Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak Review

Testing and Reviewing the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak: What You Need to Know

If you’ve been looking into inflatable kayaks lately, you’ve probably seen a lot of marketing, press releases, and editorials about the new Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak. The brand is claiming it's an "award-winning" model, and it has officially replaced the Razor X1 as the best overall kayak on the Equipment Guide. Now, as I always say, take any review website that doesn't give you actual faces and names with a grain of salt! But because people look at this information and call us up to ask about it, I decided to take it out on the water myself.

Here is my honest, upfront breakdown of the pros and cons to help you decide if the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak is the right choice for your paddling adventure

Exceptional Versatility with a Spray Skirt

The first thing I absolutely love about the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak is that you can put a spray skirt on it. That is awesome because it gives you so much versatility! It means you can tackle overnight trips, travel in cold climates, and take on more adventurous paddling.

Just a quick heads-up: it features an oversized cockpit - it is really big. If you're ordering a spray skirt separately, make sure to check the sizing details with Razor first to ensure a proper fit.

 

Full Drop-Stitch Rigidity & High Payload Capacity

The Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak is constructed entirely from full drop-stitch material. If you aren't familiar with it, drop-stitch is material that is stitched top to bottom all the way through the chamber, allowing it to be inflated to quite high pressure so it stays incredibly rigid. It’s the same technology used in inflatable stand-up paddle boards.

Because the entire craft is drop-stitch, it gives you a really nice, high capacity. While we didn't officially test the maximum payload limit ourselves (you can ask Razor about their exact testing process if you're curious), it certainly felt incredibly rigid to me on the water. If you are a bigger paddler or you like taking a lot of gear, this is a great feature.

Razor calls their material "Tech Stitch." I did ask them to explain the difference between Tech Stitch and standard drop-stitch, but they didn't answer. Their graphics indicate a toughened mesh fabric, which is quite common among high-quality drop-stitch suppliers like Advanced Elements. They also don't list the exact thickness of their PVC on the website. Knowing the actual PVC thickness—rather than just the denier—is what really helps determine how well a craft prevents scratches and abrasions.

Excellent Stability and Storage Space

Measuring 4 meters long and 83 centimeters wide, the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak is a giant craft. Combined with a relatively flat rocker bottom, that 83 cm width makes it super stable. It’s stable enough that it would be great for dogs, kids, or even fishing if you can set up some rod holders.

Inside, you get reasonable storage. Your feet go under the deck, leaving room for some gear there, perhaps some space between your knees, and more room behind the seat. There is also plenty of deck storage space with D-rings and a bungee cord, though the D-rings are a little closer together than I prefer, and you can't unclip the bungee.

A quick tip on packing the deck: Because of the deck shape, if you put a heavy bag on one side, it will lean and cause the whole kayak and the fin to tip. If you’re going camping, just make sure to keep your gear perfectly balanced!

Sluggish Performance and the "Waggle"

While I love the rigidity, I didn't love the performance on flat water. When you look closely at the hull, there is a lot of air under both the bow and the stern. What I look for in a high-performing kayak is deep bow and stern shaping that cuts down into the water to stop you from waggling around.

Instead, the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak has quite a lot of "rocker"—which is a curvature down and up, much like a white-water boat designed to pivot easily. On flat water, pivoting is exactly what you don't want to do.

When I first took it out without the tracking fin, I was literally doing 360-degree spins! Putting the fin on greatly improved things, but I was still waggling, getting easily shifted by the wind, and struggling to stay on track.

Because of its massive size, it was also hard work to get moving. You are trying to move a lot of bulk through the water with every single stroke.

It’s Incredibly Heavy

We weigh all the kayaks ourselves because manufacturers tend to understate the numbers. Assembled with the seat, fin, and foot brace, the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak weighs in at a hefty 20.4 kg.

Whether that feels heavy depends entirely on your background. If you're used to hauling a 30 kg hard-shell kayak, you'll think it's sweet and lightweight. But most of our customers are looking for something very lightweight to protect their backs. At 20.4 kg, this isn't a kayak I would personally be taking out on my own. That weight doesn't just affect lifting it to and from the water; it directly contributes to that sluggish feeling when paddling.

 

The Setup and Pack-Down Process

Setting up the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak is super easy—if you have an electric pump. There are only three valves, they are all the same, and they'll work with standard electric car pumps. It requires 10 PSI of pressure, so I would absolutely not do this with a manual hand pump. On a kayak this size, you'd be pumping for 20 minutes and be completely exhausted before you even hit the water!

Safety note on electric pumps: If you buy an electric pump with a built-in lithium battery, ask the retailer if they have specific insurance for it. Lithium battery insurance is different because they can occasionally be fire hazards.

When it comes to the tracking fin, you cannot put a 20.4 kg kayak down on dry land onto a plastic fin without snapping it. This means you have to roll the kayak on its side in the shallow water to slide the fin in before you load any of your gear. When you're finishing your session, you have to unload your gear first, tip the kayak in the water to remove the fin, and then lift it out. It's just a bit of a process.

For packing away, remember that any enclosed inflatable kayak like this is going to be difficult to dry fully. You can use the drainage bung at the back to get the bulk of the water out and use a towel as best you can. I recommend leaving the main deck inflated while releasing the floor pressure to let trapped water escape from the sides.

Seating and the Foot Brace

The seat features a very firm base. I've spent three hours straight on this exact seat design before, and by the end, my back and bum were completely done. As you can see in the paddling footage, the base is quite low and small, meaning you sit very low inside the cockpit and your elbows ride close to the deck. If you buy this model, I highly recommend investing in a gel seat cushion to give yourself a bit of lift and much-needed comfort.

The foot brace setup also drove me a bit nuts. The strap that is supposed to sit at the back tends to flop forward and interfere with your feet. You'll want to ratchet it down as tight as possible to minimize how annoying it is. Also, because of the enclosed drop-stitch side walls, your toes have to point straight up in the middle to fit; if you like to flop your feet out to the sides while paddling, it simply won't work in this cockpit.

How Does It Compare to Other Razor Models?

If you are looking specifically at the Razor brand, how does the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak stack up against their other options?

 

 

Even though the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak looks amazing, it’s actually the little baby Razor R1 Ultra that wins the race for most casual paddlers. At 11 kg, it is nearly half the weight, meaning you are hauling way less bulk through the water. All of these models waggle a little bit because their bow and stern shaping doesn't dig deep enough into the water, but the lighter models are much easier to manage.

The Golden Rule: You never want to buy the heaviest kayak you can find; you always want to get the lightest kayak that still meets your specific needs.

• Start by looking at the R1 Ultra. If it meets your needs, stick with it.
• If you absolutely must have a spray skirt for more adventurous, cold-climate paddling, or if you plan to bring kids and dogs and need maximum stability, that is exactly when you should jump up to the Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak.
• If you are just a very tall paddler who needs extra space but doesn't need extreme stability for fishing or pets, you might look at the narrower Razor X1 instead.

Final Verdict

The Razor Edge Pro 1 Kayak brings a lot of great features to the table, including fantastic stability, high payload capacity, excellent drop-stitch rigidity, and rare spray skirt compatibility. However, you pay for those features with a massive 20.4 kg weight, a sluggish paddle feel on flat water, wind sensitivity, and a frustrating foot brace.

Normally at this point in my review articles, I would say "If you have any questions, please get in touch with us!" But since we don't sell this specific brand, this time I'm going to say: if you have any questions about the craft, reach out to Razor directly—and definitely let us know what they say in the comments below!

Happy paddling, and we'll see you out on the water!