Sit inside recommendation for a 6’5” 400lb guy

Hi, any sit inside recommendations for someone 6’5” 400lb like me? Thanks

Sit inside will be tough. The 175 Tsunami has one of the highest load capacities, but th max capacity of 400 lb givebyou a safe load of around 265 lbs.

Canoes don’t have the same favorable open water handling features, but the open design may be more comfortable and most canoes have a greater load range.

The Wilderness Systems Pamlico Tandem is rated with a max capacity of 500 lbs, but that gives a safe capacity of about 350 lbs. I believe the seats are adjustable. Remove one and center the other. Otherwise, you probably needvtomlook at different options. Your height could make it feel a little tippy.

My friend Thor is 6’ 5" and has been close to 300 pounds in the past (he’s all the way down to 265 now) and he has had trouble finding a Touring kayak to fit him. He has 35 to 36 inch inseams and a size 13.5 foot. He’s been able to use both the Perception Sea Lion Eclipse and the Necky Looksah 5, but in both he fills them up to the max. If he were any larger at all I think he would have been a “press fit” when he was near 300 pounds. Even now, having lost weight, he’s got only a small amount of room to shift his weight for edge control.
As far as I am aware, no standard factory-made touring kayak is made for paddler weights much over about 285 pounds today.
But at 400 pounds, you may have to make a custom kayak. It may be worth calling Chesapeake Light Craft and asking what might work.

I’ve got an Eddyline Nighthawk 17.5 that states 500# (and I’m no where near that size which is why I’m getting rid of it).

If you’re at 400#, you’d be at 80% capacity for something with a 500# rating…
IMO so long as you aren’t out in rough conditions you’re likely fine.

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Try a double kayak.

Maybe one of these.

https://clcboats.com/shop/boats/kayak-kits/touring-kayaks/high-capacity-great-auk-extended-touring-kayak-kit.html

Eddyline had a number of kayaks rated at max capacity of 450 and 750 lbs (Whisper XL, Wind Dancer. San Juan, Nighthawk) bit they’ve been discontinued.

Douglas, where are you?
Side note:
I have a new CLC Wood Duck 14 footer, made by a friend of mine, and it’s never been in the water.
Large cockpit and made for him, by him. He’s 6 feet 3 inches tall, 320 pounds and he made it to give himself a bit of extra room. I believe it might be a fit for you if you wanted to go out for day trips or maybe 2 day trips, but at 400 pounds you’ll max it out pretty well.
He took the CLC plans and kit and made this kayak just a little bigger then normal. Now medical conditions are causing him to give up on kayaking all together, so it’s for sale and he has it here are my place,
If you are interested let me know and I can send you pictures of it. My friend Len is selling it for far less then he should because the price is less then the kit he started with.

I am in the middle of Wyoming, so unless you were close or were planning a trip through here it may not be a practical solution for you.
But millions of folks come through here every year on their way to Yellowstone National Park, so it never hurts to ask.

Waist, inseam, shoe size and thigh circumference will help in sizing.

It does seem as if volume of a kayak is directly correlated with the weight capacity by a ratio of 32 pounds to each cubic foot of interior space (makes sense since buoyancy is what keeps you floating.)

So for a 75% safety margin at 400 pounds a reasonable rating would be that would be 530 pounds capacity or 16.5 cubic feet. The Eddyline Wind Dancer has been mentioned and at 14.6 cubic feet it’s rated at 450 lbs cargo capacity.

Might help in looking at kayak specs to keep that in mind when checking the volume.

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I’ll add that the Klepper folding kayaks have always had very high capacities. I believe one reason is that they and other folding boat makers had early marketing success with buyers using them for research vessels for use in remote areas, as well as guides who still use them for “fly-in” hunting and fishing trips to roadless regions and for military usage by special ops commando teams. Longhaul still produces specially equipped ones for many European armed services

For instance their Aerius Standard solo has a 660 pound capacity and only weighs 53 pounds. Their cockpits are also larger than most touring kayaks (though there is clearly a typo in this spec sheet I am linking – cockpit can’t be 2’ wider than that boat’s beam!!)

Very pricey now especially due to the 20% tariffs on German made goods. But Kleppers do turn up used as do older Folbots which have similar high volumes.

Even if paddling a folding kayak bothers you due to set up hassles, these can be left assembled all season and transported like any regular hardshell, then broken down for off season storage. I’ve used folders for 23 years and they have their plusses as well as minuses. My 16’ Feathercraft Java (a sit on top hybrid folder/internal frame kayak) has a 450 lb capacity at 33 lbs, convertible from solo to tandem and sets up in less than 15 minutes.

The Longhaul folding Mark I kayak has a 600 pound capacity and an oversized cockpit. Again, not cheap, but often good deals on used folders can be found if you have the patience. One advantage of sourcing folding kayaks is that they can be shipped broken down for reasonable package mailing fees, especially when packaged in 2 or 3 smaller boxes. i have shipped them or had them shipped to me multiple times in the past couple of decades.

I believe you are correct. Rated capacity can be exceeded, but usually at the expense of performance and safety margins. I paddled a 10 ft x 29.5 inch rec boat with a max capacity of 275 lbs safe cap at 70% is 192 lb), when I weighed 255 lbs. It worked, but only under favorable conditions. It had no performance potential, so there was no point in tyrying to extract and further capability. When pushed, the bow rose and the stern sunk to within 6 inches of the cockpit coaming. I overloaded the 125 Tsunami by 45 lbs, and the 145 by 10 lbs, but the worked within limited parameters. The 175 still had 25 lbs of latitude for more load capacity. Noe at 25 lbs less body weight, all of the perform better.

I’m sure you agree that a test ride is always best. If the paddler falls outside of the recommended capacity, its best to assess the paddling environment and consider how the departure will impact the safe performance expectations.

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Other marginal suggestions with 425 pound listed capacities are the older Perception plastic Eclipses and even older Chinooks (which Perception put out under their Aquaterra brand). The Chinooks were particularly designed for larger, taller paddlers. They do turn up rather frequently as used boats for sale. The older Perception (and Dagger) touring kayaks were well made solid boats so if they were well cared for they hold up well. Unfortunately Dagger never produced a solo that was over 315 weight rated.

I did do a quick FB Marketplace search and found many Eclipses and Chinooks for sale throughout the US.

I’ve owned several Daggers and Perceptions over the years and a 21 year old Perception Avatar 16 is currently one of my favorites in the fleet (and only cost me $300).

Wilderness Systems Pamlico 145 Has a weight capacity of 650 lbs. The front seat can be moved back so it can be paddled as a single. At 225 lbs. I had a hard time steering it and had to add both rudder kits. Kayak is wide with a huge cockpit and handles beautifully.

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Can you clarify what you man by it inside? Or if you don;t know, what sort of paddling do you plan to do?

Many of the responses seem to assume that you want a touring kayak, but recreational class kayaks are also consider sit inside. And might be easier to find for someone of your size.

For an article on types of kayaks, you could read one starting on page 6 of this issue of California Kayaker Magazine (11 megabyte PDF).

Didn’t realize they still made a 145 model.