I recently become the new owner of a Neris Smart Pro Kayak; I will be using this inflatable kayak for my next Adventure in the Amazon river. I normally use an Ally canoe and loved every thing about it except when its very windy and unfortunately there is no way to be safe with it in coastal travel. My last canoe trip was from Vegas to the Mexican border on the Colorado river.
I didn’t want to write a review before I could test it long enough to know what I was talking about .
The material look like very good quality and the inner alloy frame is very easy to mount, in fact you can built the kayak in 15 mn without breaking a sweat. The kayak came into a large backpack, everything you need fit in it, this includes in my case the ruder and skirt too. The total weight was 25 KG.
Now after over 100 miles with it I am even more satisfied with the kayak, great stability and tracking and even with 15 miles/H wind the boat was not dancing in front of me (even without using the rudder. I did few 20 miles/day without fatigue thanks to the good inflatable seat. The adverse weather condition stopped me to try rolling it or doing a self-rescue but with the inflated side it should not be any problem to get back inside.
I also did some try out fully loaded with 2 cone bags (Neris) and a 110 L ortlieb duffle, totaling about 60 kg of gears and still no stability or tracking issue. Most of my kayaking was done on the lake Provo, Jordan river and Provo river in Utah.
If you have any question asked me and if you want to look at it, I am in Lehi Utah.
This is great timing, I actually just posted asking for opinions on the Neris Smart Pro Tandem Expedition, the Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Elite, and the Sea Eagle Explorer 380x Pro Package. I’m looking for a good general purpose kayak that I can travel with to Europe, kayaking rivers, lakes, and coastal waters.
Couple of questions about your Neris:
How’s the tracking and stability, especially with a full load? I’m willing to sacrifice speed for stability, as long as the kayak can track well.
Do you think it’s worth the extra money over the Sea Eagle and AdvancedFrame? It’s about $300-$800 more, depending on what package it’s compared to.
Hi StakedPlainExplorer
I used mine fully loaded with 60 Kg /130 pounds of gears plus myself about 200 pounds , the kayak track very well ,even without the rudder . I used it in river cat 2 and windy lakes without any problem. I looked in person at he Advance frame and the quality was not there for me , I tried the Sea eagle 380 and it a good boat but too wide for me to be comfortable for paddle for long day after days, I think it is more river boat than a long distance one and no rudder with it , plus they do not have a skirt for it . The Neris Smart Pro have a very good skirt and when you carry a lot of gears during rainy or very sunny situation this a big plus.
I understand the difference in price but quality comfort and performance are worth it.
I saw a similar comment about the Sea Eagle, that it paddles more like a raft than a kayak.
I’m probably going to go with the Neris. After adding the single and double decks ($100 each) and rudder ($300), the AdvancedFrame Elite is only $300 less than the Neris. I’ve seen some negative reviews of the AF, but nothing but good reports on the Neris.
How easy is it to clean and maintain your Neris? Seems like there’s a lot of parts to that boat.
Hello
The Neris frame have very little part , the floor is only 3 parts and the all assembly is very easy to clean.If the terrain is not muddy I basically only wipe the all kayak after its use , if you are in very muddy area what I recommend is to inflate it at home without the frame and clean it with a hose or a big sponge. if you are in Utah I can show you the kayak in person but if you need specific pictures of any part or how I load it with all my gears let me know. The distributor of Neris in the USA is a very nice guy and can answer any question directly , before getting mine I had a ton of it too and always received prompt responses.
If the boat did not come with it, be sure to always carry a repair kit. Neris sells one. You don’t want to be miles from a takeout and have a compartment go flat.
Actually the kayak came with a full repair kit so no worries there , they also have some cone shape dry bag that fit any good kayak , I have them and can recommend them as far quality size and price.
The paddlers on the foldingkayaks.org forum would probably also appreciate seeing your review of the Neris over there. I’ve yet to see any posts by owners of the brand yet and it’s always helpful to know what options are available in the market for portable watercraft.
I think you’ve sold me on the Neris lol. I’m in Los Angeles, let me know if you’re ever in this area. There’s not much besides ocean kayaking down here, but lots of good spots in Central CA.
Of course, if you are in LA, we can always do the Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach. It’s pretty great, paddling next to the big ships and cranes. Smelly though, we call it the “sewer tour!”
Are you mainly in flat water or will you be doing some white water paddling. If you are flat water, go for the SE Fast Tracks. Very stable, plus faster paddling than the Explorers, but only good up to Class II or III rapids. White water paddling, go with Explorer.
