Dan Reviews - Moken 12.5 V2

[Music] what's up guys dan here from headwaters kayak shop and I've been invited out to North Carolina by feel free kayaks to talk about their new 2020 lineup of kayaks so we've been here all weekend testing boats having a good time and I wanted to take a moment to walk you through the brand new Moken 12 5 version 2 so basically they took everything we loved about the Moken and made it better you know one thing I'll say about feel free is they do a really good job listening to their customers listening to their dealers and the things that we really wanted to incorporate it here in this new Moken so let's just come in close and have a little closer look and talk about what changed one of the main things that changed is right here we used to have a center console that went quite a ways back in the cockpit it was a useful storage spot but transducer rigging was a little hard so now we have the sonar pod just like you're used to seeing on the lure your battery goes in here your transducer wires tuck in here and you've got a waterproof port for your wires to your fish finder as well as a waterproof port from the back of the trailer from the back of the sonar pod two minor transducer on the bottom so it's a one-piece unit very clean and at the end of the day you can put this in your car you don't have to worry about something walking away clips and clips out easy if you're not using it for its owner you can always use it for storage as well moving around the cockpit you'll see two standing platforms it used to be one big one they split it up but you still have plenty of foot room plenty of standing area as we move our way back you'll notice the seat brand-new for 2020 and this is definitely the biggest upgrade that we've seen the old seat was a clip and seat which wasn't bad it was still really comfortable but in this day and age you got to have a seat to be competitive and they were able to do it they took the seat that you're used to seeing on the Johnny bass 100 you're also gonna see it on some of the new big fish like the big fish one weight pedal Drive same seat that you're seeing in the new Moken and I've been in it all weekend super comfortable great lumbar support nice and wide too so if you got a little thicker ass or thicker tushy you're still going to fit in this single problem other little things little subtle upgrades well the fact that the seat goes up and down I think is also a nice upgrade check this out so you have a high-low positioning so before it was just kind of set on a low now you actually have about four inches of height adjustment and the boat maintains plenty of stability so still able to stand in it still able to paddle it no problem but you have a lot more options for your comfort so the mohkum has always been a really great paddling boat I think it's one of the best paddling all-around kayaks that's out there right now now that they have it with the chair in it and the bigger standing platform they're really crossing that bridge of a you know kind of a taurine fishing kayak that you can still stand up and you can still have a chair in and I think it just has a very broad appeal and at 799 I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better value on the market it is rudder ready so it's pretty plumbed for rudders it doesn't come with the rudder but the nice thing is the hoses right here are ready to connect all you got to do is swap out your foot pedals to the rudder foot pedals you've got your retracting line which is where oh right here you got your raise and pull line that comes right down here so literally if you wanted to upgrade this to the rudder all you'd have to do is drop the pin in run the lines and swap out the foot pedals and in a matter of 10-15 minutes you can have a rudder boat a rudder ready lawn chair high-low see sonar pod at around $1,000 I I don't know of a better value if you guys know of when you're welcome to leave that down in the comments section but really really incredible value for what you're getting let's talk about a few other subtle differences that they add it to the milk in one of them is the rod I'm going to call it horizontal rod storage because it technically is probably meant for rod tips but you'll see how I have my bait caster in there as I've actually flipped that around I've put it in backwards and this thing just parallels along the boat stays nice and out of the way and actually I'd one of the team guys showed me that about how he uses them otherwise the reels kind of hang out on the side or a little bit in the way but this is a really smart solution to get those rods horizontal out of the way even if it's just for transport other little things you'll notice upgraded is a new feel free unit rack they do a top mounted unit rack whereas before let me see if I can create a little more space to see that before it was molded into the boat and we didn't have a lot of issues with it but this definitely feels stiffer stouter some more one with the boat just because it has a little bit wider base a little bit better attachment I definitely think that's a nice upgrade you still do need either a mighty mount or unit rack adapter in or in order to run all your old t-bolt stuff but easy convertible in a very stout system let's see what other things we have let's just go through the standard features of the mo kin as always you've got your big front handle so if you need to pick this thing up and move around you got a solid place to do so as you work your way back adjustable foot pedals in the cockpit scupper holes in the front of your feet scupper holes beneath you here and then another set of scupper holes underneath your butts so six total in the deck which makes it really quick to drain if you take waves on if you take water on you know like we take this out on the ocean on the west coast and choppy days the water just drains right through the deck definitely a seaworthy design behind the seat here you'll see a couple of cup holders I definitely think that's a nice thing that they kept from the old one one of my favorite things about the boat being able to put some drinks with me on board in the back you've got a little twist lock storage hatch I mostly use this for access to get in and out of the boat or for rigging the more access to the hole I think the better you are when it comes to rigging and building you could also store stuff in there if you wanted and then the tank well it's a perfect size whether using a melt create a black pack or a feel free create bag like this plenty of space plumbing plenty of length even if you want to use a longer one this has 5 rod holders on it but I've seen guys use up to nine rod holders in this kayak plus you've got to flush mounts built into the boat so if you just need a quick place to stow a rod or stow Annette you've got those right on board over here you'll see the paddle clip same like you've been seen it's kind of right behind your hip you got a little ledge there clip it in place and you're good to go comes with the crate straps built into the boat not something you need to add so if you're running a milk crate or a feel free crate you just strap it down there deck bungee throughout the rear one thing I like to say went away from those little orange clips and they went to this setup which is basically Pat eyes throughout the boat and then another top mounted unit rack so these can unbuckle and then you can use these bungees to stretch into clip-on maybe you want to put a fish bag back here I know it's something we do a lot more fish in the ocean gotta keep our fish cool and keep them away from the sea lions in the back you've got a grab handle and a little hidden feature that it's hard to tell but you actually have two really nice molded in handles in the back of this boat so if you wanted to pick it up and move it around that's actually a really solid place to do that you got a drain plug if for some reason you have water inside you can get it out here and then lastly the spot for your rudder in the back here also with any feel free kayaks you guys already know this if you're subscribed to the channel or if you're hearing about it for the first time this is what makes it feel free kayak it's a patented wheel in the keel so when I'm moving this thing around on ramps or on concrete I don't have to have a cart I don't have to lift the whole boat I can just pick up the front of the boat and roll this thing around it's the difference of two guys having to schlep a boat down to the water or one guy picking up the handle and rolling it now I'd like to say concrete or hard ramps because if you're going through sand or through dirt or through rugged terrain you're still going to want a proper cart but I tell you what for getting around the parking lot or for rolling it down a concrete ramp these things come in clutch and you're not wearing out your keel you got a wheel so all right thank you guys so much for watching we're gonna go back and hit the water try to catch some of these Lake Lure bass if you're not already do me a favor go check us out at headwaters kayak here on youtube or at headwaters kayak on instagram for a lot more content like this we really strive to be your community kayak shop on the internet and we appreciate your support until next time you guys this is Dan from headwaters kayak Rob wishing you happy paddling we'll see you on the next one

Channel: Feelfree Kayaks

Views: 11,219

Rating: 4.942029 out of 5

Keywords: feelfree kayaks, moken 12.5 v2, moken, fishing kayaks, headwaters kayaks, kayak fishing

Id: 3lhfi5WNgLM

Length: 8min 15sec (495 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 14 2020