Dear Sandy and Robert, > ... Has anyone tried the Stearns inflatable(s)? They look pretty rugged... Is price and/or transportability the main reasons for choosing an inflatable? In my opinion, inflatables are probably the worst boat you could possilby choose if you are at all interested in performance. Plus, the wind will push an inflatable all over the water. It's no fun paddling frantically on one side all day! A rudder help a lot, but you'll have to have it cocked severely to one side all day if you have a brisk crosswind. Inflatables are very, very stable as a rule. That's nice if you don't want to really learn how to paddle. You'll never (most likely) have to learn how to brace if you only paddle inflatables. Inflatables are usually pretty wide. That means you're restricted to low angle paddling strokes. It's difficult to do a racer's style (pre-wing paddle) stroke with an inflatable. Inflatables ARE comfortable... but so are air mattresses :-) The boats you listed were very inexpensive, so if price is a major factor, you may have to go the inflatable way. A much better choice however if you are drived by transportability, would be to get a quality folding boat. I've paddled the Feathercraft K1 and I feel that it's a pretty darn well-rounded boat. It was fast and quite comfortable. I could roll it, but it felt kind of funny (reads mushy). They ain't cheap though! I've also paddled an old Klepper. It was extremely stable, pretty fast, and fairly comfortable. I believe the model I paddled was something like 30 years old. If you are serious about getting into kayaking the right way (in my opinion), get yourself either a hard-shelled decked boat or a quality folding boat. Inflatables are just too slow and they won't allow you to advance your paddling technique. My 2 cent's worth :-) Cheers, Dave *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jul 31 1999 - 00:18:33 PDT
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