Hobie kayak in 2024 | What's changed?

Are you curious to what has changed with Hobie kayak in 2024? Well, today I go over what is new, new colors, new pricing, and my thoughts on what Hobie is doing and my opinion on where they are going with it. Hobie kayak remains one of the best selling fishing kayak brands but with the kayak fishing market catching up what is in store for them in the future?

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Intro - 00:00
Pro Angler XR - 00:32
Color options - 03:33
Pricing - 06:09
My Thoughts - 07:30

[chandlercole]

The amount of people in my local tournament trail that had problems with their Hobies baffles me. We had one guy that went through 3 hulls and 5 drives in a little over a year's time frame. Many had difficulties even getting Hobie to warranty the kayaks. I feel the "changes" they made are kinda lazy, "here we'll make it easier for you to fix instead of fixing the problem ourselves". I'm seeing so many people flock to other brands Native, Old Town, Bonafide, etc.

[vibinwithlou]

I moved on to Oldtown, first thing I noticed right out the gate was the hull thickness/quality. And lifetime hull warranty is pretty sweet.

[EJBMusic-uwgy]

I have a Hobie PA14 with the 180 drive and I love it. I've never had a problem and I use it as much as possible including in tournaments.

[albanianfishingguy]

I had a crack at the drive, and Hobie sent me the new XR, and i absolutely love it! The fact that we can't get stuck anymore and you can lock your drive alone is totally worth it. I'm very pleased with the changes, and they will only continue listening to us and making changes for the best each cycle.

[SilverCymbal]

I think Hobie still thinks its Covid. They have priced small, stripped down models like the passport near $2, 000 which is just sad. 4 years ago the same model was $1299. Other products have not seen these increases, I have also seen a glut of used PA and other models all just sitting on Facebook for months. There is definitely a loss of interest in these and raising prices of a Kayak, where Hobie owns the entire supply chain is a terrible move. I love Hobie but they are priced so high & heavy now they are just turning off a ton of buyers.

[Drumguy]

I had an Old Town 106 - sold it and bought a Hobie Lynx and I am not regretting this one bit. The Lynx is the perfect Kayak for me

[kever]

I've no personal experience of Hobie malfunctions but a fishing buddy of mine had a 360 drive break in his PA and the time it took to fix it was more or less last years season.
Great to hear har Hobie are trying to adress the problem. But I will wait and see🙄

[caleb]

As someone who fishes around alot of structure and grass, there isn't another drive that can do what the 360 does in those environments. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. There isn't another kayak manufacturer that doesn't have issues with their products; Old Town, Native, etc.

[bkelley]

I went with a 2023 Native Slayer. I was scared off with all of the issues I've read with the 360. The instant reverse is what steered me over a Hobie 180 and the rigability is what steered me away from Old Town. Not knocking either, but I haven't regretted my decision.

[KevinKirkpatrick-tk]

I have fished out of the same hobie pro angler for over 10 years and not one issue. It's always inside when I'm not in it. I would like a new one for a second boat so thank you for this update.

[jasonrobbins]

In my opinion Hobie is still the best move. They weren’t getting bashed until they did away with pro staffers and then all a sudden they were junk over priced etc. the truth is they have the best drive system great styling pricing is on par with native, old town etc but why I stick with Hobie is their drive smoother and easier to pedal all day hip knee back don’t hurt at the end of the day doesn’t get tangled up in the So Cal Kelp and eel grass like prop boats I can get a Hobie in the thick kelp where the big yellows and Calicos are other boats struggle.

[fishinbite]

Thanks for the update! Are you aware of any changes to the Revo 13? Same or different colours and features?

[donovanstockton]

I fish, spearfish and hunt off a Bote Aero Rackham. It's very durable, easy to use and so far no issues. It's not fast but I usually don't travel too far - most trips are under 2-3 miles. And that's traveled using it in SUP form - excellent core workout. I've been really trying to fall in love with the Hobie PA14. But I'm really scared of that 360 drive and other quality issues. I've been trying to get more into offshore yak fishing, something that would be far beyond the capacity of the Rackham. I agree they've incrementally improved with the XR but I still have serious concerns. Alas enter the NuCanoe Unlimited and Bonafide PWR129. I haven't heard of catastrophic failures on those yaks. I get they are tradeoffs with any yak (wish the unlimited was faster, the PWR had a 360 swivel seat). Which of those measures up to or even exceeds the potential of offshore fishing capacity of the PA14 360?

[tamplain]

I have owned numerous hobies over the span of years having owned a number of outbacks. But I found that after years I did not need all the bells and whistles but wanted something more of a blank slate. Enter the Compass. It also had the benefit of being much lighter and easy to handle by myself as I gotten older. I picked one up when they first came out for $1700 and thought this is great. Super great hull design, clean slate and minimalistic (Funny enough the compass with the new hull design was released before the new compass on steroids was released (What I call the new outback). Still fishing the Compass after all these years but its starting to show the wear and tear of years of fishing and kayak/camping trips. I have been pondering about getting a new Kayak and in years past it would have been a hobie in a flash simply because of the drive which I think is still the best drive system. But I would really have to think twice about a hobie now due to the cost. There is no reason the compass should cost what it currently does as they have done nothing to improve the kayak since its origin other than a 180 drive which I could care less about. The new seat is a complete downgrade from an already not-so-good seat on the original. It seems to me that they just came out with the Passport to kind of take the flak off of way overcharging for the compass. I have been thinking of finding a lightly used compass before the seat change if the price is right but likely would not buy a new hobie unless I see big changes without adding $$$$. Many friends have moved away from them going to things like the Jackson Yupik, Nucanoe and even going back to some old Wilderness kayaks.

[MitchellRoffer]

I wish you had discussed other changes other than the PA. No need to Outback’s? Mirage? Accessories? Any thoughts on power assist for Hobie. Thanks.

[TheZX]

There will come a day, sooner than later, where someone calls Seatow or the Coast Guard for help, and when they are asked to describe their boat, they will say, "Sea Camouflage kayak."  
Seatow transmitting, "Did you say it's the color of the sea?"  
Kayaker, "Yes, and camouflaged."

[Bassinwithjesse]

I own a $400 pelican, so I don’t really have a dog in this fight yet. I’m doing my research on which pedal kayak to invest in.
One thing is common amongst these types of “controversies”.
From the amount of kayaks a brand as big as Hobie sells, you’re going to get the few that are having problems with their kayaks on every forum posting about it. But the exponential amount of people who haven’t had the first issue are not the ones posting on forums.

You only hear about the bad. Not the good.

[louKYpb]

I think I've made this comment before, but they have prices that I'm not willing to pay. I have nothing against Hobie and actually really like their platforms, but the prices are turn off for me personally. --- As far as the fixes. Great job. I wish the belt was easier to get to so the average joe could replace the belt easier, but I come from an accounting background and I think what they did was a business decision and I have nothing against them using the rubber belt.

[PizzaRatPicker]

To me it seems that too much of their attention is focused solely on the Pro Angler. The other boats go years without significant updates.

I'd love to see the Compass get a better seat and a cavity on the bottom that can fit some of the bigger transducers. Maybe one that can be upgraded to a retractable Guardian type mount by the user at a later date.

[hugobarreiras]

Good afternoon, in your opinion, which Kayak to choose, Hobie or Native? And of these 2 models, which is better, Native Tintan X 12.5 Propel or Hobie Mirage Outback? Thank you and greetings from Portugal.