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Picking a recreational kayak is brought to you by Ozark
River Company, now in two parts!
www.ozarkcanoe.com
417-778-2400
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Picking or
choosing a recreational kayak, Part one |
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"Ozark
River Company" |
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"Picking
out a recreational kayak for your use." |
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Recreational Kayaking:
Recreational Kayak by definition in the industry is typically found
in lengths from 9' to 16 foot, give or take a foot, that have a
recreational purpose. They can be the sit on top style,
(typically a wet ride), or a sit in side. Typically the
recreational style boat, although not all of them, do not have the
thigh braces for rolling a kayak, or the Eskimo roll. The
Eskimo roll is a self rescue method used in the more extreme cases
such as way out in big lakes or bays, or in heavy class whitewater,
places opposed to having to "do a swim".
Sit on tops: We highly
recommend this when you are in a situation with a measurable,
(possibly non-swim-able) distance to shore. For safety sake,
think about the situation if you spill. A sit inside kayak can not
be turned over and emptied unless dragged to shore, and have the
ability to climb back in! This sit on top is more likely to be
able to flip back over if you have any physical ability to do so,
then climb back on with a jump out swim on to the end, sliding on
the boat. Try this first when you are close to shore, and if
you can not get back on your boat without touching bottom, do not
head "way out there"! If you are not a good swimmer,
do not, "head way out there!" Contouring is a method
where one stays relatively close to shore, and is much safer in case
of spill! Many times you will see sit on tops near the coastal
areas and because of waves, or distance from shore, a capsized sit
on top is much easier to use as a rescue buoy rather than a sit
inside that is finally righting itself, but 3/4 full of water!
Whitewater Kayaking:
Whitewater Kayak, the little boats that roll and do whitewater is in
this different category, very technical and take physical as well as
the technique ability to roll. For the purpose of this
write up, we are going to skip these for now. If you would
like to get into whitewater kayaking, find a local club and do it
right. Get the right gear, learn a roll, and know rescue
tecniques!
Touring kayaking: Touring
Kayak, the long boats on the other hand, 14' and up, long and
narrow, are touring boats for bigger waters, and are too, technical
by design for speed, tippy, and a roll is required. Again we
will pass on this style for now as our focus is picking a
recreational kayak.
Reasons for rolling is the
conditions are such that dragging the boat out is not the preferred
way to evacuate the situation of difficulty. In big water, you
may be a long distance from shore, and dragging the touring kayak
full of water is not an option. Whitewater is a heavy rapid,
another area you would want a kayak roll recovery method, rather
than swimming the rapid and trying to rescue your boat. The
recreational category is one that includes: Ponds, Small
Lakes, Coves, Bayous, Marshes, easier float trip type rivers
including some class one rapids, (easier rapids that you would feel
comfortable swimming to the pool below), or your local neighborhood
lake. Many things are enjoyed with recreational kayaking such
as: fishing, floating around, rapid playing, group float trips, camp
out overnights and trips, GPS games, Waterfowl Hunting, even just an
escape for a little mental adjustment, definitely a great purpose. |
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Kayaks By Design; Recreational
kayaks are all similar, with variations that include: size, length,
width, cockpit size, volume for capacity, rocker for ease of
turning, rigging, hatches, seat variations, and foot rests.
Here is where we start, to evaluate your fit.
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| Kayak
Fitting: Size of paddler. We have a recommendation to be under
2/3rds of capacity. Sure, you can squeeze more weight in, but
imagine a buoy in an ocean. Now put a heavy weight on it.
It doesn't respond well to waves, therefore spends more time and
depth in the water. Now a buoy with a correct weight, would
respond very technically well! A small boat with someone
pushing the capacity might actually float fine, but a few current
pushes, or even turning around and looking backwards, or having
something distract you like a ball thrown at you, one will spill
easy. If a rapid requires concentration and good balance, it
will be more difficult for this big guy in the little boat.
Just make sure the kayak is large enough for you, especially as a
beginner. As you get advanced, you might want more than one
kayak, and your ability will surely get better to handle less stable
boats and utilize technique, as well as handle smaller boats much
better. |
| Kayak
Use: What kind of water will you be paddling? If you are not
trying to use it for class 3 bigger rapids, or out in the middle of
a lake channel, and uses are easy waters with shore close by?
Then the recreational category is excellent for your use. We
shall then talk about length, packing, and rocker. |
| Kayak
Sizing: Length. What length are your friends' boats, assuming
you have more than one friend? Long boats are faster, and
short boats are slow. Do you have to keep up? Similar in
length is good, mainly if there is testosterone in the group that
makes it a macho accomplishment. A good man and woman paddling
team should pace themselves to the slower shorter boat, and realize
the length will slow the other person down. Not racing, not a
problem! If someone is having a hard time keeping up, you might
note the length of their boat, and see they are working harder to
keep up. |
| Packing
Kayaks: Do you have a desire to pack gear? For one day, or one
week? You would want to step up a size or two, based on what
you want to take. It now starts to be a hauler. See our
pack a kayak section for our suggestions on packing a boat. We
backpack, and can live a week like a turtle, our home on our backs.
