I don’t get the following claim by QCC:
“What you can expect from the Q500X:
We are an upper Midwest company and around here normal sized people are in the 200 lb. range - this is a performance kayak is for larger kayakers. Paddles very efficiently even when loaded up to 325 - 350 lbs.”
. . . and their statement that the Q500X is built for paddlers up to 300 lb.
Any 300-pounders here who would like to try the 16" x 30" cockpit?
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and besides the paddler
it is possible to put gear in the front and rear compartments.
More dimensions than that
The 700x is 10" high at the back and 12.5" at the front of the cockpit. The boat is 21" wide. The 500x is 11.5" at the back and 14.5" at the front and the boat is 23" wide. There is no question that the 500x cockpit is larger. Sure there are people who are large in ways that the cockpit entrance width would matter. But the 500x will work for lots of large people.
You must be one of those that seek out
things to find wrong with a quality company.
If you don’t like or agree with their advertising, then just don’t buy their product.
The 500 hundred is a ultra stable kayak ideal for a large paddler.
If a person buys a kayak from QCC and they are not satisfied with it, or “can not fit in it” QCC will gladly refund their full purchase price.
Jack L
i have a 500
I don’t weigh 300, but I do weigh 225 and am 6’ 2". The cockpit entry is a little small but very doable even with the one leg in ass down entry. The only thing I don’t like is that the back deck is so tall that sitting on the back deck and sliding in is tough because of the center of gravity. But I have a theory that if you can’t reentry your boat this way out in open water you probably shouldnt be paddling it.
I like the 500 because you can’t overload it. In fact, at 325 lbs I think it paddles better. Also, I would put its speed up against any other 17 ft sea kayak. If you haven’t paddled a qcc you should.
Ryan L.
You have a good point
Yah, that doesn’t exactly square with me either. They say their boats are for big-boy paddlers, yet the cockpits are that small? Oy. o_0
I recently rented a boat with a 16.5" wide cockpit. At 235 lbs, I found exit & entry to be more difficult than I liked. I do kind of have football-player thighs, but still. That boat had a 350 lb max capacity too.
Also seems like you sometimes see boats offered in multiple sizes (LV, HV, etc) where the cockpits are all still the same size, even though the boats change size-wise in most every other way. (length/width/height).
Maybe it’s just a corner-cutting/cost-saving move, but regardless of the rationale, not so great if you’re pretty big or pretty small.
entry and exit
Is always tight in higher end boats because a large cockpit hole is a liability with breaking water. It is like anything, you get used to it. A sixteen inch seat is pretty common for a seat. Most stools and chairs are in that range. If you waist is 38 or less a sixteen inch seat will be fine.
Ryan L.
The last QCC someone
– Last Updated: Aug-07-11 2:18 PM EST –
insisted I try because they were sure I could fit it and that it was designed for larger paddlers, I cracked. I felt kind of bad about trying it, but it was their assumption of liability and risk and only through their insistence it would work for me that I considered trying it. Popped off a good bit of the gel coat behind the cockpit coaming.
Smaller paddlers often seem to underestimate the fit of larger paddlers in kayaks, so after that incident I just politely decline anything that isn't a truly large person's boat. Their 16x30 cockpit is *not* built for larger paddlers, and it is impossible for someone 6'3" and 250 with a waist size over 42 and football player sized thighs to get into, despite any claims to the contrary.
It is a mid sized paddler boat at best. They do not make a "larger" paddler boat. Too bad, because they seem to be pretty decent boats. I wish they would address that market with a well designed model having a 35-36 x 19-20 cockpit and at least 14-15" depth that would actually fit larger paddlers. Until then, they just don't have anything close to suitable.
LV, MV and HV are different depths
– Last Updated: Aug-07-11 2:56 PM EST –
Usually anyway. And some of the HV's have thigh bumps. That changes the ease of getting in and out of them regardless of the size of the cockpit opening. Maybe not perfectly, but some.
So how about someone
5’11" and 200 lbs.
Do you think they could fit in a Qcc 500 or 700?
Thanks
Trolling
When thinking of an image of a paddler, I conjure an image of someone who paddles a lot, who is muscular and in shape. I don’t consider someone who is thin and lacking muscles as a paddler. With the same reasoning someone who weighs 250 with a low BMI is not the same as a fat POS with a paddle in their hands. I tend to resemble the last one. Freya Hoffmeister is a paddler. I am not. Now if they’d only design a kayak for my 6’6" frame and size 15 feet 
There is a vast difference between a large paddler and a fat person with a paddle in their hands !
CD Solstice Titan is close
cockpit is 17.5 x 35 and depth is 15.5. It is also a decent boat to paddle. Width is 24.5 and they claim room for 14+ sized feet.
Quite possibly.
But I wouldn’t consider 5’11" and 200# a large paddler.
FWIW … A skilled fiberglass guy can
can elongate the entire coaming and foredeck and have it come out perfect. Strength will be the same / greater and weight ‘gained’ less than 1/4 pound.
my waist is a 40, maybe a 41…
…depending on whether I just ate dinner. 
And just 'cuz you made me curious, I went and measured my (ikea) kitchen chairs… 17.5" wide at the front.
I understand that a tight cockpit can sometimes help keep the sprayskirt from imploding when hit by big waves, but if a ‘big-boy’ paddler is already nearly as wide as the cockpit, is an extra inch or two wider truly going to be a deal-breaker?
Reason I ask is, there are some well-regarded boats out there with 18-20" wide cockpits (WS Tempest, WS Zephyr, Perception Essence, Dagger Alchemy, some of the bigger Deltas, Eddlyline Nighthawk 17.5 and Journey, etc ).
Will sprayskirts not hold in rough water on these boats simply because the cockpit is slightly on the wide side, or does it have to be ‘rec kayak wide’ before that starts being a major problem?
Then there’s re-entry worries. If I almost have to slather myself with chicken grease to get in, how much more difficult is that going to make self-rescue out on the water?
Again, I get that you ultimately want to ‘wear’ your kayak (for responsiveness), so it has to be a snug fit, but it seems to moi that there’s snug, and then there’s SNUG. o_0
Well said
Read the post from Onno paddles below
There are no boats that are currently available that fit truly large people (however large is defined). The Necky Pinta is no longer made and not available often used. The largest Looksha is rarely available and was a dog anyway. So it is just a market problem. For example, someone who needs size 17 shoes is stuck with paying big bucks because they do not constitute a sufficient market. You can get a boat that you like modified. That sucks but unfortunately life is not fair.
700
I am 5’10 and have weighed as much as 205. I fit in the 700 fine. I did wish the deck was 1 inch taller though. At my present 180 it is fine.
QCC Cockpit
I’m 6’ tall and when I first started paddling my QCC 500, I probably weighed 275+. I wish the cockpit was another inch or two longer, but the width has never been a problem for me. Now down to 240, the boat is getting a bit loose for me, but it was always my long legs that were my problem, not my girth.
So I say it’s a great big man boat.
The Xplore X may be the ticket…
6’6" and size 15 feet?
Try the Tiderace Xplore X. They’ve taken a different approach to deck height.
I’ve 6’5", 210, 35.5" inseam, and size 12. I fit in the regular Xplore with room to spare up front. Your size 15s might fit there, too. And if not, the Xplore X adds an inch to the deck height, and it might do it for you (although, now you have the extra volume.
BTW, for the larger thread, at 6’5", 210, I fit in the QCC 500 fine–maybe too much room. I hardly qualify as a smaller paddler.