Jackson Kayak Traverse with Marty Cronin

Marty Cronin gives us his opinion and a walkthrough of JacksonKayak's latest cross over, the Traverse

[mysticaldragon]

Very Nice and helpful. I've been looking at getting into kayaking again and while I prefer whitewater, there isn't a lot in Ohio so it was up to needing to make a compromise. The karma L fit me overall since I'm a bit bigger. Now after seeing this breakdown I will certainly be looking closely at the traverse.

[greensaturated]

So the dagger katana has some competition! Full WW outfitting on both boats - center pillar and no foot pegs. Deck rigging looks Katana inspired... which was a good idea. Karma hull designs got me a little jealous for surfing purposes but would I go out to surf in it?

Space behind the seat is good, but the more space you have there, the less you have in the hatch and less you can drain quickly. Katana has enough for your rope + lunch bag. At the end of the day these boats are designed for overnight trips as you can day trip in any boat. But that hard dry hatch cover is a great idea - Katanas never leaked but I do tape it down when going above 3+.

Not a fan of these skinny skegs. Slide sideways over a rock and its a snapper. Might be wrong but it also looks like the skeg cable is partly external. Katana has this one again I'm afraid, skeg could still be snapped but is bigger and more secure plus the cable is internal. Never missed that extra inch of space as your always packing flexible bags anyway.

I'd like to see a bolt action skeg leaver towards the front of the deck, so it only takes a second to control. Having to take a hand off the paddle in a sticky situation to control the skeg from behind is not worth it. I'd love to snap it down at a moments notice to sail through the boils after a rapid or the likes.

Those slots for gadgets, meh, guess some people will like it, anyone could use a suction cup thats also tied down but fair play... Cant see a fisherman buying this over your other fishing boats for the most part. Personally, If I'm going WW trippin, Ill take the normal Karma. If I'm going for anything else or WW overnight i'll take my katana.

If I was on the market for a cross over I'd consider this for sure but what I've learnt is, a full boat is a cautious boat - I wont be planning on surfing or rolling in a fully loaded cross over so I wont be looking for a racy, carvy planing hull. Most likely a summer low water rock sliding hull. But I have more than one boat! If you only want one boat for loads of situations, this is worth consideration!

[ExplosiveGarage]

sold me! picked up one a couple days ago!

[overlandaf_adventures]

Where did you get the cup holder for this?

[dustinm]

Finally a good walk through. I have a nine footer on order. What deck size is that snap dragon? I need to get one coming.

[boettin]

So is this a replacement for the rogue? I really wanted one and am sad to see it discontinued

[jeffccr]

Boom i am going to see if its comparable in price to the Remix xp 10 and the Katana but please tell me i can get it in a solid color so i dont look like vomit floating down the river

[Agapenutrition]

I see my comments disappeared, censorship is a no no, so will do my own video. Try and censor that.