Lightweight Kayaks

Lightweight Kayaks

Freedom! Lightweight kayaks give you paddling independence. This means kayaking when you want, where you want and with whomever you choose.

Check out our range of quality lightweight kayaks:

Comparing our Lightweight Kayaks

 
 
Product Info
advancedframe sport elite kayak with pump

AdvancedFrame Sport Elite Kayak with Pump

advancedframe elite kayak with pump

AdvancedFrame Elite Kayak with Pump

straitedge2 pro kayak

StraitEdge2 Pro Kayak

advancedframe kayak

AdvancedFrame Kayak

advancedframe sport kayak

AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak

advancedframe ultralite kayak with pump

AdvancedFrame Ultralite Kayak with Pump

air glide hybrid 285 inflatable kayak with pump and paddle

Air Glide Hybrid 285 Inflatable Kayak with Pump and Paddle

kokopelli platte inflatable kayak with pump and paddle

Kokopelli Platte Inflatable Kayak with Pump and Paddle

kokopelli platte tandem inflatable kayak with pump and paddle

Kokopelli Platte Plus Inflatable Kayak with Pump and Paddle

aqua marina halve kayak with pump

Aqua Marina Halve Kayak with Pump

oru kayak bay st square

Oru Kayak Bay ST

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
oru kayak coast xt square

Oru Kayak Coast XT

Weight 13.3 kg 16.3 kg 18.6 kg 16.3 kg 11.8 kg 8 kg 12 kg 10.8 kg 14.1 kg 8.8 kg 11.8 kg 14.5 kg
Solo or Tandem Solo Solo Tandem Solo Solo Solo Solo Solo Tandem Solo, Tandem Solo Solo
length 10’5″ (3.18m) 10’5″ (3.18m) 13′ (3.96m) 10’5″ (3.18m) 10’5″ (3.18m) 10’5″ (3.18m) 2.85m 10’2″ (3.2m) 12’3″ (3.7m) 13′ (3.96m) 12’3″ (3.7m) 16’2″ (4.9m)
width 81cm 81cm 90cm 81cm 81cm 81cm 85cm 86cm 86cm 98 cm 64cm 64cm
Stability Stable Stable Stable Stable Stable Stable Stable Stable Stable Stable Unstable Unstable
Sit-on-top or Sit-in Sit-in Sit-in Sit-on-top Sit-in Sit-in Sit-in Sit-on-top Sit-on-top Sit-on-top Sit-on-top Sit-in Sit-in
Packed Dimensions 76cm x 43cm x 20cm 76cm x 43cm x 25cm 97cm x 53cm x 33cm 76cm x 43cm x 25cm 76cm x 43cm x 20cm 79cm x 46cm x 15cm 96cm x 55cm x 44cm 53cm x 40cm x 25cm 56cm x 40cm x 33cm 48cm x 65cm x 35cm 84cm x 36cm x 74cm 84cm x 36cm x 74cm
Maximum Capacity 113 kg 136 kg 227 kg 136 kg 113 kg 107 kg 180 kg 150 kg 195 kg 180 kg 136 kg 181 kg
Recommended Max. Paddler Weight (individual) 100 kg 110 kg 110 kg 90 kg 80 kg 80 kg 110 kg 150 kg 150 kg 100 kg 136 kg 181 kg
Recommended Max. Paddler Height 6’2″ (1.88m) 6’2″ (1.88m) Unlimited 6’2″ (1.88m) 6’2″ (1.88m) 6′ (1.83m) 6’2″ (1.88m) 6’4″ (1.93m) 6’4″ (1.93m) 6’2″ (1.88m), Unlimited 6’3″ (1.9m) 6’4″ (1.93m)
Recommended for Coastal / Open Water No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes
Max Whitewater Class Class 2 Class 2 Class 3 Class 2 Class 2 Class 2 Class 1 Class 1 Class 1 Class 2 Class 1 Class 1
Self-bailing No No Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No
Compatible with Spray Skirt No Yes No Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes
Compatible with ePropulsion Vaquita Propeller Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via SUP fin box Yes – via SUP fin box Yes – via SUP fin box Yes – via SUP fin box Yes – via ratchet straps Yes – via ratchet straps
Maximum Trip Length Full Day Multi-Day Multi-Day Half day Half day 1-2 Hours 1-2 Hours 1-2 Hours 1-2 Hours 1-2 Hours Multi-Day Multi-Day
Suitable for Taking Small Children Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Suitable for Dogs Yes Yes Yes Yes, with drop-stitch floor added Yes, with drop-stitch floor added Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Suitable for Fishing Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Rod Holders None None Included None None None None Included Included None None None
Backpack straps Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Can ship to new zealand Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Set-up Time 5.5 minutes 6 minutes 7-10 minutes 5 minutes 4 minutes 6 minutes 5 minutes 7.5 minutes 9 minutes 8 minutes 10 minutes 13 minutes
Warranty Period 3 years from purchase date 3 years from purchase date 3 years from purchase date 3 years from purchase date 3 years from purchase date 3 years from purchase 3 years from purchase Lifetime Lifetime 12 months from purchase 3 years from purchase date 3 years from purchase date
Sku AE1017-OE-P AE1012-OG-E-P AE3027-Y AE1012-R AE1017-O AE3022-G-P AIRGLIDEHYBRID285 23-20500-04 23-20501-04 HA-398 OKY102-ST OKY203-ORA-XT
Price Original price was: $1,697.00.Current price is: $1,547.00. Original price was: $1,847.00.Current price is: $1,697.00. Original price was: $2,497.00.Current price is: $2,297.00. Original price was: $1,497.00.Current price is: $1,297.00. Original price was: $1,347.00.Current price is: $1,147.00. $1,697.00 Original price was: $1,579.00.Current price is: $1,279.00. $1,699.00 $1,899.00 Original price was: $1,199.00.Current price is: $999.00. Original price was: $2,199.00.Current price is: $1,869.00. Original price was: $2,899.00.Current price is: $2,464.00.
Kayak brand Advanced Elements Advanced Elements Advanced Elements Advanced Elements Advanced Elements Advanced Elements Bay Sports Kokopelli Kokopelli Aqua Marina Oru Kayak Oru Kayak
  Add to cart Add to cart Add to cart Add to cart Add to cart Read more Add to cart Add to cart Add to cart Add to cart Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Add to cart

