5 Kayaks Under $300 Reviewed: Are They Worth It?

what's up guys came from the headwaters kayak shop and I'm out in front of our local Dick's Sporting Goods here in Redding California so what I'm gonna do today is bring you guys along I'm gonna buy five kayaks under or in the $200 range and I'm gonna go to the lake and review them we're gonna talk about them I'm gonna let you guys know what you're getting for your money is something worth buying is something not worth buying and give you guys my honest review so let's get into it aye we're rolling in here they've actually got a pretty decent selection compared to the Dick's Lodi hallway of I'm over here listening to the guys sales pitch and I'm just like pulling out my hair about the ignorants with these customers unreal front storage compartment see zipper bag in the back rod holders that wants to seventy nine a little bit about the budget where I wanted to be but I think I'm gonna pick that one up just because it seems like it would be a popular one colors like pink and then this one's like a blue green I'm gonna go up to pink though palette or perceptions 59.5 we've actually reviewed that one before I'm gonna throw one in the video too though cuz it's under 300 and I think it's a really good vote for the price so here you guys go this is going to be the blade check this one out 159 it looks like it's roto-molded it's got a nice whole design I think I'm gonna pick this one out too that brings us up to four Mike's gonna help me pick one more boat and for my last one and you guys I decided to just get this one the 189 Pelican because I don't know they're just so deep on them I see a ton of these around the trailblazer 100 I'm gonna grab one of those I think we'll go for let's go with the lime green on the lime green guy all right you guys here's my five thank you so much it was Mike right yeah yeah hangout are you in the trailer yeah that's my trailer right out there is the Protection Plan pricing right there okay so $29.99 you guys if you have a few years for any issues with your seats or straps your hatch that's what any of the stuff that you bolt on you know any of that stuff tears out it's covered not doesn't normal right if you're dragging it a second cover okay so I got to say you guys this shopping experience was way better than my last Dick's Sporting Goods experience the guy was super super nice he didn't have all the answers but he didn't pretend like he did either and you know I told him the whole story I introduced myself and you know he introduces a lot of people in a paddle sports so hopefully we can educate them about our shop so when people want something a little nicer or when they want to learn about community events and stuff like that so tomorrow I'm gonna go I'm gonna first line them up but I'm going to walk you guys through the different boats why I picked them and the next I'll go hit the water and let you guys know how they power there it is so we're actually outside of writing today we took a drive about 45 minutes up the hill from reading to the east and we're just at the base of Mount lassen and a little PG&E lake called Lake McCumber this is a great summer escape from reading heat because it does get hotter reading you know 105 degrees yesterday and it's probably 75 up here this morning and I felt like it's a great place to test the both because this is probably gonna be the kind of like that most people are gonna use these basic ayats you know when they have the picture in their mind of what am I going to do with my kayak I want to do flat water legs I want to go you know camping and have a kayak just to power around whatever campfire net so behind me I've got the five packs I picked up brings you from the least expensive to the most expensive at least expensive being the blade ten foot at 1:59 the next step is a pelican Trailblazer 100 this one was 189 on sale and we have the Pelican bandit which is a 10-footer and it was only stood on top they had under $300 and next up was the Pelican mustang that one came in at 279 it got some upgrades like the bag in the back the knee pads a little front hatch and then lastly is a perception 59.5 and that one is a heavy-duty roto molded construction we've actually reviewed that one in the past and thought it was a good value for the price now that we've seen it come under 300 bucks at that I think it was a 289 price point we had to put that one back in today's review so we're gonna get these things on the water you guys I'm gonna test them out for you the first guys I'm gonna paddle today it's a pelican trailblazers this is the one that I see everywhere on top of every car in town so I wanted to just give it a shot paddled around and see how it felt and I am using the molded foot pedals in this boat the ones that have notches and I got a say for me and my height it fits me just perfect I think if you were in between sizes you might find your knees to be way up or your legs to be straight out but I'm able to get mine pretty solid now we'll say that if you look at my my knees in the cockpit there's no padding on the outside of my knees so you're kind of just against the plastic but it is rounded off so it's not too bad feet on the foot pedal you want a little bit of a bend in your knee you don't want your legs straight out because that's gonna make you feel tippy you also want your backrest if you can see that still I'm sitting nice too right I'm not kicked back if you kick back you're gonna be less stable you want push your butt all the way back in that seat so you have a nice upright position feet against the foot pedals now I'm ready to go paddling I love this little leg off to my east is Matt laughs and we're about eight miles from the park entrance and so you're just paddling around next to these white cat peeps it's just beautiful yeah there's a cow around it's so beautiful and it's so calm you forget what kayak you're in it almost it doesn't matter for this kind of water where it's flat you're at a small lake which is probably you know