I’m looking to get a inflatable kayak or canoe preferably a 3 seater, for on lakes and on the river severn. Can anyone recommended a fairly priced inflatable? I have been looking at the Sevylor Hudson for a while but wondered if there was anything similar out there. I would love to get a rigid canadian canoe eventually can anyone advise how the inflatables handle?

There are a number of inflateable users on Song Of The Paddle, the canoeing forum. I think Sevylor get a good writeup. Not as good as a rigid obviously but good nonetheless.
Rich.

I bought a sevylor adventure 2 man kayak from decathlon for 170quid back in May. I bought it to use on the sea , and needed an inflatable as I don’t have the space for a solid kayak.

I’m quite impressed with it, it’s got a lot of buoyancy and is pretty stable. Seems well built, and sturdy. No complaints about it from me,does exactly what I wanted .

Re handling, can’t say I know much about kayaks, I’ve paddled a few solid Canadians, and this kneels similar, It has a fin which keeps it going in a straight line

Great bit of kit only punctured once even taken it off the cornish coast!
We live in the Lakes so gets a lot of use 🙂
[url=https://flic.kr/p/ftYS73]DSCF3768[1][/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr

I’ve paddled a few solid Canadians

😯

I have a Sevylor Hudson, been happy with it and does what I want it to, but I have nothing to compare it to as it’s all that I have used.

I’ve not direct experience of them but one of my canoe mad work colleagues swears by Gumotex. Heavily hinting to my lovely other half that I’d like a 2 man one for Chrimbo.

Gumotex are good quality tough boats. I have a Palava and a Mad River Explorer hard shell canoe too. The inflatable is slower as it doesn’t ‘cut’ through the water as well, and is not so nimble and presice in handling. It is also more prone to catching the wind. On the plus side it is very stable and forgiving in easy white water (grade 1 to 3) handles a bit like a small raft, which is essentially what it is. The packability is the main advantage though.

I’ve had a few inflatables now and think they are really good as long as you are prepared to work with their unique characteristics!

They don’t track as well as a rigid. I’ve a Gumotex with a removable skeg and it’s by far the best tracking inflatable I’ve tried but is still not as good as a rigid. I’m being really picky though. They are also a little harder to really ‘work’ as boats; by that I mean heeling them over in tight turns and using more complex strokes.

If you can I would strongly recommend a Gumotex. They are more expensive but they are much more robust than most others. Think RIB without the solid sections and you won’t be far from reality. I have a Baraka and it will do everything from lake touring to white water.

Other good brands are Advanced Elements and Z-Pro.

Sevylor are good and are fantastic value. However, be aware that some models have a thick, sturdy fabric outer to the inflation chambers. This is good in that it increases their abrasion resistance but it does mean that they are often packed away wet. Using them on a sandy beach often means the boat gets packed away wet and sandy. Boats like Gumotex don’t suffer from that problem. It’s not a big issue but we use our inflatable travelling in a camper van and it’s a godsend being able to wipe down the boat and pack it away dry.

Hope this helps.

We get on really well with our Hudson.
Me, the wife and dog have used it mainly on inshore waters around the Solent but have also been around the Fal eastward and Lulworth/Durdle Door area.
I made a bigger Skeg from an old chopping board which helps it to track more than the std one. Side winds do make it harder work than a rigid as you sit higher in the water.
The faff of storing and moving a big rigid is replaced by the faff of rinsing and drying the inflatable once it has been in salt water.

We’ve got a Sevylor Tahiti Plus (lower down in the range from the Hudson) and it has been surprisingly good if I’m honest. We use ours with 2 kids and 2 adults on Crummock/Derwent Water etc
I’d echo all the comments above – basically it can be a little bit of a pain in sidewinds and definitely needed a skeg to make it track properly – although I am informed by a couple of friends that decent (!) technique offsets this problem 🙂
I’d imagine the Hudson would be better than my Tahiti so I don’t think you would go far wrong with one.

Bought my wife a Gumotex Palava a few years ago – she’s an experienced canoeist, and is very happy with it for pootling down the river. Easy to transport, and quick to set up/deflate – we use a cheap compressor that hooks up the cigarette lighter in the car.

I’ve always hankered after a solid Canadian after hiring them on the Wye, but don’t have the space to store one. A mate sold me his Sevylor Colarado this summer and I’ve been pleasantly surprised, so much so that I am not sure I’d bother with the solid one now. Everything said above is true about the inflatables, getting the fabric dry is a faff, although the blurb says it won’t go moldy. I’ve used it in rivers and the sea and was impressed with how stable it is. It is a lot more nimble with just me in, I’m not sure if you get as much difference in handling in a solid canoe.

I’m near the Severn, what stretch are you planning?

Thanks for all the advice, I was thinking Shrewsbury to ironbridge. Im definetley going for a sevylor due to price, the others are a fair bit more from what I can see on Google. I just need to pick which one, or try and get something 2nd hand. Iv read good reviews on the colorado

Another Lakes based paddler, we’ve Sevylor Adventure and Adventure Plus. Really impressed with them, they are perfectly capable on lakes, easy rivers and gentle sea. The ability to roll them up and chuck them in the back of the car at the end of the day is priceless IMO.

I’ve got a Sevylor Yukon I’m selling if your interested.
Excellent boats and great fun with the kids!

We got the Decathlon version of the Hudson called the Tribord Itiwit.

It’s been in the Thames and Hamble and we carried it in our camper this summer and used it in the sea in Dubrovnik.

Really happy with it.

we have a Sevylor Hudson – picked it up from decathlon in the sale so worth checking there if one local to you. used it in the lake district and some local lakes and its been great so far 🙂