How to Choose a Kayak | Beginner Tips

hello again everyone i'm ken whiting host of paddle tales and this week we are going to talk about how to choose the right kayak because there are a lot of kayaks to choose from and this decision can be overwhelming but it really comes down to what type of paddling are you going to be doing and are you more comfortable sitting inside or sitting on top of the kayak but before we get into it please subscribe to paddle tv if you haven't already because there's lots more tips coming your way it's also worth checking out the paddle tales series it's a really cool web series here on paddle tv where we go to some of the world's most incredible destinations and share some amazing paddling adventures along the way there's a link in the description box down below so the question of how to choose the right kayak well there's a few different decisions you need to make and we're going to start with the most important one is do you want a sit inside or do you want to sit on top kayak now they both obviously have their pros and cons a sit on top i sit on top kayak is very comfortable because your legs aren't stuck in any one position you're free to move around and you can even have some sit on tops even have seats or sitting positions that can be manipulated they can be raised or lowered by having a higher sitting position your legs are can be in a more comfortable position there's also the fact that a sit on top kayak can act like almost like a big air mattress a pool air mattress you can hop off you can hop on you can treat it like a floating dock that that can be paddled it can't swamp unless you compromise the hull itself it can be flipped rolled back up and it's not going to swamp and sink there's trapped air inside the sit on top kayak that prevents that from happening to paddle a sit on top kayak is to be wet because you're exposed to all the elements and for that reason sit on top kayaks aren't as good for paddling in cooler water cooler conditions but they are great for paddling in warmer conditions in in warm water because they're cooler sit inside kayaks are great for rougher water typically because you can stay protected from wind and waves if you use this in an inside kayak that has a skirt that seals the kayak up and doesn't let water inside you're being inside the kayak you're you've got more typically you have more control over the kayak as well it's kind of like a sit on top is wearing a flip-flop where you're you know you're standing on top you're on top of that platform where i sit inside is a shoe and you've it's wrapped your foot you have a lot more control um the same thing goes with kayaks sit inside kayaks you typically have a lot more boat control so for more aggressive paddling sit inside kag is a better option ultimately it comes down to when choosing a sit on top or sit inside kayak um what are you most comfortable with if you would like the boat control and are willing to sit inside a kayak um then a city sit inside kayak is a great option if not if you would like to have the comfort the uh the non-cluster non-claustrophobic feeling of sitting on top of a kayak then that that is the uh the direction you should go so once you've decided on a sit on top or a sit inside then you need to make some other decisions first one being what's more important is it more important to have speed or is it more important to be stable it depends on the type of kayaking you're doing if you're trying to cover long distances if that's the kind of trip you like to go on then you're going to want a kayak that's narrower and longer if you want a kayak that's more stable that you're less worried about flipping then you want a kayak that's wider it's really width that this impacts the wider a boat is generally speaking the more stable it is the narrower narrower it is the faster it will travel through the water now another decision that also relates to the shape of the kayak is what's more important speed or maneuverability a kayak that is shorter is more maneuverable it can turn a lot more freely a kayak that is longer tracks a lot better stays on course and will go uh typically go a lot faster in a straight line so if speed is of the atmos utmost importance to you you're going to want to choose a kayak that's narrower and longer if stability and maneuverability is more important to you or one or the other then you're going to want a kayak that's wider or shorter another consideration that a lot of people don't uh give is to transportation of the kayak how are you going to transport this thing and if you don't have a trailer or a car that can take a long kayak like a sea kayak then you should probably shouldn't be looking at a sea you need to be looking at or a touring car you need to be looking at a shorter kayak or if you don't have the capability to take any kayak on the top of your vehicle then you need to be looking at a kayak that can be transported inside your vehicle and that's an inflatable kayak or a folding kayak there's tons of options out there now depending on what your transportation capabilities are you may have to spend a little bit more money on a folding kayak if you don't have you know an easy way to move it around and you may have to deal with a slight drop in performance that an inflatable kayak delivers if you don't have room on top of your vehicle but great thing about those kayaks is you throw them into your car and also storage at home if you have a small apartment you don't have a place a backyard or a garage to put a big kayak they can go in your closet of course another key factor and in many cases a deciding factor is the cost and kayaks can range from you know as little as three hundred dollars three or four hundred dollars to in fact the most expensive kayak just was released on kickstarter this week it's about a ten thousand dollar kayak now the difference there's a lot of differences between a 300 and a 10 000 kayak the 10 000 kayak is really a piece of art almost it's com made completely out of carbon and it is uh handcrafted it is beautiful it you know it's a feather it it's very light and easy to to carry around um whereas a 300 kayak is going to be made out of a polyethylene a plot basically a plastic kayak it's not going to have great customization options it's not going to have very good sitting seat or outfitting very simple you get what you pay for typically when you pay more for a kayak you're getting two things you're getting better materials that it's made from and better outfitting which translates to more comfort and more customization options depends on the type of of paddling you're going to be doing if you're just going to be going out for a casually a casual a paddle at the cottage or down at the river or lake a couple times a year then you really don't need a high-end kayak something uh made a plastic hack is great plastic also deals with abuse very well if you're gonna drag that kayak um to the water across rocks or you know that's why most white water kayaks are are made of plastic they take a lot of abuse for many years if you're going to be spending more time paddling you may want to invest in a kayak that has a better outfit and you will want to invest in a kayak that has better outfitting a more comfortable seat um [Music] and even options for upgrades for fishing accessories or you know cupholders or you know storage compartments it the sky is the limit with kayaks these days so it's a good idea to establish your budget from the outset and do yourself a favor don't try a kayak that's outside your budget because once you do you won't want to go back i guarantee you stick with testing demoing kayaks within your budget and that's actually a final point that's worth making is that a lot uh you can go to the local big box store and pick up a kayak and they have very affordable kayaks there what they don't offer is the opportunity to to demo to try kayaks before you buy and a lot of paddling specific shops most paddling specific shops offer that opportunity take a boat out for a test drive and if you like it great you can try a couple different boats sometimes they even have demo days where they have all the boats out and you can try a whole bunch of different boats it's worth doing if you're if you expect to spend a lot of time paddling if this is something you're going to take on as a you know as a long-term uh recreational activity spend the time try out a bunch of boats find what works best for you find what you're most comfortable with and what you're most comfortable in and and go from there there's a great secondhand market available so when you if you do get a kayak and you outgrow its uh its characteristics you want to upgrade move to something else typically speaking it's uh it's pretty easy to find someone to buy it and uh and move on to a better or different kayak well that's about it for uh for this tip i hope you found it helpful and if you have please do give this video a big thumbs up subscribe to paddle tv if you haven't already and do be sure to check out the paddle tales series on youtube the link is in the in the description box we got lots more tips lots more paddle tales episodes coming your way so stay tuned [Music] [Music] you

Channel: PaddleTV

Views: 29,100

Rating: 4.9831934 out of 5

Keywords: PaddleTV, Paddle TV, Choosing a Kayak, Buying a Kayak, Kayaking, paddling, how to choose a kayak, kayaking tips, sit on top kayak, sit inside kayak, kayak, kayaking video, kayak video, choosing the right kayak, Paddle Tales, kayaking, how to kayak, sea kayak, choosing a kayak, choose a kayak, Kayaks, best kayaks, what is the best kayak, best kayak beginner, best kayaks for beginners, beginner kayaking, kayaking beginner, beginner tips, folding kayak, inflatable kayak

Id: qi34Xukvg90

Length: 11min 17sec (677 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 09 2020