I paddle mostly Florida water, so I have one SE Razor Lite and two Fast Tracks and love them.
Hello gents, so nice to have found this thread through Google search. I wanted to let you know that I am the official Neris Kayaks dealer in North America, and if you have any questions or needs, feel free to just google nerisadventures.com
I just got back from an expedition to Lake Louise in Alberta Canada; big fan and a user of Neris.
How does your Neris track? The sizeable stern and bow keel plates are unusual for a folder or inflatable. Do they help in keeping it from windcocking?
I notice on the link you posted that the beams are pretty wide on the Neris models. For comparision, my 15’ 4" Feathercraft Java, which is a similar backbone framed inflatable that converts from solo to tandem) is 28" wide and weighs 33 pounds. I did notice that Neris offers a canoe seat conversion – the profile of the kayaks does seem more canoe like due to the width. Have you had a chance to try one with the canoe seats? Usually raising the seat position like that alters the stability of a kayak hull and I wonder how these hold up to that.
I have a particular interest in folders, having used several models for 23 years. Always like learning about new entries to the market, especially since we lost Feathercraft and Folbot around 12 years ago.
It tracks really well - this is both my conclusion and what you will read in reviews by other clients. I have personally tried a heavy plastic rental kayak and obviously my Neris, and I personally prefer the latter. That said, I wish I had more data to compare tracking capabilities of more models or have a way to express the tracking capability through some numeric value.
Re windcocking - hard to put a number to it, but the wind does have an impact on the kayak. In windy conditions, the rudder helps big time! I just came back from Lake Superior and I had to battle a lot of wind there, and the rudder helps save a lot of energy by keeping the kayak stable.
Re beams. The beams are pretty wide due to inflatable sponsons (one on each side). A comparable model to the one you listed would be Neris Smart Pro S (length 15.65 ft / 4.77 m), beam width 31.92 inches / 2.66 ft / 0.81 m. Sponsons look roughly the same, but Neris has a wider cockpit and a lower center of gravity, which translates into greater stability on the water.
Regarding the kayak-to-canoe conversion kit, I personally haven’t tried it, but it is quite popular with clients for its versatility. The direct use is obviously as a canoe bench; one client used it as reinforcement under the spray deck - that way, he would put more weight on the spray deck.
Last but not least, you can use these benches as mounts for various other things - lights, compasses, cupholders, cameras etc. Here is one of the applications that the military folks in the UK did for their needs, and it’s pretty smart.
I have the bigger Neris 17.5’ tandem Smart Pro with the “expedition” package which includes spray deck and rudder.
It tracks very well and likes to go straight. The sharp bow entry and the hull profile help it cut through chop rather than bobbing over it like my inflatable Aquaglide. It catches more wind than a sea kayak but much less than a canoe. It is slow to turn, especially loaded up, and I think that’s why they offer a rudder. I haven’t felt the need to use it on lakes, but I plan to use it when I finally take a river trip.
It is exceptionally stable due to the large sponson-like air tubes. It’s almost like having outriggers. That’s nice for fishing and kids getting in & out. But the sponsons drag on the water and slow the boat down, so the speed is more like an inflatable than a Feathercraft.
Because the Neris is a hybrid rather than full-framed, setup and teardown is really easy. That’s another plus.
They list one solo as a tandem but then describe it as having a “baby seat”.
This would have to be improved. I’ll make sure to address that.
Rudders are included by default, need to purchase it separately.
A solo Smart Pro S (single) can quickly become a tandem by adding an extra seat. You can also add a third seat in the middle for a child or a pet.
The tandem Smart Pro S Tandem kayak has two seats. Weight, length and everything else is exactly the same.
Ultimately it depends on whether you kayak alone most of the time or with someone else. If you’re paddling alone, that’s a single Smart Pro S. If you like to paddle with your wife or friends, choose a tandem.
Their catalog does need attention. It’s lacking in details and clarity. Feels like they used an AI translation program — descriptions are awkward. There is nothing in it that illustrates a rudder that I could see. And the images looked very similar between models which was confusing.
I would suggest they include an illustration of the frame as well as closeups of the kayaks and accessories like the add in seats from several perspectives.
Good graphics and lots of detail go a long way in persuading people to buy a costly boat.
But the fact that Neris is located in Ukraine, I have to give them great credit for maintaining their business under the circumstances and wish them success.
