discosweat

I'll have to check this out! Visited Ann Arbor last week and took my inflatable out on a short river trip with a friend who had to rent on the Huron. We'll have to get back over there for another excuse to be out on the river and seek out a cache.

I would hesitate to trust the quality of a generic inflatable kayak offered by a credit card rewards system. As a few others have mentioned on here, I also own the Advanced Elements AdvanceFrame kayak, though mine is only single-rider, not a convertible. I love my kayak and do recommend it for someone looking for a good, portable boat. It's 35 pounds, comes in a duffle bag, and lives in my trunk for quick access during the summer. The boat cost $450 through REI, and the only additional purchases have been the paddle ($80), air pump (<$20), and the backbone ($90) as mentioned before and extremely useful. It picks your butt up out of the water so you're actually sitting on the water instead of in. I agree, it isn't QUITE like a hardshell, but with that backbone, the kayak is stable and feels solid, and I've run into enough rocks and trees sticking out into the water with no damage to the kayak. This kayak is great for me because it's SO convenient. I can bring it anywhere with me. It takes about 5 minutes to blow up, same to take down. When I was looking at hardshells, which are still very appealing, a good rack for my car would have cost around $300. The alternative to a rack is getting the foam blocks and rope/bungee cords. I don't have to deal with the cost of car rack, nor the hassle of having to load a big kayak onto the top of my car by myself and strapping it down. I'm pretty indepedendent with it. Plus, getting a geocache can often be a spontaneous/spur of the moment/grab an opportunity when you have it sort of experience, and to have the kayak in my trunk already allows me to be ready to hit the water when necessary without extra planning. I haven't ventured into the world of cold-weather paddling. I know there are issues with keeping the air pressure up in these boats when they hit cold water. If you're only likely to use the kayak in the warm weather, I wouldn't worry about it. There are many advantages to the hardshells. However, you also have to take into consideration the hauling AND storing of them. A good inflatable isn't necessarily going to cost any less for the boat itself than a hardshell, though the equipment cost is likely to be less. Really, it just matters if you want the convenience of storage of an inflatable. Overall, my advice is that inflatable kayaks can be great - especially the Advanced Elements ones - but you have to evaluate your situation.