Sea Kayaks vs Recreational Kayaks | Pros and Cons

hey everyone i'm ken whiting with paddle tales and today we're going to talk about sea kayaks versus wreck kayaks before we get started though please subscribe to paddle tv if you haven't already and check out the paddle tales series it's a series that takes us to some of the most amazing destinations in the world and goes on cool paddling adventures along the way there's a link in the description box where you can you can check it out now seacocks and rec kayaks they're used sometimes interchangeably but they are different paddle crafts and they do require some different skills to use what's the difference well a sea kayak is typically a kayak between 15 to 18 feet in length you know very very that's very rough they're designed to have small cockpits so that a skirt can be used with them to keep the water out this lets you paddle in rougher water uh without the kayak swamping there they tend to be long narrow and fast a wreck kayak on the other hand tends to be between nine feet and fifteen feet shorter but squatter they're wider that makes them a whole lot more stable and they're not designed for the for traveling at the same speed covering the same time type of distance or for the same type of rough water so let's talk real quick about the pros and cons of both a sea kayak as i was saying it's designed for speed it'll cover a lot of ground and it'll cover a lot of ground quickly it is better for multi-day trips than a rec kayak because there's a lot of storage space in the bow section and the stern section which are accessible by hatches in the deck sea kayaks also are divided into three sections you have a bow section a stern section in the cockpit now the cockpit is where you sit right behind the seat there's a bulkhead which is basically just a wall inside the kayak that separates the stern section and then just ahead of your feet the foot pegs in the kayak there's another bulkhead to separate the bow section of the kayak and the reason that's important is because if you do end up swimming capsizing and pulling your skirt and swimming in any type of body of water only the cockpit floods or gets swamped you your other your ends your bow and your stern compartments remain full of air and the floatation for your kayak so you can then with training you learn rescue on water rescue techniques you can do self-rescue techniques where you actually get in the kayak yourself or assisted rescues where someone helps you get back in you pump the water out of your cockpit area put your skirt back on and you're ready to go that really is an option with a wrecked kayak because of that extra space in the battle and stern lots of room for storing gear makes it better for multi-day trips and tandem sea kayaks usually have a center compartment too it's a big center hatch between the two paddlers which has tons of space for gear you can actually put a third person in there as well the other thing sea kayaks have that rec kayaks usually don't is rudders or skegs now they don't all have rudders rudders or skegs but a lot of them do and rudders or skegs help you steer control the kayak especially in windy conditions sea kayaks also are available in a variety of materials you can get a sea kayak in fiberglass or carbon weave high performance materials that make them much lighter much which makes it much easier to carry and uh and much stiffer higher performance so what about wrecked kayaks what makes a red kayak a red kayak well as i was mentioning before they're between 9 and 15 feet in length they're they tend to be much wider and much more stable much more user-friendly than sea kayaks as a general rule you don't need specific instruction to paddle a wrecked kayak but you do have to understand its limitations without specific instruction on on rescue techniques you really shouldn't paddle wreck kayak further from shore than you can comfortably swim you have to assume that if you flip you might need to swim yourself to shore without the kayak and and get some help and or have a friend because you shouldn't be paddling alone um tow the boat to shore where you then gather the pieces and empty the water and get back in um red kayaks are available in both sit on top and sit inside styles sit on top very self-explanatory you sit on top of the kayak your legs are exposed i like to think of them as floating docks that you can paddle you can ball off or get off you can get back in from the water very easy great for for kids great for people who just want to to paddle around without having to worry about flipping the sit inside wrecked kayaks are wider and equally stable they tend to have some type of a cockpit where your legs go in the cockpits tend to be a lot bigger than seacock so you don't feel that same you're not done you don't feel as confined as you do in a sea kayak um the cost of that is less control sea kayak has much more control feels like a sea kayak's like a fits like a good pair of shoes where uh a wreck sit inside kayak is more like a a pair of rubber boots you know not high performance you're not going to run any kind of a race with or you're not going to do any race with a with a wrecked kayak the other major benefit of rec kayaks is that they're extremely comfortable because you have these this wide platform your legs have more room to move the sitting position cannot often be changed you can move from a low position to a high position they have lounge seats in the in the nicer rec hack models rec hikes can also be customized with things like cup holders rod holders you know if kayak anglers put fish finders on them there's storage uh in the back you could put a cooler there's a lot of space to put ghee bring gear along as well as pets family members they're definitely i mean they're recreate they're for recreational use whereas sea kayaks or touring kayaks are designed for more so for uh accomplishing a paddling mission so in general sea hacks longer narrower faster can handle almost any type of water but require some expertise to paddle because they're not as stable red kayaks available in a wide assortment they're shorter they're fatter wider more stable can be totally customized are designed for comfort and for accessibility and they have limitations which is you need to stay closer to shorey they're not designed for rough water you need to accept the fact that you have to stay in sheltered waters so there you go the rundown between sea cacs otherwise referred to as touring kayaks and rec kayaks i hope you enjoyed this video if you did give it a thumbs up uh subscribe to paddle tv if you haven't already check out one of the paddle tales episodes down below we're just about to go on a cool sea kayaking adventure in the thousand islands and um we'll see you soon for another paddling tip [Music] you

Channel: PaddleTV

Views: 52,072

Keywords: sea kayak, recreational kayaks, sea kayaks, recreational kayak, Paddle TV, Ken Whiting, Kayak Touring, rec kayak, kayaks, how to kayak, touring kayak, kayaking, kayak, pros and cons, paddling, sea kayaking, choosing a kayak, how to choose a kayak, what kayak is best, which kayak is best, is a sea kayak better, best kayak for lakes, best kayak for rivers, choosing a rec kayak, choosing a sea kayak, choosing the best kayak, Paddle Tales, kayak tips

Id: dLt7Mqb0ZIs

Length: 8min 39sec (519 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 30 2020