5 Ways to Pick the Best Inflatable Kayak - Without Seeing It
When it comes to inflatable kayaks, there’s a world of choice out there.
If you’re low on space, inflatables are the perfect option, and there are some that feel ridiculously close to hard-shell kayaks. A friend of mine once bought a hard-shell and used it as her couch for a year because there was no other place to store it! Thankfully times have changed (and if you’re still not sure whether you’re after an inflatable or hard-shell, you can read our comparison of the two).
So now you’re hooked, you’ve decided to get one - but if you’re looking online, how do you know how to choose the best inflatable kayak without seeing or touching it?
We’ve broken it down into five key things to look for:
Something that suits your needs
Design that assists with easy setup and pack down
A drop-stitch floor or at least some hard surfaces
A fin or hull shape that makes for straight-line tracking performance
As lightweight as your budget allows
Follow our principles and you won’t go wrong - and if you want more specific examples of what we recommend, head over to our inflatable kayak reviews. Want to paddle with a buddy? Read our review of the best 2-person inflatable kayaks.
Suitable for your needs.
The first step is to think about what you’ll MOST use the kayak for.
Are you going to be paddling for leisurely recreation or going hard to get some exercise? Do you want to go fishing or explore remote waterways? Are you on calm water, rough water, white water, one or two people, taking the dog or kids?
Your needs will heavily determine the most important features to look for in a kayak.
Here are some pointers for specific requirements:
Fitness/performance: look for a narrower, longer kayak. The hull should be as hard and as v-shaped as possible - in an inflatable kayak, this often means a rigid and tapered stern and bow, and/or a decent-sized fin that can be clipped underneath.
Recreation/fishing: go for stability, so look for a wider kayak. If you’re fishing, you’re obviously going to need things like rod-holders, additional storage and pockets.
Rough water/white water: again, stability is your friend on rough water so a wider kayak will serve you best here, and you’ll likely need self-baling or two-way valves in the floor to let out excess water.
Kayak touring: you’re going to need storage space and a decent cockpit size for comfort on those long journeys. You’ll also want something on the longer and narrower end of the scale to assist with efficient paddling.
Fun for the whole family: if you’re taking kids or a dog, here’s a hot tip - look for something with low sides that can be easily climbed into from the water. You’ll be glad you did the first time they jump in!
And of course, are there usually going to be one or two of you? While there are plenty of convertible options out there, if you’re mostly going to be on your own you’ll be better served by getting a one-person kayak so it’s not too unwieldy to paddle on your own.
Easy setup and pack down.
For all the advantages of inflatable kayaks, they do have that extra step of set up and pack down.
To minimise the time spent doing that, you’ll want to look for two things:
Fewer inflation points. In our opinion, one inflation point each for the floor and each side wall or tube is perfect. Some really great kayaks do have more points for the purposes of segmenting off chambers in case there’s a tear somewhere, or to increase performance by facilitating a sharper hull shape - but you pay for it in time. We’d also strongly recommend you look for a kayak with matching valves, so you don’t need to change the pump attachment between each one.
Fast-drying materials. A high-grade PVC will dry much faster than a fabric-covered kayak, and it’s essential you pack your kayak away bone-dry - the last thing you want is to open it up for your next trip and find it covered in mould.
Hard surfaces.
Paddling a kayak is a biomechanical act that relies on the push and pull of the water on your paddle and your body on the kayak.
If you’re paddling along in a giant marshmallow, you’re going to have to work that much harder to go anywhere because the soft surface you’re sitting on will absorb most of your effort, rather than it being directed against the water by your paddle. The spongier the boat, the less pleasant your paddling experience.
This is why we love a drop-stitch floor.
Drop-stitch is a technique where the two outer sides are sewn together internally, so when you inflate a drop-stitch kayak floor the internal sewing creates tension, resulting in a firmness that makes the floor feel like a hard surface. There are a fair number of drop-stitch kayaks out there, including some that are full drop-stitch, and we’d definitely recommend going for those if you can afford them. Some that aren’t drop-stitch do try to mitigate by having hard plastic bows and sterns, which isn’t a bad option, but we’d definitely avoid anything that has no internal structure at all.
Hull shape and fins.
Are you a barge, or a speedboat?
A barge has a flat hull for stability, and moves slowly - a speedboat’s hull is shaped like a ‘V’ and goes fast. There’s nothing wrong with your inflatable kayak being a barge, as long as you didn’t set out to buy a speedboat. The profile of the hull will tell you a lot about whether the kayak is engineered for speed or leisure, so choose according to your needs.
In both cases though, there is a need for straight-line tracking if you don’t want to go insane paddling in circles (your choice).
If the hull is already ‘V’ shaped, you’re pretty much there, particularly if the kayak is longer. In flatter hulls, either a small, rigid in-built fin is needed, or a longer one that clips onto the bottom. You will need some kind of fins on the bottom of these wider, flatter kayaks - steer clear of those that don’t have any - but keep in mind that the longer the fin, the less manoeuvrable a kayak will be.
We don’t mind that, but again, it depends on your specific needs - a long-finned kayak would be useless in shallow white water, for instance.
As lightweight as your budget allows.
If you’re looking for an inflatable kayak, then portability is somewhat important to you.
As with most outdoor gear, lighter equipment usually means one of two things: an increase in cost to use more highly engineered, lighter materials, or a decrease in the quality of the materials to make the equipment lighter. Invest in the former as much as you can. Anything under 22lbs/10kg is super light, with around 26lbs/12kg being a good standard and anything more than 37lbs/17kg at the heavier end.
In addition to weight, look at how easy it is to carry.
What’s its packed size? What bag does it come in - does it have a shoulder strap or a backpack setup to help you carry it down to the water? Beware of kayaks that fit into super small bags as sometimes they fit straight out of the factory, but are much harder to shove in there once they’ve been opened up - and with a bigger bag, you’ll also have space for the kayak accessories like paddles and pump.
One last bit of advice - buyer beware.
Being able to buy your kayak online and have it shipped straight to you is excellent, but we all know the pitfalls of online shopping.
A few kayak manufacturers and retailers now offer free trials, where you can have the kayak shipped to you, try it out, and if it’s not for you, re-box it and they’ll ship it back. In the absence of a trial period, make sure change of mind returns are accepted. Finally, check out whether they offer a warranty… and just make sure you don’t drag your brand new kayak over jagged rocks the first time you take it out.