Bill Tuthill wrote:
Bilbo wrote:
I am looking for a basic inflatable that I can use as a family
recreation type boat and:
1. Can carry 2 people

How much weight combined?

2. Will handle reasonably well in calm water or maybe a little bit of
chop. Bottom line: no whitewater action contemplated. Just maybe
some kayaking on the bay or lake / river.

NRS Bandit 2 would be my recommendation. The AIRE Tomcat 2 (made in China)
has PVC inner tubes, and PVC is not noted for longevity. If you were
planning to use the boat a lot in 1-2 years, Tomcat would be recommended.

If you're talking about 2 heavy people, the AIRE Lynx 2 is probably the
only IK with enough carrying capacity, but it costs $1265 and is optimized
for whitewater, not fla****er.


The Super Lynx is much better on flat water than either the Lynx or the
Tomcat and has more than adequete capacity for two heavy people, plus a
bit of gear. It's still my first choice for what he indicates his
interest are in paddling.

3. Is better than a pool toy
4. Can be stored compactly

Yup, $895 retail at http://nrsweb.com - but seek other advice.
Look at the Boat People website, especially the page on touring IKs:
http://theboatpeople.com/iks_touring.html
The Solar II might be suitable, $729.

I thought about a Solar myself, but since I do run whitewater in mine,
the non self bailing feature pushed me over to the Super Lynx. If I
wasn't going to use it on any whitewater, it would have been a serious
contenter.

If I just had the extra money to spend, I would love to pick up one of
the Innova decked sea kayaks.

Frankly I'm looking to spend as little as I can, but not buy junk.
Granted, I don't want to spend much because my demands on this kayak
will be pretty low, but I don't want something that will leak and fall
apart in two uses, either.

Nor do you want something that will deteriorate after 5 years in storage,
I'm assuming.

Larry C wrote:

The Super Lynx is much better on flat water than either the Lynx or the
Tomcat and has more than adequete capacity for two heavy people, plus a
bit of gear. It's still my first choice for what he indicates his
interest are in paddling.

Yup, AIRE claims 600 pounds capacity for the Super Lynx, versus only 425
for the Lynx-2, but the Super Lynx costs $1400.

What the frickin' heck are the AIRE Strike boats intended for? They are
very tippy in whitewater, and very slow on fla****er.