Freedom! Lightweight kayaks give you paddling independence. This means kayaking when you want, where you want without assistance.
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90-day "Try-it-on-the-Water" Returns
Free Shipping*
3 Year Warranty
When it comes to kayak weight, you would think ‘the lighter, the better’, right? This is true in the sense that you will want to go kayaking more often if you’ve got a lightweight kayak, because it’s easy to get to and from the water.
But… there are other factors that are affected by the kayak’s weight.
When it comes to kayak weight, you would think ‘the lighter, the better’, right? This is true in the sense that you will want to go kayaking more often if you’ve got a lightweight kayak, because it’s easy to get to and from the water.
But… there are other factors that are affected by the kayak’s weight.
The AdvancedFrame Ultralite Kayak is only 8kgs – an ultra lightweight kayak. The AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak is a very similar looking kayak, but it’s 11.5kgs.
For reasons that are beyond my understanding of physics, being heavier means the AdvancedFrame Sport is able to maintain better rigidity. So the AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak paddles faster and goes a bit straighter than the AdvancedFrame Ultralite Kayak.
The relationship between weight and performance generally rings true right across our range of kayaks so there is always a trade-off.
The AdvancedFrame Ultralite Kayak is only 8kgs – an ultra lightweight kayak. The AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak is a very similar looking kayak, but it’s 11.5kgs.
For reasons that are beyond my understanding of physics, being heavier means the AdvancedFrame Sport is able to maintain better rigidity. So the AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak paddles faster and goes a bit straighter than the AdvancedFrame Ultralite Kayak.
The relationship between weight and performance generally rings true right across our range of kayaks so there is always a trade-off.
The AirFusion EVO is an exception – it’s only 14.5kgs but it goes very fast and quite straight in the water because it has an aluminium rib frame structure to give it rigidity, its also very narrow which is where much of its speed comes from.
Generally speaking, the heavier kayak is, the better it’s going to actually perform in terms of maintaining rigidity, tracking a bit straighter, and going a bit faster.
When you are aiming for the lightest kayaks in the range, inevitably you will lose most of the tandem kayaks because the smaller a kayak, is the lighter it is, and the less able it is to hold enough air to give you that capacity.
If you are 100kg plus and you’re taking a 20kg dog and you’re going overnight camping, you need something like the AdvancedFrame Expedition Elite Kayak with its 204kg capacity. But… this kayak is 19kg – it’s not a lightweight kayak! If in doubt here, give us a call and we can talk through options.
When you are aiming for the lightest kayaks in the range, inevitably you will lose most of the tandem kayaks because the smaller a kayak, is the lighter it is, and the less able it is to hold enough air to give you that capacity.
If you are 100kg plus and you’re taking a 20kg dog and you’re going overnight camping, you need something like the AdvancedFrame Expedition Elite Kayak with its 204kg capacity. But… this kayak is 19kg – it’s not a lightweight kayak! If in doubt here, give us a call and we can talk through options.
A lot of people ask about the performance of the AdvancedFrame Convertible Elite Kayak when paddling solo and their idea is “I’ll get a tandem kayak and I can paddle it solo when it’s just me, and then if I want to bring a friend, I’ll have a tandem kayak.”
The truth is that the performance of the kayak solo is great. It’s heavier though so it takes more effort to get the momentum going, but once it’s going, the glide is lovely. Its all about finding the perfect kayak for you.
