It is important to familiarise yourself with all of these items so if disaster strikes you can repair and be back on the water as soon as possible. If by chance you do end up in the water, then the Challenger K1 is extremely buoyant, floating to the surface and self-bailing before you re-enter.

The front cargo area allows for accessories, shoes, and water to be safely stowed within reach of the seat for easy access. As l said as a starter kayak can't really fault it, paddle ends are perhaps a little flimsy but that's nit picking. As the pump is relatively small, it takes a little while to inflate the boat completely, despite the double-stroke function. I go kayaking with my dad who has a fibreglass kayak and can keep up with no problems in terms of speed and moving around, but all kayaks are different in terms of what they’re designed to do. The skeg is definitely a must-have for the kayak because it improved the performance on the water a lot.

Then, you have to add the fin to the based of the kayak, inflate the seat by mouth (usually takes a couple of minutes) and clip it into the kayak, before connecting the oar poles. It doesn't feel as stable to paddle though, as the inflated sides are smaller and thinner than many, allowing plenty of side-to-side rocking in waves or with excitable children. We timed ourselves the first two times we inflated our kayaks, both times right on shore next to a launch point.

The Intex Challenger K1 has a removable skeg included in the package, this is ideal for aiding directional stability and helping the kayak to track in a straight line.

This saves a lot of space when disassembled, but the double paddles also make a somewhat wobbly impression with a total of 3 plug-in connections. I am so used to my inflatable ones now that I can’t remember what it’s like in a fibreglass one, but my friends do say that it feels a bit less responsive than proper kayaks. We even had two small punctures in the bottom chamber of one model on the first day, even though we hadn’t even paddled yet (most likely caused by stones when setting up on the shore). Here we compare the different sizes of inflatable boats and show under which circumstances which size is most suitable. As for teardown, as you might expect, getting all the air out of the kayak isn’t as easily done as filling it up.

Constructed of only a 30-gauge PVC vinyl, this tandem feels like a short step from your average pool floaties. Be also careful outside the water with the kayak that there are no sharp stones or branches on the ground. They require a lot of money, large amounts of storage space, a car with roof racks, and the ability to lift and tie the thing onto said roof racks without causing yourself (or other road users) harm. They are also quite lightweight and have slightly squishy grips, which makes them a bit more comfortable — and different than most other paddles on the market.I nearly always having to take them home half-deflated, and then leave them outside to properly deflate for a couple of hours once back.

Also the material and the driving characteristics speak more for a boat to have fun on the water during ideal conditions on small lakes than a real inflatable kayak. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Instead, we use the safety lines for transportation, which works well due to the low weight of the kayak, as long as the kayak is not loaded with luggage. Just received a Challenger as a gift (I have two other inflatable kayaks and like you are hooked, their convenience and fun factor), it sounds like you are not unscrewing the boston valve to deflate, which it does rapidly, once these are unscrewed. The bag doesn’t make a rough impression but for short transports or storing the kayak at home the transport bag should be sufficient.

Inflatable kayaks like sups are lightweight and susceptible to being pushed off course by wind or waves.