I don't know a couple hundred acre lake not a big lake and it's almost always flat calm this is a fine tool for the job I think a lot of kayak shops like mine independent shops tend to want to look down and talk bad about these times call them you know coffins you know Costco coffins or bathtub boats but I think if you're being realistic and what you're wanting to use the boat for and not going to running whitewater or not going you know on big lakes or open water I think you can be completely satisfied with a boat like this so if we're talking stability I'm the boat rocks and roll to its secondary but I definitely wouldn't say it's unstable now I have paddled the Aruba SS I have one of those as well and I purposely didn't put it in this review I should maybe but Dix doesn't sell them walmart sells them and those boats are tippy I I highly recommend looking elsewhere if you're looking at that Aruba or that Walmart style boat here's a boat that's basically the same price you know under 200 bucks that is head and shoulders better paddling more stable more forgiving will fit a broader range of people buy this one over the Sun dolphin Aruba any day of the week so as I speed this boat up you'll notice it's just a big old bow wake starts coming off the bow it doesn't want to go fast this boats for leisure paddling if you start getting this thing going fast the bow wake piles up on the front and you're not going to go anywhere and any sort of efficiency so if you're buying this boat just think of it as you are buying a toy ya you know an easy to paddle at two miles an hour to shore you're gonna go for a couple you know an hour two hours putts around on a lake like this and you're gonna have a great time if you want more out of a sport if you want to go you know five six miles and you want to paddle in some wind and some chop or maybe you want to run a local class one River look for something that's a little bit more sophisticated something that has bulkheads safety features maybe a little bit more more length and keel who's gonna help you going straighter and expect the spin you know five six hundred bucks on something that's appropriate for that kind of water again it's not that this is the bad boat because it's definitely not I feel comfortable I'm having a great time but knowing you're both limitations is the most important part so I'm a fan I like this boat I think it's totally fine I think you know the outfitting on it is a little bit disposable in the trailblazer but for an entry level kayak had 189 bucks if it gets you in the sport you're not going to hate it one thing that does concern me is a really low back tank well the fact that if water comes over here it's going to go straight into my cockpit and flood the kayak and the fact that this kayak has no flotation means if water's inside the thing is sinking or at least sinking up to the gunnels and you're having a swim home and the last thing that I hope it goes without saying when we're talking boats like this these boats are not safe if you flip them over these boats fill up with water so always always always wear your lifejacket again on a lake like today worst case if I flip this thing over I would be floating this high I'd float back to shore or swim back to shore I could probably drag my kayak or worst case I'm gonna get back safe but if I don't have this little device on I'm gonna be in a world of trouble because I can't depend on this boat for my flotation you should always always wear a lifejacket no matter what water you're in no matter what boat you're paddling but especially if you're in one of these little sit inside all right so that's uh that's the Trailblazer next I'm gonna hop in that little bandit sit on top try that one out alright so now I'm in the bandit sit on top and this one's not quite as cozy as the Trailblazer the steeps a little I mean I guess that's the same height but it feels a little bit more flimsy on this one maybe it's an adjustment thing or maybe it's just how I sit with my legs a little bit more straight out in front of me again with the molded foot pedals here's a good example of this one's too close just when I feel a little bit too far I'd love to be right here but again there's no foot pedal so you know sitting them in the store make sure they work good for you but the thing I do like about to sit on top is again water can come up over the deck it's gonna drain right out here through the scupper holes it's a lot safer boat and if I was paddling with my family I would probably be putting it in sit on top just for that safety aspect of knowing hey if they flip over they can flip it back up and climb back on you know I was a kid not that long ago and I remember being on Silver Lake and flipping over my TV pass which was a sit inside and that thing filled to the brim and I remember having to swim that thing back and it was I don't know say it was traumatic but it was definitely a scary learning experience whereas if I had to sit on top Ryder just flipped it over and then back to paddling no big deal so as I paddle I don't know if you can hear this one-take requires more effort to push through the water so when you sit on top you elevate your center gravity up a little bit so the boats tend to have to be a little bit wider to compensate and it definitely feels a little wider so same length ten foot but another couple inches wider and it makes this float a little bit harder to handle man just look out here I'm just seeing trout brush top water all over and I don't have my rod again I should be out here fly-fishing today but instead I'm doing this for you guys and I'm happy to do it because hopefully this means you guys are gonna get out on the water and come experience some of this beauty for yourself I get plenty of room behind me if I wanted to bring a kid or a small dog this would be a good one for that all right well I'm gonna wrap it up in this one I think from a safety aspect I really like the idea of this boat for something under two hundred dollars that you can