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Epitope
Nov 27, 2006

Grimey Drawer
Two people in a canoe be like- Watch out for that rock! Paddle left! No right! Quick- oofgh. Woah, sweet.

Two people in a kayak be like- Why aren't you paddling? I'm doing all the work. Why are you taking us over here? I should have the rudder. Hmmf.

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Mushika
Dec 22, 2010

My wife and I just took the plunge and got 2 sit-in kayaks. We've never been sea kayaking before, and aren't likely to, but we've been kayaking in the Ozark foothills and the Blue Ridge Mountains and have always wanted our own to take out when we want. We're really excited about doing some kayak camping when the weather cools down. We live in the Mississippi delta area of the Gulf of Mexico coast, so we'll be doing a lot of wetland kayaking, so swamps, marshes, bayous, snakes, alligators, and various swarms of blood-hungry insects await us. While we're used to hiking/wading in the these conditions to a small degree, we aren't sure about the implications of kayaking. Does anyone here have any experience with wetland kayaking as opposed to sea/lake/river kayaking? We have plenty of baby artificial lakes here in town to sort of get a sense of handling the new kayaks for a few weeks or months before we actually take them out on the bayou for a real trip, and we'd love to do some sort of kayak camping trip come November when the temperature dips below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gumbel2Gumbel
Apr 28, 2010

So I just spent an hour and half melting a screen and plastic into a sizable hole in one of my canoes with a plastic welder.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Can I take this thing out in my backyard pond today?

bongwizzard
May 19, 2005

Then one day I meet a man,
He came to me and said,
"Hard work good and hard work fine,
but first take care of head"
Grimey Drawer

Gumbel2Gumbel posted:

So I just spent an hour and half melting a screen and plastic into a sizable hole in one of my canoes with a plastic welder.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Can I take this thing out in my backyard pond today?

If you use a plastic welder, it shouldn't require any cure time unless you used some kind of adhesive somewhere in the process. Maybe tie a rope around one of the grab handles for the first little bit while you test the patch?

Gumbel2Gumbel
Apr 28, 2010

bongwizzard posted:

If you use a plastic welder, it shouldn't require any cure time unless you used some kind of adhesive somewhere in the process. Maybe tie a rope around one of the grab handles for the first little bit while you test the patch?

Nice. I'm going to drink 'sparkling water' and troll around my little pond. It's only 4 ft deep and gonna be like 40 feet offshore so I should survive with a life jacket on

snugglebunny
Aug 21, 2004
go to hell
I know it's not a kayak technically but has anyone tried out an Old Town Next Canoe?
https://www.oldtowncanoe.com/canoes/next/

I've got a sit on top kayak right now but just don't like being that, exposed I guess is the right word. As a big guy (285lbs) finding a sit in kayak is hard, most I've tried just are not comfy at all, just too snug on the sides.
I'm not looking to do anything crazy, just some fishing and floating on lakes and rivers.
Of course I can't find anyone selling one used this looks to be selling in stores here for around $850

Liquid Communism
Mar 9, 2004


Out here, everything hurts.




Take a look at Ascend's sit-ins. I'm seventy-five pounds heavier than you, and their (now out of production) 12' never had a problem with me.

The D10 maxes out at 300, but will absolutely go another 50lbs beyond that, and is plenty comfortable. 29" wide cockpit and a seat that's pretty much a deck chair.

Gumbel2Gumbel
Apr 28, 2010

I can confirm that you can make a water tight seal with the plastic welding kit from Harbor Freight. So if you've got a little crack maybe look into one of those. I had a hole that was up to 3/4" at some points.

Also make sure you drill into the ends of the crack to prevent it from fracturing further in the future.

Rime
Nov 2, 2011

by Games Forum
Maaaaan, I really thought this would be the summer I could take up noodling around in kayaks. Looks like a couple of rental days are all I am going to get, though. :(

snugglebunny
Aug 21, 2004
go to hell

Liquid Communism posted:

Take a look at Ascend's sit-ins. I'm seventy-five pounds heavier than you, and their (now out of production) 12' never had a problem with me.

The D10 maxes out at 300, but will absolutely go another 50lbs beyond that, and is plenty comfortable. 29" wide cockpit and a seat that's pretty much a deck chair.

Thanks for that suggestion. Been looking at them, saw a couple of the D10 selling locally for $350 but I think the 12 would be better for me.

eviljelly
Aug 29, 2004

Update on my Intex Challenger K1 (I have a K2 but I bought a K1 as well):

I took my little CAD$86 (US$69) kayak out on a trip to Indian Arm, a well known local paddling spot. My friend had an Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame kayak, which is also inflatable, but better constructed and also much more expensive (US$399 + US$75 for the backbone).

It was my first overnight kayak trip so I stupidly overpacked, but everything fit. There was a generous amount of space behind my seat and also a large cargo net and space above the front of the boat, although that area had a tendency to pool water. I had about 30 lb of gear, including food and water. We covered 18km (11 miles) in about 4.5 hours, which I thought was pretty good considering that we were going at a very leisurely pace, paddling on and off as we went and trying to spot seals and jellyfish as well, and taking a long lunch break and a break to check out a power station. We did encounter some headwind on the way back, but our kayaks seemed to perform alright regardless - it did add about a half hour to our journey, however.

I wish my friend and I had tried switching kayaks for a bit but we didn't get around to doing that. I was a bit faster than her, although I'm not sure how much of that was because I was a stronger paddler.

I'm going to try another trip soonish with a lot less gear, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the kayak's performance.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Anyone have an opinion on Hobie mirage drive fishing kayaks?

I'd really like one for duck hunting and fishing since you can drive it along with your legs and have your hands free for a shot gun or a fishing rod.

But in the other hand, they're loving $4300+ here retail, and I can't find any used ones.

bongwizzard
May 19, 2005

Then one day I meet a man,
He came to me and said,
"Hard work good and hard work fine,
but first take care of head"
Grimey Drawer

Slung Blade posted:

Anyone have an opinion on Hobie mirage drive fishing kayaks?

I'd really like one for duck hunting and fishing since you can drive it along with your legs and have your hands free for a shot gun or a fishing rod.

But in the other hand, they're loving $4300+ here retail, and I can't find any used ones.

I have a native propel, which until this year was the only competitor to the Hobie system. Peddle drive kayaks are the bomb for things like fishing where you going to want your hands free or if you do any trolling. I went with Native because I like to fish around a lot of close to shore cover and want to be able to back up.

bongwizzard
May 19, 2005

Then one day I meet a man,
He came to me and said,
"Hard work good and hard work fine,
but first take care of head"
Grimey Drawer
As to the cost, it's better to think of them as a jon boat replacement rather than just a kayak.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

bongwizzard posted:

As to the cost, it's better to think of them as a jon boat replacement rather than just a kayak.

That's a good point, but it's still quite a barrier to entry.

I'll keep thinking about it, trying to convince myself.

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bongwizzard
May 19, 2005

Then one day I meet a man,
He came to me and said,
"Hard work good and hard work fine,
but first take care of head"
Grimey Drawer

Slung Blade posted:

That's a good point, but it's still quite a barrier to entry.

I'll keep thinking about it, trying to convince myself.

There are now a bunch more players in the peddle-drive market, prices might start coming down by next season.

For fishing at least, it was a total game changer.

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