Advanced Elements – AdvancedFrame™ Expedition Elite Kayak – Inflatable Kayak

Paddler profile: intermediate/advanced hardshell paddler with Gulf Coast/ Everglades/10,000 Islands/Keys open water experience in a Norse Sleipner and a Valley Sirona. For this new boat, follow the instructions. Oh, did you forget? Welp, they put em on a tag at the end lift handle. Don’t want to spend a ton of time pumping? Let’s call it 70ish double pump strokes total across all chambers. Can’t handle that? Then buck up or skip it. Seriously. And buy your own pump cause nope, they don’t include one. Reviews mentioning this are…looks around and whispers…betas. An inflatable boat is, well, inflatable. You would miss a stable dropstitch floor that is an add-on in lower models, great cockpit room, and durability to drag this to Hades and back while avoiding any damage. As in, not a scratch. Did I mention it fits in a 36x15x15ish bag? Sure, this is just eyeballing but can you pull up to a paddle drop in a 911 and whip out an Open ocean paddler, lol? Well, neither can I, so join the crowd. Small SUV? Yep. Honda CVCC…ok, Civic? Yep. It fits in the trunk and maybe a frunk or two. Go with a wider paddle than a hard shell by 10-20 cm to get the reach over a wide beam. The spray skirt is passable but not your waterproof icon as in a whitewater ‘yak. It tracks well and decently straight. Not roll tested, but really? Be my guest and enjoy the water exit. Not gonna go there. It is a fun boat, not an Ferrari. Enjoy this for every convenience and capability it brings. My favorite casual paddler overkill and capable of being more if you aren’t into exotic hardshells or are looking for rugged simplicity in a compact package. You could do so much with this yak and yet you can be a beginner with desire to improve via this platform. Fantastic package, hard to ignore unless you think drop stitch in every surface uber alles is the way to go. You’ll never match the purpose built hardshell ocean yaks but you’ll have fun with the platform no matter your experience level. Git sum.