be safe with if you wanted to go float a river or something like that this boats going to serve you better than the Trailblazer next why don't we jump in why don't we jump that little 159 field in stream blade kayak it looks inexpensive on the outside but I know a whole design when I see it and I really like to look that whole design so let's try it out I'm a little bit concerned about how my 34 inch legs are gonna fit into that little tiny cockpit we'll give it a shot here so that shouldn't be a problem with my leg length yeah that was my concern right there you guys look at that so if you're a taller person this isn't the boat for you I'm gonna get in a paddle it but if I'm being honest this would be so uncomfortable to paddle because look at my knees or just right at the front cockpit there's no padding I already know I would pick the Trailblazer over this one no matter how good it paddles if you're a bigger guy now let's try it out and see how it does and just talk about performance because if you're a smaller person you know that's not gonna be a problem and you're gonna be out of the way so let's see how she goes here so I've got some of my friends and colleagues I think I'm nuts for doing these videos and you know selling Dick's Sporting Goods hundreds and hundreds of boats but you know what you guys are buying boats anyway from somewhere and I always tell people an independent shop like mine we're probably not going to be somebody's first pack shop we're gonna be their second kayak shop if somebody wants to get into the sport and wants to just spend $200 $300 to see if they like it they're gonna be buying something like this if they fall in love with the sport which I think you will out here on a place like this and guess what you're gonna be back to see me and say hey I want a good kayak I want something that I can you know do class two rivers in or I can go longer I can go harder I can put my camping gear in whatever niche you decide you want to pursue that's where I come in with knowledge with expertise with selection and I can help dial in the boat but if I'm aspiring you right now or motivating you to get out on the water and try kayaking then that's really my job that's what I'm more excited about than selling a boat in long term if you're getting into the sport and you're excited about it there's always gonna be a need for a pro shop like headwaters or whatever pro shop you have in your local town so again you guys I'm in the blade field in-stream model this is her little sit inside and I picked it up for one hundred and fifty nine dollars it's got a nice seat in it I was pelican versus this the seed is a little bit higher a little more supportive I also really like how in the back it's got a tank well but it's also got this little hump that's gonna keep the water out of my cockpit so a little bit more versatile a little bit more safe and it paddles really nice little dragonfly will hand it on me there this boat has really nice glide and I think that whoever designed this boat had to be the same person that designed the original wilderness systems Tongo because it looks eerily similar from the waist down as a Pongo just way more simplified but the whole DNA is really what matters I mean what how about paddles wide turns how stable it is all has to do with how someone designed the boat and the fact that it's roto molded means you can get a lot more complex contours and design out of the boat as opposed to the pelican sheet mold so my only complaint is the legroom this thing has the adjustable foot pedal so it's got better foot pedals better seat better whole performance a little bit heavier but not bad the only downside for me is just those those knees they're being so close to that cockpit so good if you're six foot in under I don't think you'd have a problem with it but if you're a bigger guy like me I'm six to 230 you're gonna feel a little bit crammed into the cockpit of this thing with that said now that I'm on the water this is my favorite one out of the bunch so far this thing paddle is really nice I cannot believe that they can make a kayak and $159 that one that they can make a profit at it the tubes are taken mate nice thing does the outfitting is where you get into your additional cost so if you can live without some of the creature comforts you can still get into a boat that paddles really nice at a basic price point and you can get into the sport for 200 bucks for for this boat this paddle I guess you need a lifejacket so let's say 250 bucks and you're into the sport and you're out here you're doing this I don't know I don't think I don't see how that could be bad I guess we're it to be bad as if you if you're taking the boat in inappropriate water if you're taking the boat in the waters that it shouldn't be in open water waves things like that this boat doesn't belong there this is a flat water close to shore recreational kayak and as long as you know that man you're gonna have a good time the other thing that you should invest in if you're thinking about a boat like this invest in some float bags they're basically a little triangle shaped bag that you jam up into the nose you jam it in the stern and blow them up and they basically fill up the otherwise dead space it would fill with water and give you a lot of buoyancy so if I were to flip over out here now I have a nice boy in boat that I can hold on to then I can potentially empty the water out or use a bilge pump and bail the water out and then get back in and paddle to shore again without that I've got a cockpit full of water all the way to the brim and I'm not yet I'm not getting this thing to shore the other thing I gotta say about this boat is man look at that I can just lean myself way the heck over on this boat and it's stable it is solid on a secondary edge again that classic pongo whole design that I see on the bottom of this thing that's what made the Pongo so popular because it was still paddle well but you could lean away the heck over without tipping over so