Pros and cons on Inflatable Kayaks - Alaska Outdoors Forums

by jgonski

I'd like to get a discussion going on the various brands and hull styles of IK's out there. I did a whitewater class for the Knik Canoers and Kayakers and we had several different brands of boats. It was interesting. Aire is popular here, in fact our school has a bunch of Tom Cats, but there are other brands out there that are not so common in Ak but maybe superior boats. For example in the for sale forum a guy has a Skill Kat IK for sale. That boat is TOTALLY different than any IK I have ever seen. I have Aire lynx I kayaks. I bought them both used at a good deal and I have been very happy with them. Durable, stable, maneuverable. I havn't done multi-day floats with them but I am confident if I packed light I could do a 5 day trip with no problem. My only gripe with these, is the bladder design. Because of this, they are much more bulky rolled up (more than a hypalon IK) and I've always thought an in the field repair would be more difficult because of the two layers. Having said this,...

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