass, that i got for 250$ canadian. if you came across somethign like that…or a pair of used whitewater kayaks, because theyre cheap and plentiful,typically well built,small and would allow you to build up some skill.