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Inflatable vs. Hard Shell Kayak

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Discussion starter · #41 ·
soggy_tortillas said:
120 days could be a slight exaggeration, but it's close.... we started our season in February this year.
I don't think there's really much in steamboat for an organized roll practice. Mountain sports does lessons, which I do intend on doing ... but I don't think there's any groups in town that do it. The downtown hot springs will let you go after 8 in the evening (have to have someone spot you) but I don't think they let you do it between labor day and memorial day (air temps, tourists? Not sure why). But if enough people wanted to get together I'd be willing to call around to some places to see about renting a pool for a couple hours once a month during the winter.
In the meantime if you're in steamboat again and want to paddle let me know. It's low, but it goes, and it's better than NOT kayaking after work. I have spare boats, paddles and the like too. Or if it's a weekend might be able to run pumphouse or the blue.
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Count on two of us for anything you can put together for rolling during the off season.

Probably won't be back on any more rivers for the rest of this year, but will look you up for sure come spring!
 
#42 ·
Let's be clear about something. First of all call them what they are DUCKIES. They are glorified tubes. They have their place. I have owned a few to carry my kids when they are too young. Kayaks are crafts of grace precision and excellence. No Ducky can paddle what I can paddle, as gracefully as I can paddle, and as fast as I can paddle. They are a stepping stone or for your friends that come to visit that suck at paddling. I am glad that people have great river experiences with them but comparing kayaks and Duckies is like comparing skiing/Boarding to sledding. Sledding is really fun and easy to do but if you want to rip you have to have ptex and edges.
 
#43 ·
peterB said:
Let's be clear about something. First of all call them what they are DUCKIES. They are glorified tubes. They have their place. I have owned a few to carry my kids when they are too young. Kayaks are crafts of grace precision and excellence. No Ducky can paddle what I can paddle, as gracefully as I can paddle, and as fast as I can paddle. They are a stepping stone or for your friends that come to visit that suck at paddling. I am glad that people have great river experiences with them but comparing kayaks and Duckies is like comparing skiing/Boarding to sledding. Sledding is really fun and easy to do but if you want to rip you have to have ptex and edges.
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Voice of reason.




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#44 ·
Ha. Peter, didn't I see you and the boys at the skate park with your roller blades on the other day. You relay should quit letting them ride the roller blades and scooters at the skate park. Skateboards are much more graceful and so much more fun. IJK
 
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#49 ·
I agree with shap and steve. for sure not a lynx the only other IK I could think it could be mistaken for is a Thrill Seeker (just because of shape). but the ends on this boat scream Sotar.
 
#52 ·
Scott is one of the best ik boaters around. He runs that sotar and a stiletto. Dude is a anomaly and could duckie anything a kayker could. He writes for canoe and kayak magazine last I heard, check out his work. Great guy taboot. Every time I've seen him lately hes in a hardshell fwiw.
 
#53 ·
They each have their place. I would much rather take a DUCKY down the Escalante River or Dirty Devil at extreme low flow, but I would equally prefer to be in a hardshell for an actual low flow whitewater run.
 
#54 ·
I used to follow Brian's blog religiously, loved the photos and videos. Got a chance to meet Fish (IK'er on the Carbon river) on the White Salmon on summer, it was cool to get to talk to him. Also, Riley Baxter is a Legit IK'er who was paddling some nasty stuff ahead of the curve, like back in the 80's and 90's in a Riken and Grabner IK. He was doing the Green Truss section of the White Salmon before it was popular to hardshell. Pretty amazing to see what can be done in an IK, when most of you have pointed out how much performance a Hardshell offers.
 
#56 ·
How do IK's perform in must boof off rock situations? I realize an IK can do a lot, as one of the most complete guide books for California is done from a group of IKers. It's always interesting seeing some of their remarks, such as certain rapids can't be done on IK's without flipping, though they still get through.
 
#57 ·
I agree with most that has been said, but there are many different kinds of duckies, some very large and raft like and others, quite sleek and more like a hardshell. I started out in a hardshell so I understand their strengths. I also have a number of duckies from a 2 person Tributary, which is great for some stuff, and a couple Aire Force duckies which are really pretty quick and nimble. I have thigh straps and foot pegs and can roll them proficiently. They can never be as quick and nimble as a hard shell, but for class 3/4 they serve the same purpose for me. And my wife and kids can run just about anything in them without the hassles/risk of dealing with a hardshell. Duckies are different animals, but they are not all slow and lumbering.
 
#58 ·
Do you folks think the next step in IK evolution will be some sort of modif. to the side tubes to give edges? I understand that Sea eagle has come out with a total dropstitch kayak including the sides, although thats not one of their ww boats. That sort of rigidity along with edged side tubes would pretty much up the performance to that of a hard shell, don't you think?
 
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JIMM
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