compared to leave to that add that Pelican I mean I like that Pelican it's all great and at that price and that weight is good but on the water this one is it's a touch better if that one was a three star review this one would be a four star review this is just a little nicer foot pedals backrest whole performance outfitting all better the only complaint is just that small cockpit hundred and fifty nine bucks alright again this is my second time reviewing this pack I reviewed it once before in the top five under five hundred dollars that I did last year and I was impressed with it but I felt like it was a little bit of a beam pushing through the water now my filter is a little skewed because today these are $300 and undercut so my my level of expectation goes way down with with these foul boats one thing I'll say right off the bat the foot pedals for the backrest it's a super tall in this one ergonomic feel really really good I'm kind of noticing see that stop paddling see what the boat does their spins out that didn't happen in the Pelican and in that little blade pack I stopped paddling in the boat just glided straight again the whole design on this one's a little bit more beam shape is what I call just round it all over whereas that that blade actually has a really good-looking hole a little bit more keel that's a good secondary edge here but yeah I think this one actually surprisingly takes a little bit more work just to keep it going straight to the nail blade sure is hard to have a bad time when you're doing it and not even half penis easy to spin around easy to maneuver all the boats are that way you know the laws of the boat the faster is gonna cut through the water right the shorter the boat the more maneuverable it's gonna be so you got to kind of figure out what sort of water you're gonna be in what's your priority if you're in flat water lakes like this one where it's just a small body of water you don't really need the speed because you know if I had an hour to kill I could power on this whole thing twice but if I was going out to stay Whiskeytown lake where it's a little bigger body water it has to win in two ways I would definitely be looking at something longer you know twelve maybe even 14 feet if it's available I know there's not a lot available in this under you know 300 ice point but again if what you're doing is more open water stuff you should spend a little bit more get something more appropriate I keep saying it but again these are close to shore boats you don't want to paddle them further offshore than you want to swim back so let's talk about kind of pros and cons but I would say the pros to this boat indestructible construction this thing is gonna last you forever you can drag it you can beat it up it's gonna it's gonna hold up to that overall comfort instead of this boat is really good the foot pedal to back grass you know the bungees actually makes sense I've got a little spot on the dash I can I can put my paddle you know if I was doing a little fishing or whatever I got my rod holders behind me the downside is is this right here when I stop paddling the boat wants to kind of swing I didn't notice that in the in the Pelican or the blade and I don't know to me if there's any sort of wind and you're struggling to control your boat it can make kayaking a lot less fun if you're working hard to keep the boat going straight where you want it to go those other two I didn't even think about it and again you guys my review might change if I was 150 town lady and not a cooling City and I think I said the same thing last time I just feel like I push water in this and that the bow locks in and the stern is kind of loose with that being said I felt too big for that blade and it tracked and glided better than this one so take that for what it is all right so next up I've got the Mustang by Pelican again I got the pink one just cuz why not this is basically the same as a trailblazer if you look at the whole designs like from the waist down it's exactly the same this will just get too refined deck it gets a couple of rod holders to get that nice little little dipper hatch a little bit better outfitting knee pads so I think I'm gonna I think I'm gonna like this one a lot cuz I enjoyed that one and just the added comfort and features of this one should be sweet alright again the first test to step you down into that cockpit and you can see six for two I got plenty of room and these have these nice little padded cushions nice job Pelican you know cheap upgrade and I don't know how permanently attached they are but man they feel so much more squishy than any of the other boats I've been in they should sell it as an aftermarket upgrade because I mean that just upgrades your comfort levels so much remember what I was saying about the boat going straight when I start paddling it I get into Pelican I stopped paddling the boat continues to go straight maybe a little bit of being I mean it is a 10 foot but all in all quite a bit straighter than that then that perception so if I was in the market and I had a 3-2 dollar budget for my kayak obviously you got to still get a paddle and you got to get a lifejacket but I think this kayak paddles way nicer has way more features and it's only 90 bucks more so I get it it's almost a third more if you're buying a 300 elect but I definitely feel like you're getting a third more features and benefits from this kayak nice recede dry bag better ergonomics in the cockpit with a little pads I would definitely spend a little bit more and get this one if I was in the market well this is my last kayak I'm not ready to get off the water yet so what I'm going to do is I'm going to take you guys for a little ride I'm gonna go across Lake Macomber into where Battle Creek comes in and show you guys around a little bit because it's absolutely beautiful back there and honestly a little ten-four kayak will be perfect for navigating through the little marshlands so let's go check it out so we're pulling into battle creak here the