Mountain Buzz banner

New Jackson Creeker - the Villain

26K views 50 replies 27 participants last post by  Ken Vanatta  
#1 ·
Image

Image


Details at this point are minimal, but expect it to be out some time early this spring.

Check out www.4CornersKayak.com for more.
 
#35 ·
Apology

I couldn't wait to get to work this morning and type an apology to 4 Corners River Sports. Just before leaving the office yesterday I typed my previous post in a rush and inconsiderately forgot what forum it was in and that 4 Corners had so generously started this thread. I apologize to 4 Corners for having made a plug for a competitor in your thread. My intent was only to add to the discussion going on by mentioning the availability of Rockers and Jefes at sale prices. I had not checked 4 Corners sales before typing. So in apology, fairness, respect, and hopes of encouraging the sport and the economy, I searched riversports.com this morning and see equally great sale prices on their new and used boats, too. I am all about enthusiasm for kayaking and think it is fair to suggest that there are some excellent bargains going on for kayaking equipment during this holiday season. I wish all businesses a prosperous holiday season and coming new year. Cheers to all and my sincere apprecation for Andy and the team at 4 Corners. Durango boaters are some of the best spirited and expert boaters anywhere. Kudos to you guys! Thank you for having debuted the new Jackson design to us. It is very cool to receive a preview and much appreciated.

Best wishes to everyone for an adventerous, safe, and enthusiastic boating season. Keep the spirit, obtain the gear you desire, and indulge in and protect our rivers.

Best regards and happy holidays,
Ken
 
#38 ·
Boats

Canada,

Yes I have seen both broken Y's and Blunts. Now the Blunt was never really that popular of a boat back in the day. Spencer Cooke and some of the SE boys did their best to get Spikes designs in front of alot of people, but as a whole Necky was never that good of a seller in the rockies. The Jive was a super surfing kayak, but boats that allowed easier vertical play sold much better in CO.

WS was the brand in CO for a long time, and becuase of stores like Stark Moon Pyrahna boats gained a nice footprint on the east coast. Necky on the west coast and Perception still had a ton of faithful followers.

Alot of this discussion falls prey to foggy memory. Working and paddling more in those days, it gave us a different perspective. The real hardcore crews of that time didn't spent as much if anytime online talking about kayaking. It's different today. People live a different reality online today. I see some folks who have a huge online persona, in real life aren't necessarily the same folks that would ever step up to lead a group down the river. Or anyone would really choose to follow. But, online they will give a very passionate opinion about just about anything.

Back then no one was talking about Crosslink. They talked about HTP being the best for creeking. It had little to do with the plastic itself, but in sted the process of build boats was the main focus. Which was better: roto molding or blow molding? No one knew what HTP stood for or could pronouce the German term. Everyone talked about cooking. If crosslink is over cooked (yellowish inside), it was a plastic eggshell. Liner had a wider set range and was easier to crank out boats worthy of selling. Later outfitting sold boats, and they design tweaks. Now it tends to fall more onto company loyality. Back then it was true too, but maybe had more to do with fit prefference. See each companies cockpit and seat design allowed for distint paddler angles. Once you got used to something it was hard to switch, everything else felt funny or weird.

It's winter now some most folks are living their paddling personas in our own little Sims universe, ie... Mountainbuzz. Thank you Frenchy for giving us a way to get through the winter. If not for the Buzz, we would still have to get our kicks bashing tourists from the ski lift. Oh, those were the days.

Back to the point. There were more broken Y's in CO than any other creeker... Just because it out sold the others here. More boats on the water = more broken boats. Prijon sold the poorest of any boat company in the states, so they had the fewest breaks. Still keep in mind we are talking about the single worst selling catagory of kayaks... Creek boats. Fewest boats sold, and still the highest number of warrenty requests. Go figure. Maybe people are still searching for the Holy Grail. A 45 lbs kayak that you can send down anything and it will be fine. Oh to dream.
 
#40 ·
Looks good, can't wait to try one.

JK and Wavesport have the poorest plastic, really Christian? On top of that you think Gore is better then the green?

Put the real Christian back on the forum as this one is on meth. Dagger, pyranha have the most questionable plastic there is and I have 5 boats you can come get to prove it. On top of that, the customer service for Dagger sucks ass and will not give you shit if you hit a rock.

Come on, I know there's the JK haters and it's all good but they are on top of the market and have excellent customer service that will get and keep you in their boats unlike some mentioned above.

ps- wavesport hasn't made a good boat since the stubby that is a river runner
 
#41 ·
Of course he has to be biased, but here's EJ's comment:

"Loving the villain and i have a new favorite boat for creeking. Sweet!!!!"


Image
 
#42 ·
Image


According to EJ, upon further testing in Mexico, ... "The villain paddles like having a conversation with your best friend. It is easy and you feel right at home."

So, why would I seem enthusistic about this boat and this thread? First, even though I really love skiing, I am jonesin' to boat this special year for me (30th/50th). Secondly, two of the boats standing side by side in my garage are the Punk Rocker and my wife's Little Hero. Two outstanding boat designs. Side by side I can see their blend in the Villain. Assumming that the Villain will be available in a similar size as the Punk Rocker, I can picture how awesome this boat may be. It might well be the refined excellence of a boat that is of a best friend nature. One that is always welcomed, kind, supportive, dependable, and fun.

I am very psyched to experience this boat. It appears to be another superbly refined addition in a full spectrum of top performing boats from a single company. I hope that 2010 is the year for everyone to upgrade and fill full your river sense.

Enjoy!

Ken
 
#43 ·
I have owned four brands in my time kayaking. I have found that Jackson makes far and away the best playboats I have used, LL playboats suck, The Hero is a piece of poop and surfed me in every hole I found on the river. I did have a Necky chronic that lasted forever, and was a fun playboat. My WS playboat was ok, but the diesel was more annoying than any boat I ever paddled, and the only creekboat I liked was the Jefe. The only thing I have found that I wished the Jefe had was a bulkhead system like the Rocker to make it piton proof for my ankles. Does anyone know how to do this?
 
#44 ·
So was it 2003 when the Jefe and Nomad came out? This is a big creekboat year with new Burn, Prijon's boat, and the Villian.

I'm most excited to try Prijon's boat out. Everyone knows about their plastic, its always just been their design and outfitting that's held them back. Jackson's boat looks like a Burn/Nomad/Hero hybrid which will be interesting to try as well, especially if they can improve their durability.
 
#45 ·
#50 ·
?????VIDEO ANYONE?????

Sorry i haven't had time to sift through the 5 pages, but is there any VIDEO of that bad boy in action???? I'd love to see someone actually paddling the boat!! That would be SWEET!!!

Cheers!

-Nick