tandem duckies

[pa33]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a used 2-person duckie that I could paddle solo and use for extended trips. I'm hoping some people can offer suggestions on what kind to get. I've been thinking about the aire lynx II since it seems pretty stable and big enough for lots of gear, but I've been told that hysides are made out of tougher material and will last longer. Is this true? I know aire puts a 10 yr warranty on the lynxII but does anyone know how long I could expect an aire boat to last vs a hyside?

[slickhorn]

the lynx II is what you want. The hyside boats, while well built, are not performance boats.

AIRE boats are a bit heavier, but they are stiffer, perform better, make great beds, and AIRE's warranty is the best around.

--B
http://www.wwik.org/

[blutzski]

Before you get a double duckie I highly suggest you check out a Shredder (by airtight inflatabes of Ohiopyle PA) or Culebra (by Jack's Plastic Welding). They are amazing to paddle. Much more maneuverable and perfromance oriented than duckies. They are basically a frameless cataraft that is paddled R2 style. My wife took her shredder down the Grand Canyon after having been in it one time before and ran everything including Crystal and Lava. She swam Lava but it was amazing what that thing could pull off. Just a thought. If you are interested in solo trips, though, a shredder wouldn't work. Just a thought.

[slickhorn]

more performance oriented than a ducky? If I made a hard hulled boat the size or a raft, and told you it was higher performance than a kayak, would you believe it? cause I think a kayak can outmanuever a dory ...

IKs are like any other ww market segment -- there are boats that run the gamut from beginner/rec boats to precision high performance boats. Just because the majority of IK paddlers are commercial customers with no experience who are swimming on class III is not the fault of the boat.

There's no way ANY small cat or raft is higher performance than a performance IK (read Stiletto, Thrillseeker, Vista, Force, etc). I boat with solid paddlers in those type of boats all the time. They just can't catch the eddies a kayak can, or make the ferries a kayak can, or boof like a kayak can ... or ... or ... or ...

but its a lot of fun to see what people do in the different boats.

[cadster]

You guys definitely have your own agenda.

The original post was about hauling gear. Capacity wise you cannot beat SOAR's for hauling stuff in a ducky. They come in several sizes with the 16’ being bigger than any other ducky, but you would not typically want to paddle it solo. See: http://www.soar1.com/sec_canoe.htm

[sj]

I have owned a lynxII for 10 years now. Great for tandem paddling altho we have not done anything harder than browns at 2500 in it. Never have had any quality problems even after my sister wrapped it. On trips like cat my wife (a finnesse paddler) will put a cooler and dry bags in it so we don't have to bug rafts during the day. She'll read while we play. She has no trouble in even the big drops with it loaded like that. Thats all I know about the subject good luck. sj

[mania]

where you located? we will be selling some (used aire duckies) in durango in sept.

[gh]

how used? are they singles?

greg

[mania]

4 corners riversports sells all its used demo kayaks, rental duckies and rafts at the end of every season - this year it will be sept 9th i think. you will pay below retail but ususally above wholesale but there may be some bargains.

[Mike Hartley]

PA33,

I have a Lynx II and its a great boat. I haven't paddled anything hard with it but I've done Class 3 both solo and tandem without a problem. Float bags would help on harder water as it can hold a lot and it doesn't drain very fast when swamped.

I haven't paddled the Hyside tandem but I've heard from others that own one that performance is not it's strength.

With good maintenance I don't think durability should be an issue with either boat unless you are doing some very rocky stuff.

On a performance side note - if you are mainly going to paddle solo I personally question the need for a tandem. You can pack a lot of gear into a single Hyside or Aire and still get better performance than you will from a tandem. I'm used to paddling old hardshell kayaks (read 12' - 13') and the Lynx II still feels like a whaleboat in comparison. It just depends on how much gear you want to take and the difficulty of river you are running.