To us a kayak is a huge advantage, and easy to pack if you take gear
that is small like a backpacker. |
| Kayak
Hull length being the first shape discussed, have a feel and
response to your efforts. Length: Long boat glides
through the water easier, faster, less effort, but... Turns
slower! Long boats have a wide turning radius and takes more
effort, and in flat water, that may not make a difference. In
narrow Bayous, one would want a shorter kayak to turn around, even
though the water might be flat. This would include tight
fishing areas too. In rapids, we prefer shorter, and easy
steering kayaks. If you need length to keep up yet want to
steer easier, pick a longer kayak with some rocker to it for ease in
steering, yet some speed too. |
| Kayak
Width and Height: The wider designs are more forgiving, but do
not make a huge difference. The flatter cross sections will be
more stable, having the harder corners at the bottom edges of the
boat beside the seat. The variances for the width are only
just a couple of inches on each side. The narrower the boat,
it is considered slightly more technical, or responsive when your
see your accomplishments improve. A shorter side height might
help for small folks. Some boats are better for short arms and
torso, so that your arms are held so high to clear the boat sides. |
| Kayak
Rocker: Imagine a rocking horse, noting the rocking rails.
This rocking chair curve is also seen in recreational kayaks, the
curve from front to back. Some models have more rocker, and
this makes all boats easier to turn. In tight places, and in
rapids, this is a huge advantage. Some models have a drop skeg,
a non steer-able drop blade in the back, (stern), that will make it
track better when down. Tracking is improved with less of a
rocker, but steer-ability declines. Imagine the slight to no
rocker boat, it will be faster, turn less easy. Now imagine a
highly rocker-ed boat. It will wander more so, and be easy to
turn. For lakes or more still water section type rivers, we
recommend less rocker. For faster currents, we highly
recommend more rocker curve, making turning easy to "power
slide" around that rapid bend, or to quickly avoid obstacles in
the river. You can have rocker in the front and not in the
back, or both in the front and in the back. kayak rocker in
the front will make the boat seem shorter and easier to steer, yet
having no rocker in the back will allow it to track well. This
is a commonly applied rocker to many kayaks. If the boat is
sitting on the floor and you see daylight under the front and back
of the boat, or can get your toes under it, you will see that boat
steer easy, and indeed takes energy to steer too! |
| Shopping
for a Kayak: To leave you with some advise that will help you; find
what apparently appeals to you at your local kayak store, or kayak
department store (as is in many cases). Set the boat you like
on the floor, then stick your toes under the front and back, to see
if there is any rocker in the boat for the reasons described above.
Before commenting to your sales person, ask them if this boat has
rocker and what type water would it be good for? If you feel
space with your toes under the front and or back of the boat,
(rocker can be front only), ask your sales person the above referred
questions, and see if he or she is in tune. If not, you might
be getting bad advise! If they are in tune and know what they
are talking about, then you can collect additional information, but
use your judgment in what you hear! Talk to your friends,
match what they use in hull shapes, and you will get the best advise
to be with your buddies on your kayak float trip. This is not
meant to be a full dissertation on the subject, but commonly asked
questions in our store, where we start folks in their decision
making process. A good salesperson will ask, what kind of
water, what are your friends paddling, explain ease of steering
versus tracking and speed, so be looking for these things as
acceptable and knowledgeable advise. If you know many of these
things already, they should be able to skip forward (with you) to
your knowledge level. Bad advise from a non paddler is not a
good thing. There are technical as well as physics differences
between models, and will make a difference in your experience.
By the way, more than one boat (for different purposes) is a good
thing! Don't get a boat for every purpose. That is a lot
to ask for off your kayak. |
| Good
luck, be careful out there, wear your life jacket, don't get too far
from shore in a recreational kayak as a general rule, and learn
about throw bags! Safety first! You can drown in a
kayak, yet you can die doing anything, so be safety conscious as a
first rule. Practice where it is easy and you are safe, and
work your way up to that "kayak trip". Be
"super conscious" in cautious situations. We paddle
our Ozark streams in cold water and weather as an example, but don't
take risks, do not goof off, and know we have dry clothes in a dry
bag and are prepared in case something does happen. By the
way, have fun!!! |
| We
hope you have been informed and entertained! ORC www.ozarkcanoe.com |
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Back to our home
page |
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Simply, thanks! |
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