How to Choose a Lightweight Kayak

Is lighter always better?

 
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.

Performance

 

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.

That relationship between weight and performance generally rings true across our range of kayaks.

AdvancedFrame Ultralite AdavancedFrame Sport Weight
airfusion evo inflatable kayak advanced elements ae1042 paddling4

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.

But generally speaking, the heavier kayak is, the better it’s going to actually perform in terms of maintaining rigiditytracking a bit straightergoing a bit faster.

Capacity

 
When you take the kayak weight down in the scale filter, we lose most of our 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.

So if you’re 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 200kg plus capacity. But… this kayak is 19kg – it’s not a lightweight kayak!

It might be lighter than most hard shells but it’s not a lightweight inflatable kayak.

If you want something with the durability and the rigidity and the capacity the Expedition Elite is what you need to get – something that’s a bit heavier. 

AdvancedFrame Expedition Elite Kayak AE1009 XE
AdvancedFrame Convertible Kayak paddling solo Fiji

Convertible Tandem Kayaks vs Solo Kayaks

 

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, so it takes more effort to get the momentum going, but once it’s going, the glide is lovely.

That’s not the issue. The question is, do you really want to set up a 24kg kayak and carry it down to the water by yourself when you’re going solo? It’s not impossible and we have lots of customers that do it but think about whether that’s right for you.

My suggestion is always get a solo if you are going to be paddling on your own sometimes.

 

If you want to go kayaking with people you can join a kayaking group or get someone else to hire a kayak or borrow a kayak (or even better come back to me and buy one) and that’s how you can make it a social activity, but still something easy and enjoyable for you.

airfusion evo kayak

“Buying my fabulous inflatable kayak has given me freedom and independence, no more stressing about moving ,loading, carrying or waiting for someone to help me. As a disabled person independence is very important to me. Everything you said about the inflatable sports kayak is true it’s portable ,light, tough and sits very securely on the water. I keep my kayak in my car, I can be on the water in minutes. I highly recommend this kayak.
I love my kayak.”

– Amanda