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I am fairly new to kayaking, and a ways off buying my own boat quite yet, but wanted to start looking around, seeing what I might want to get.
I'm kinda short... don't know my exact hight/weight but would be guessing 130lbs and maybe 5'2''. Been paddling a Dagger GT mostly, which works great for now, but if I was going to get my own boat I was leaning towards something a little shorter, more of a playboat. Someone recomended the Juice, but wuld like to know what other people think.
Also, if I was looking at getting a used boat, could someone give me an idea of what sort of price range I would be looking at?
I have the juice 6.9. It was definitely a good choice, but I think the RX is a better option. Its like the Juice, but has some more play like a Kingpin. I got a chance to paddle one the other day and it was faster and seemed a bit more stable.
Just to clarify, I'm comfortable in III's but don't have a good roll yet, so the more proficent paddlers might have a different take.
Thanks for suggestions - I did try the Rx and didn't like it that much, but it might have been because the boat was way too big for me as much as anything else. Will see if I can try a smaller one.
Being a poor student, one more thing I should have put in - I would probably be looking at older boats, because I don't have a lot of money free to buy one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Rx is a newer boat, therefore harder to find cheap. Looking for a good compromise of price and getting a good boat, would that change your suggestions any?
You could probably find a Siren for pretty cheap ($300 or maybe less) since it's been out for 5 years. I am your size, and find it to be the easiest boat to roll imaginable. I really struggled to roll my ez, but the siren rolls up in a snap! It is slicy enough that you will learn stern squirts and cartweels easily. Also it has a faster hull speed than most of the other boats mentioned here. It is rather "edgy" but you will get used to that. I've had several playboats since (ez, s6 190) and keep going back to my Siren. Get one cheap, and if you don't like it you could sell it for the same price.
Unless you are a beginner that wants to push it, I would skip the siren and the juice. I just dont think they are stable beginner boats and to further disagree with the others I dont think any boat is much harder to roll than another as long as they fit you. Just my opinion.
If you are Peta from Australia via Japan, nice job on Zoom Flume. You might talk to Max, I think Grape has an EZ you could twist his arm into letting you try first.
There is a EZ over on the swap page for $300.00.
If you wanted to go for the Siren, there is one on the board for $250.00. I think its more playboat, but I haven't tried one.
Yes, it is me - how many people with that name are there?
I did talk to Max and Ferdinand about boats, Ferdinand recomended the EZ, which I will try to get a chance at trying. Siren sounds good to me but for some reason people far more experienced than me seems to think it isn't that good a boat.
Thanks for letting me know about those.
Did you ever get your paddle back from Zoom Flume?
With all due respect to Oops, I agree with Jennifer: My wife is 5'4" and weighs 120# and she loved her Siren. Could blast Class II-III and rolled it like a champ. I got her a Trigger and sold her Siren and she still hasn't forgiven me! As a matter of fact, I have lined up a brand new Siren for her as a replacement. The EZ is also a good boat, don't get me wrong. I'm just letting you know that my wife thought her Siren was the best!
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