basically this is where the creek comes into the lake it's pretty wild you guys I can actually feel through the kayak the water drop 20 degrees like my feet are freezing cold this is just fresh snowmelt coming down off the mountain look at all the wildflowers growing it's so pretty back in there just like this lush mountain meadow with a little creek running right through the middle and you guys this is what it's all about it's not about what kayak you're in it's about getting out and enjoying the great outdoor if this is a price point that allows you to get on the water and come out and enjoy places like this that are maybe right in your backyard that you never knew about then I'm all for it and if this videos inspired you share with us I'd love to hear your stories about how maybe something we've done has affected you personally or gotten you into the sport or inspired you to you know to to give kayaking a try that's the kind of stuff that fuels me it fuels my passion and we'd love to hear it so go ahead and follow us on Instagram tag us and any of your stuff at headwaters kayak at headwaters adventure company we'd love to see what you're up to so I'm gonna head back to the launch give you guys my final thoughts and we'll wrap this thing up all right so kind of lined him up here you guys my least favorite - my most favorite and and honestly they were all fine they all did a good job there's certain things I like about the certain ones and I'm just gonna walk you through give you my thoughts so let's start with this little Trailblazer 100 the reason I put this one is my least favorite not because of how paddles because the paddle is really good at 189 bucks it's a good value the only thing I really didn't care for this boat is that back area water drains in it's gonna drain into the cockpit and could potentially make for a dangerous situation and I think for not that much more money the outfitting the ergonomics everything about this for 90 bucks more is such a better product that I would really just lean people towards the the Mustang next over here I put the perception and although I love the build quality I love the seat when I was paddling I was probably my my least favorite boat to paddle which I'm kind of bummed to say that and again I think it's my weight I think if you're a smaller paddler you might have a different experience but comparatively to the Pelican it did not paddle quite as good the next up is the Bandit and this boat was kind of me for me it didn't like no fireworks went off when I paddle it but it is very lightweight it's stable and it is sit on top so it's a very safe boat for a family so from husband wife you know they want to get a couple of these I wanted to track a kid around or a dog around it's gonna be plenty stable and it's gonna be safe next up here is the blade kayak and out of all the kayaks this was my favorite one to paddle this one was really really impressive a really nice easy paddling boat and it only 159 bucks that has to be on your shortlist I mean it is such a good little boat the only complaint on this guy was the cockpit size a little bit short in the cockpit and I honestly think that if I fit was mine I might take a jigsaw it just buzzed this out other than that I really like the seat I like the adjustable foot pedals I'm definitely a big fan of the fielding screams blade but the reason this one right here is my top choice is for a couple things one the ergonomics it's got a nice seat on it it's got those padded vibrations that were really comfortable and it's just a really great all-around kayak it's stable it cuts through the water nice it has good tracking a lot of features at the price point you know it's little stuff but I like that little dry bag back there I like the little rod holders definitely a great entry-level option and again under 300 bucks guys so I hope you enjoyed this review all the cuts behind me were of last a panel like I said some were a little bit better another but let's be honest they're all under 300 bucks and for what you're getting at that price is really really cool you know I've been in the sport a long time and a boat like this one right here would probably have cost me five six hundred dollars just a few years ago so price of coming down and you guys are the ones that benefit so hopefully this video inspires you to get out get Akaya get paddling and then definitely as you get into the sport look for your local clubs look for your local shops those are going to be your community hubs for information for classes for events there's so much to the sport and I want to see you guys get the most out of it if you're in the Northern California area look us up headwaters kayak we have a shop in Redding a headwaters of venture company a shop and Lodi headwaters conduct lots of community events full moon paddle sunset paddles all sorts of great things to get plugged into and I got to stop and just say thank you guys so much for watching the channel subscribing to the channel if you're not already we hope you call this place home subscribe to our channels we're doing all sorts of reviews this is $300 under we'll do $500 under thousand dollar and under all the way up to you know $6,000 custom builds we do it all so subscribe to the channel click that notification button you guys so much for watching until next time this is Dan from headwaters kayaks wishing you happy paddling we'll see on the next one

Channel: Headwaters Kayak

Views: 1,396,571

Rating: 4.9215903 out of 5

Keywords: headwaters, kayak, dicks sporting goods, pelican kayaks, pelican trail blazer, pelican mustang 100, field and stream blade, field and stream kayak, blade 100 kayak, perception swifty 9.5, perception kayaks, cheap kayak review, kayaks under $300, kayak review, pelican bandit, bandit sit on top, wal mart kayaks, costco kayak review, headwaters adventure company, whiskeytown lake, Redding ca, lassen park, my lassen

Id: cZ8aP4zljPM

Length: 28min 1sec (1681 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 18 2019