Choosing a kayak - length matters

If you are new to kayaking, here is most of what you need to know about how the length of your kayak affects its performance.

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[bobaf]

The way you said back and then “stern!” scared me so bad. Great video, info and production wise. Love it.

[mernilocke]

Thank you! Am just beginning my research for purchasing a first kayak.

[leemelbourne]

Thank you. Great insight about edging. Now I see how rocker is actually built into the side of a long kayak to enable turning.

[swimrski]

I am brand new to kayaking, and this explained so much to me.
My girlfriend has 2 9' kayaks and has asked me for a couple of years to go with her. Early this summer I did, and didn't have such a good time. It was so much work to go nowhere, and get there indirectly by zig zag. Then at the end of summer I had a camping trip on a lake planned with my daughter and she wanted to try kayaking, so I bought 2 used boats - a 10' Pelican sit on top for her and a 12'9'' Wilderness Systems Tsunami for me. I had SO much fun that I've been out way more often than I ever thought I would.
BTW, 2 used boats and paddles only cost $750. No tax

[derose]

Awesome breakdown. I appreciate you explaining kayak terminology!

[lucasscott]

I'm buying an old 4m ww slalom as my first real kayak but to use on coast and flat water, I want to use it for fittness and to develop good form but was going to put a detachable skeg to make it track bit easier.

[wisenber]

Another thing to consider is that it's the water line length that determines the hull speed. A 14 ft boat with a raked bow might only have a bit over 13 ft in the water, whereas a plumb bow has an LOA and LWL that are about the same.

Hopefully more people will take up sea kayaking. The market seems to be dominated by SUP and fishing kayaks. It's getting hard to find more than a handful of composite sea kayaks available.

[MartinCraig-ztsv]

Still useful. Here in New Zealand the range is limited to a couple of local manufacturers and a very small and occasional range of imports. I bought my first kayak earlier this year and my options were narrow due to the need to cope with challenging local waters in and around Cook Strait. So locally-made 5.25m touring sea kayak for me.

[Zieloniutki]

Great content, thank you mate. Much appreciated!

[voxnihili]

Very useful video thank you. I'm not versed in kayaking, but believe it would be useful for my line of work. Living in the swampy rivers of south GA north FL. I need to away to better transport gear form location to location.

I believe a short, light weight, sit on top kayak is for me. something I can carry/drag easy enough thru the woods, maneuver down narrow rivers, and because I am not a very strong swimmer a sit on top sounds safer for more open water.

[artistsend]

Hopefully you are still reading these comments, 2 years later! A lot of video reviewers discuss the needs of large paddlers and how they need to avoid shorter touring rec kayaks. I am 5’4” at 135 lb female. Is a 10’ or 12’ kayak better for me for lakes and slow moving rivers, 2-3 hour paddling? Would my light weight make a difference for tracking in these shorter kayaks. I am looking at Thermoform kayaks, specifically Eddyline Skylark 12 or Sky 10, but also your examples of root Pungo 12’ or Aspire 10’. Having a hard time finding dealers that demo or videos that discuss this. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[directorstu]

Knowledge is power but I get frustrated at the trend towards official courses. I do a lot of outdoor activities, including canoeing and kayaking. If I waited to do " training " I would have missed out on a lot of fun and experience. Training can be excellent. Safety is vital on water. But let's not let beaurocracy be a barrier.

[josephshaff]

Nice content. You didn't say much on manueverability advantage of smaller vessels for say River exploration and camping. For me it's all about the rivers, camping and gold hunting. And hey they say there's gold in every river! Ocean too. Cheers though! And thanks.

[techmundane]

What about paddle? Can a stiff carbon fiber paddle help out even when paddling the cheap kayaks?

[n-da-bunka]

I am the type that typically buys a higher end product for the largest discount possible for most purchases. I also tend to buy higher line products even as my first entry into the hobby. I grew up competitively skiing including in college. I am looking for a "midsized" 12-15ft, light weight kayak. Have been looking at Eddyline & Swift. I am 5'11" and weigh 220lbs. I am open to used so am trying to keep the cost under $2K. We live and have a dock on the lake we will be kayaking on 95% of the time.

[DustinRea]

I chose Riot Edge 11. And after 2 outings, I love it. However, 11ft is barely enough to get enough gear in for doing much of anything at camp. I'm looking at creative ways to pack my gear as well as looking at a reduced size sleep system. My 4 season sleeping bag is way way too big for kayaking. I'm perhaps about to switch to a summer ultralight bag

[Mr.Bryan]

I have a 12ft boat tracks well and average 4/5mph its a eddyline rio it has touring fit. I started out with a 9ft sit on top and was great but when i got the rio wow i was getting more distance from the same amount of energy i was putting in my 9ft.

[Ryanstuff]

I just want to know where you got the awesome adjustable shelving/desk behind you.

[AndrewMikell-bb]

Hello ok I've found a kayak I like what do you think about a 17.5 cypress current design? 550 good shape.? I'm a beginner but I have been to Tybee Island kayaking a few times. Do you think this is a good boat

[tinandglass]

Ha! I was watching a review of a kayak and grumbled that the reviewer with their x years paddling and probably holding an instructors license wasn't a fair comparison to my two hours in the water trying to decide which boat would work for me.