Price: $89.62
Tests/Topics:
- K2 200M
- Panic in the Water
- Inflate/Deflate
- Tracking
- Paddle Power
Wednesday: Inflate/Deflate
This kayak has 8 chambers: 6 for the seats/leg-rests and 2 for the main hull. This is beneficial for safety reasons, but presents an extra challenge when you’re involved in “inflating for time” competitions. They don’t have these? Somewhere, this sort of thing has to be happening, right? If you're not convinced, just picture yourself on an airplane that just ran out of gas and you have no parachutes - the next best thing is to grab your rubber raft/kayak and take the plunge. Just in case you find yourself in either these situations, here’s how it did on a timed inflate...
Inflation: 4:13
Paddles Assembly: 4:08
Total: 8:21
Below you will find some photos of the entire process. To accomplish the times above, we used a Coleman 120V Electric Quick Pump
, readily available... almost anywhere that you might buy stuff.
, readily available... almost anywhere that you might buy stuff. For those of you who really get into your “time trials for ordinary tasks” competitions, here are some good numbers for deflation…
Deflation: 6:03
Paddle disassembly: 1:56
Total: 7:59
To judge the true utility of this kayak, these times should probably be compared to the overall set-up/take-down times of other kayak models – specifically, those with hard shells.
What is there to set up with a hard-shell kayak? Assuming that you only wish to spend your money on the kayak itself and not on a high-tech rack system
(which could cost you more than the inflatable kayak) for your car, you’ll probably spend some time figuring out how to strap a kayak on the top of your car. You may even spend a little more time getting to your destination to minimize the possibility of a tragic highway boating accident. The point here is that you will have to spend some time both before and after you hit the water, either inflating/deflating an inflatable or strapping/securing a more traditional model.
(which could cost you more than the inflatable kayak) for your car, you’ll probably spend some time figuring out how to strap a kayak on the top of your car. You may even spend a little more time getting to your destination to minimize the possibility of a tragic highway boating accident. The point here is that you will have to spend some time both before and after you hit the water, either inflating/deflating an inflatable or strapping/securing a more traditional model.This inflatable kayak easily fits in a standard car trunk (with room to spare for some luggage) and sets up quickly enough to be a convenient option. For portability and ease of inflation/deflation, it gets a passing grade and we'll even throw in some flying colors.
On a related note, it gets a sub-par grade for minimalistic packaging techniques (or should we say, redundant packaging techniques). That's right, it shipped to us... in a bag... in a box... in a box... in a box.
No comments:
Post a Comment