Newbie need advice regarding before purchasing

Yes, that’s usually what it stands for on this forum. :smile:

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Length has to be evaluated along with rocker. Two boats of the same length can behave very differently if one is a long straight keel line and the other has a lot of rocker. Upsweep at the ends that makes it more playful and reduces the length of the waterline.

Newer paddlers often prefer a longer, straighter waterline. More seasoned paddlers often look for more rocker because they have discovered it makes the boat easier to turn.

Working with factors like this is often where a couple of basic lessons can be helpful, to get the feel of this in a rented boat.

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At $220 I don’t see how you can go wrong.

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Thank your comment, it took me further and I’ve learned about hard vs. soft chine by the way

Don’t get too distracted by hard versus soft chine. I have one of each between my two primary boats. They are both fine in challenging conditions, both have nice recovery from from getting slapped around by waves.

They just feel different. Has no impact at all on how well they can handle sloppy stuff.

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Go for it!

What about the absence of thigh braces?

Absence of thigh braces is a fatal flaw for bigger water skills, certainly for anything like rolling.

Whether that can be remedied can only be resolved by sitting in the boat. There are boats, like the old Nigel Foster Rumour design, where people have built in braces by shaping minicell foam. But some portion of the underdeck of the boat still has to lie over the paddler’s thighs. In the old Lincoln boats there were also no braces built in, but often some deck was present over the portion of the paddler’s legs to build down for the thigh braces. I have been in Necky boats that were purportedly sized for smaller people. But I had nothing available for edging etc unless I adopted a terribly uncomfortable and impractical froggy leg position to find any deck.

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Here is the TK16 version that was sold in the states, by RPC. Kayak is fiberglass and a solid heavy build. It has no thigh braces, the original skeg set up was a joke. My father completely reworked his. He also cut out the factory seat and made a franken seat to replace it. Seat parts from Wilderness Systems, Perception and Prijon, went into the seat.





The keel area seems to have been “borrowed”, from Mariner or NC Kayaks. Not sure what the front was influenced by. Maybe a Chatham 16? The hull is soft chines with a moderate V. The kayak tracks straight and has decent glide and speed.





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You really do have a kayak barn!

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Needed somewhere to stash the fleet. A few are buy to resale stuff. Hope too thin the personal fleet a bit, next year.

I like the sand floor.

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Lack of perimeter lines is hardly an issue. My 23 year old Necky didn’t come with perimeter lines. They were easily added for about $10 using the original existing hardware.

For that price you can probably resell it for 3X or more if there are no other issues and you decide you just don’t like it. I’d be surprised if it was still available.

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I looked for the necessary hardware in those photos.
Not seeing anything on the bow or stern, nor midline behind the cockpit. Looks like that would also have to be added. Don’t know how much drilling the OPer wants to do.
Assuming that the RDFs for the bungies have openings big enough to handle both that and a bungie. Which can’t be confirmed from the photos.

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Just buy something you need not recreate.

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Of the kayaks shown, think the two RTM sit-on-tops (SOTs - look like a Disco and a Tempo) offer a lot room for growth for a newbie. The hull shapes are similar to a lot of touring kayaks. Put on thigh straps, you can lean/edge and even roll these SOTs (I can roll my SOTs as easily as SINKs). But, until you learn to roll, these kayaks can be much easier to remount and not have to worry about the added process and gear related to pumping. This affords a greater level of safety for you, especially if you paddle alone.

The only “downside” is if you intend to coldwater paddle, the SOTs may seem like it would leave you “exposed.” This is a bogeyman concern as I am out paddling more in the winter on my waveski (a form of SOT) in “conditions” than most. My wetsuit works fine for that. And, I am “safer” because I can simply remount on those occaisons when I blow a roll.

sing

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Any kayak you are looking at. See if you can try it - even without experience, you can see if you feel comfortable. If you feel stable, comfortable, and the price is right - get it. You can sell it again if you outgrow it. I still have my 180T Loon (tandem) from 25 years ago. Always wear your life jacket and get out on the water, you will figure out if you want to keep it or not, and in the meantime, you will be having fun on the water.

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My theory of buying used: If the price is right, buy it. Don’t like it, sell it. The last kayak that I test paddled before buying was at seller’s insistence. I was ready to buy anyways.

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