Imagine having a kayak stowed away that you could pull out at a moment’s notice for a quick visit to shore, or to explore a beautiful bay, or to go for a paddle to get some exercise. A big advantage of inflatable kayaks is that they pack up into a bag. If you have a boat, where space comes at a premium, this smallness becomes a HUGE advantage. The basis of this package is the sit-on-top StraitEdge inflatable kayak and included is a 40L dry bag, so you can get your gear ashore safe and dry. See below for why the StraitEdge is ideal as a kayak tender for your boat.
Want a kayak with a very fast set-up time (5 mins)
Here’s why this kayak is ideal as a boat tender:
Open Deck
The StraitEdge doesn’t have a cockpit, it’s an open sit-on-top style kayak. This means you can just step onto it from your boat, there is no need to step into a narrow cockpit and then try to sit down inside the cockpit.
Dry
Unlike most sit-on-top kayaks, the StraitEdge will keep you dry if you have the ports closed in flat water.
Stable
The Advanced Elements StraitEdge Inflatable Kayak has a wide flat hull, giving it excellent stability. Not only does this make it easier to step on and off when transferring to and from your boat, it also means you are more likely to make it to shore safe and dry.
Compact
Like all our inflatable kayaks, the StraitEdge packs up into a bag for compact storage on your boat, so you are not wasting valuable deck space.
Versatile and Fun
The unique design of the StraitEdge gives you the option of taking it for a paddle for the fun of it. It goes straight and fast on flat water, is an excellent fishing kayak, cuts through chop in open ocean and can even be set up as self-bailing for use in whitewater up to class III.
StraitEdge Inflatable Kayak Specifications
LENGTH: 9’8” (2.95m)
WEIGHT: 34 lbs (15 kg)
COLOUR: Yellow/Gray
BRAND: Advanced Elements
LAKES, BAYS, INLAND WATERWAYS: Yes
COASTAL/OPEN WATER: Yes
WIDTH: 35” (89cm)
MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 300 lbs (136 kg)
DEFLATED AND PACKED DIMENSIONS: 39″ x 18″ x 9.5″ (99cm x 46cm x 24cm)
Sit-on-top kayaks are typically slower than sit-in kayaks.
The rigidity of the StraitEdge kayak is great compared to other sit-on-top inflatable kayaks on the market, but it’s not as fast as the AdvancedFrame Sport Elite kayak, for example, despite being a similar length and width.
It’s a nice, cruising experience, but not a rocket.
The StraitEdge kayak is a crossover kayak. This means it is designed to do a bit of whitewater (up to class 3) and flat water.
It does not have a fin (so it can pivot in whitewater), but it does have aluminium rib frames in the bow and stern to stop the waggle on flat water.
The tracking on flat water is okay, depending on your weight. If you are very lightweight (say, under 60kg), you might find that these ribs sit above the water and don’t help so much. But if you are a little heavier, you should get good tracking from the StraigtEdge kayak.
If you really want a kayak that tracks straight on flat water, consider our sit-in kayaks.
Yes, it does get a bit wind affected, depending on your weight.
All kayaks are wind affected to some degree.
You can generally predict how wind affected it’s going to be based on the ratio of kayak above the waterline to kayak below the waterline. The StraitEdge kayak sits fairly high in the water, especially if you are lightweight.
In terms of our solo kayaks, the StraitEdge kayak is in the middle – it’s more wind affected than the AdvancedFrame Kayak, but less wind affected than the AirVolution kayak.
The front air bag is designed to be used as a foot brace. A lot of paddles swear by foot support for encouraging good paddling technique and for supporting the lower back.
The StraitEdge kayak seat is not high-backed, but it gives you good lower back support.
The Straitedge Kayak has some awesome features that make it ideal for taking dogs.
The sit-on-top style gives you plenty of open space for your dogs, so they are not cramped into a cockpit.
The PVC tarpaulin material on the floor and main chambers give you the confidence that your dog’s claws will not cause a puncture.
The wide flat hull means the kayak is very stable so you won’t all go over board if your dog gets excited and makes a sudden move (not that they ever do that …).
I would suggest 1 hour to a half-day, but there’s no reason you couldn’t do a multi-day expedition in it.
There is not as much deck space for gear as some of our other kayaks, and the seat is not high-backed, but if you wanted a kayak that could handle some whitewater, it would be great for a multi-day river trip.
Yes, we sell the StraitEdge kayak to seniors quite often.
In my experience, seniors are looking for a lightweight kayak, and the StraitEdge kayak is not too bad at 15kg.
It’s going to up to you to decide whether that’s a weight you can lift by yourself. For some seniors this will be a doddle and for others, it will be a deal breaker.
The other key features for seniors are stability and ease of getting in and out – the StraitEdge kayak ticks both these boxes.
Yes, it’s possible for a child to paddle the Straitedge kayak, but if this is going to be a regular occurrence, you may be better off getting something lighter.
If you are above 115kg you might struggle to maintain rigidity and I would recommend looking at the StraitEdge Angler Pro kayak, which has a high-pressure, rigid floor.
The StraitEdge kayak is a sit-on-top kayak, with self-bailing ports.
* note: the StraitEdge2 Pro Kayak is shown in the picture
If the water is calm, you can leave the ports closed and stay dry.
If the conditions are rough or you are doing whitewater, you can open the ports, allowing water that comes over the sides to draining out.
The downsides of sit-on-top kayaks is that they are often slower and more wind affected than sit-in kayaks, and you get wet.
The upsides of sit-on-top kayak is that they have heaps of space, you don’t feel enclosed, they can do a huge variety of water types.
People often think that sit-on-top kayaks are more stable than sit-in kayaks. The truth is that is really depends on the kayaks. All our solo kayaks are equally stable, except for the AirFusion EVO, which is much narrower and less stable.
