SPITFIRE KAYAK !!!
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Describing it as a "surf toy" makes me think you're going to get wet. Why not a good old fashioned canoe? Plenty of storage on those.
Don't buy it.
With kayaks, you get what you pay for.
Good kayaks are well reviewed. Apparently http://www.paddling.net has no reviews and neither does http://www.Amazon.com. That's not a good sign.
If you're looking for something that's flat out inexpensive, I would look at the Coleman 2 Person Inflatable Kayak on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/dke62g . It's cheap, $120, and has a 4.5 star rating out of 54 reviews. Read the reviews.
Sit on tops seem to cost $800 to above.
As for me, I purchased a canoe and then purchased a Wilderness Pungo, a nice fishing kayak, although not a sit on top. Using a sit on top kayak sounds attractive when the weather is warm outside. When you're paddling a kayak on Thanksgiving day on the Chain of Lakes, trust me, you're not thinking sit on top kayak.
If you care to drive to Rutabagas in Madison, WI you can test different kayaks or canoes before purchasing. Or, rent one for the day and go fishing. You carry it from the store to the creek 100 yards away and just start paddling.
Or, go to Chicagoland Canoe Base, a legendary store in Chicago on Narragansett just north of Irving. You can't test the kayaks (no water) but they their advice is valuable.
If you lived in Florida a sit on top would be fine. You live in Chicagoland.
Save a few dollars more and get a nice kayak. You'll be glad you did.
With kayaks, you get what you pay for.
Good kayaks are well reviewed. Apparently http://www.paddling.net has no reviews and neither does http://www.Amazon.com. That's not a good sign.
If you're looking for something that's flat out inexpensive, I would look at the Coleman 2 Person Inflatable Kayak on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/dke62g . It's cheap, $120, and has a 4.5 star rating out of 54 reviews. Read the reviews.
Sit on tops seem to cost $800 to above.
As for me, I purchased a canoe and then purchased a Wilderness Pungo, a nice fishing kayak, although not a sit on top. Using a sit on top kayak sounds attractive when the weather is warm outside. When you're paddling a kayak on Thanksgiving day on the Chain of Lakes, trust me, you're not thinking sit on top kayak.
If you care to drive to Rutabagas in Madison, WI you can test different kayaks or canoes before purchasing. Or, rent one for the day and go fishing. You carry it from the store to the creek 100 yards away and just start paddling.
Or, go to Chicagoland Canoe Base, a legendary store in Chicago on Narragansett just north of Irving. You can't test the kayaks (no water) but they their advice is valuable.
If you lived in Florida a sit on top would be fine. You live in Chicagoland.
Save a few dollars more and get a nice kayak. You'll be glad you did.
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770 Posts
Rich pretty much nailed it. It's to small to carry much gear, probably not very stable because of its size. Your definately going to get wet so that limits you to using it only in the summer. It would probably be fun for floating down creeks in the summer and wet wading for smallies, but an innertube will work just as well :wink:
If you are serious about a kayak but don't want to spend a lot of cash I'd check out the Future Beach Tropy 126. From my experience it is VERY stable because of its dihedral hull, has plenty of storage including flush mount rod holders and overall handles well. It would only be about 100 more. Dicks in schaumburg has them on sale right now for 350, they retail anywhere from 400 to 540 at different places. The only downfall is the seat is uncomfortable but there are easy fixes to this.
http://www.futurebeach.com/5_kayaks/index.html
and here is mine ready to go.
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If you are serious about a kayak but don't want to spend a lot of cash I'd check out the Future Beach Tropy 126. From my experience it is VERY stable because of its dihedral hull, has plenty of storage including flush mount rod holders and overall handles well. It would only be about 100 more. Dicks in schaumburg has them on sale right now for 350, they retail anywhere from 400 to 540 at different places. The only downfall is the seat is uncomfortable but there are easy fixes to this.
http://www.futurebeach.com/5_kayaks/index.html
and here is mine ready to go.
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