Straight-up reviews of water, beach and outdoor gear.

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Glide Aquavate Duo Review

The Glide Aquavate Duo scraped onto our Top Ten list of the best 2 person inflatable kayaks with its low cost and light weight. It has serious problems with comfort and paddling experience, but if you’re looking for something cheap that you or the kids will only use occasionally it may be worth considering.

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Itiwit 1-2 Person Cruising Kayak Review

The Itiwit 1-2 Person Cruising Kayak is a durable, well-constructed lower-cost option — but due to its paddling inefficiency, we’d recommend it only for occasional recreational use.

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Aqua Marina Laxo 320 Review

The Aqua Marina Laxo 320 has made our list because it’s able to track reasonably well in a straight line, which is unusual at this price point. However, there are some serious downsides, like a cramped cockpit and hard-to-dry fabric covering.

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Aqua Marina Laxo 285 Review

The Aqua Marina Laxo 285 benefits from its V-shaped hull and is able to maintain decent straight-line tracking. Read about how it sets up and packs down and how it is to paddle in our in-depth first-hand review.

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Advanced Elements Lagoon 1 Review

The Lagoon 1 is a shorter, more packable offering from Advanced Elements in their typical style, but suffers from many of the drawbacks in the rest of their range without the redemption of excellent in-water performance.

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Razor Kayaks R2 Ultra Review

Built with the same materials found in rescue boats, the Razor Kayaks R2 Ultra is our pick of 2-person inflatable kayaks. It’s super high quality, versatile, and best of all - great to paddle. Read more in our Razor Kayaks R2 Ultra review.

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The North Face Blue Kazoo

The North Face Blue Kazoo is a mummy-shaped bag that offers a great balance of warmth and quality at a reasonable weight and price. It has great water repellency and uses soft, breathable fabrics with good warmth distribution. Read more in our Blue Kazoo review.

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Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 20

At a mere 1lb 4oz/600g, the Therm-a-Rest Hyperion is INSANELY light for a sleeping bag of this quality. It's been specifically engineered to be light weight so it's perfect for longer hikes - but keep in mind that does mean some compromises. Read more in our detailed sleeping bag review.

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Intex Challenger K2 Review

The Intex Challenger K2 is clearly made for casual and occasional recreational paddling. We were impressed by the stability of this kayak, and its incredibly low cost - however, there are significant downsides. Read more in our Intex Challenger K2 review.

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Driftsun Rover 220

Just like its 1 person counterpart, we’re impressed with the performance and the features that make this work for rapids! With its high pressure valves and 8 self-bailing ports, you know it’s going to be an adventure. Read more in our detailed kayak review.

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Sea Eagle 330

The Sea Eagle 330 comes first on portability and weight, and is a great choice for family splash-arounds. We analyse its pros and cons in our detailed Sea Eagle 330 review.

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Intex Excursion Pro K2

The Intex Excursion Pro K2 is a great entry-level choice that gives good performance at a lower price point. Read more in our in-depth Intex Excursion Pro K2 review.

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Aquaglide Navarro 145

When we look at the Aquaglide Navarro 145, we see a great deal of versatility and durability. It’s well-built with the 600 denier hex ripstop polyester and the drop-stitch floor. Read more in our in-depth review.

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Aquaglide McKenzie 125

If you’re looking for an easy to inflate kayak that performs well on the water, you’re in for an adventure with the Aquaglide Mckenzie 125! As an upscale version from its older models, it has made significant changes and you bet it’s definitely a competitive one on the market.

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Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Convertible

Performance-wise, the Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Convertible Elite exceeded our expectations. Stability, rigidity, and the nitty-gritty details that made the experience fun and worry-free. It’s a great choice for proper touring and recreational use.

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Sea to Summit Traverse Tv3

Sea to Summit typically makes well-constructed products, and their Traverse Tv3 is yet another example. While not as warm as others we tried, the synthetic fill helps keep the price down, and it’s clearly a durable bag that will last you a long time. We also like its unique triple zipper design that helps adjust the bag for warmer or cooler nights.

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Kelty Cosmic Ultra 20F

The Kelty Cosmic Ultra 20F is a quality bag at a great intersection of warmth, weight, comfort and cost. Though mummy shaped, it has a slightly wider foot box so there was a reasonable amount of room to move, the zips worked well and the internal pocket was conveniently placed.

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Razor Kayaks R1 Ultra Review

Razor Kayaks’ R1 Ultra is number on in our best inflatable kayak review for a whole bunch of reasons. It’s super well-made, easy to set up and pack down, and excellent value.

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