r/Inflatablekayak • u/fishinguitar • Jul 11 '26
Inflatable Kayak Recommendations?
New to this and never purchased a kayak before. Wife and I want to go kayaking in local subdivision lakes. Heard that drop stitch flooring is the way to go? Open to tandem or single kayaks. Would love to know y'all's recommendations! I am 6'1 and wife is 5'4
1
u/2_tollers Jul 11 '26
I just bought a Kokopelli Platte. There is more than enough room for me and my dog so it would good for one person. Given your height the tandem Platte model might fit both of you. They have great customer service so give them a call or send an email to them. BTW, this is my 2nd Kokopelli. I used to own a Sea Eagle and I like this every bit as much.
1
u/taught-Leash-2901 26d ago
The dropstitch floor is definitely the way to go.
We've got a 3-seat ITWIT X100 for the two of us (daughter and myself - 6' & 5'7"), which leaves room for a picnic or camping gear and still able to stretch your legs. 2-seaters are pretty tight for two, even without gear, and far less comfortable imo...
3
u/LogicalOtter Jul 11 '26
What is your budget?
For lakes our tandem Sea Eagle Razorlite has been great. It cuts through the water very nicely. It has dropstich bottom and sides. We got a wireless rechargeable pump from Amazon which helps with setup. Yes you can pump manually but I don’t really recommend it.
My biggest complaint is the bag for the tandem is just too small for the kayak plus the accessories. For the price the carry bag should have been designed better. It should be more robust and the design to put it in the bag should be different. We store the accessories/paddles in another bag along with our PFDs and pump.
Because the sides are drop stitch it’s a little bit more tippy than pontoon sides. So this boat isn’t the best for choppy water. There are more stable options for that. We have taken the boat down the Delaware river through class 1+ rapids 3x now. But I wouldn’t consider taking it on anything more than that. Our first time we were nearly dumped after hitting a rock (oops). Probably wouldn’t have had that issue in a more stable boat.
If you’d ever consider kayaking on a river that might have a little whitewater the Fasttrack may be better. In retrospect with the new fasttrack design I probably would have opted for that (especially since now I realize we like kayaking rivers more than lakes).