What Kayaks are Used in Whitewater Kayaking

Series Summary

As you are reading this, the clerks and managers at your local outdoor adventure center are holding a meeting to recap just how many ways they can convince you to part with your hard-earned cash. Perhaps the hiking shoes with the blue stripes are not selling well as backpacking shoes so why not market them as cross-trainers. Perhaps the black neoprene shorts are not selling well as cycling attire so they should be cross-marketed as essential camping wear. And who cares if the pair of shoes you're looking at is a couple of sizes to big, a couple of extra pairs of socks can solve any problem. Or can they? And do you really need the graphite kayak with the gold leaf trim? These clerks prey upon uninformed shoppers, often convincing them to buy things they don't need or persuading them to spend more than they really needed to. The key to a successful shopping experience is to be as informed as possible before you step through the store entrance.

Watch this series of free kayak equipment videos and you will know exactly what gear you need to go kayaking. Our outdoor expert discusses how to chose your kayak, as well as essential gear such as helmets, paddles and rescue equipment. He gives you tips on how to transport your kayak and even includes a rundown of some basic kayaking terminology. After you watching these videos, you will be an informed shopper confident enough to buy only what you need...in spite of the badgering from the clerks.

Video Transcript

"So let's talk about some of the similarities and difference among the kayak different types. If you come over here we have a bunch of kayaks laid out in the lawn. You see this blue one this is a creek boat designed for going over steep drops. The next one in is what we call a river runner designed to have some speed along the river. The final one here in the whitewater line is our play boat. Way over here is our sea kayak or a touring boat. First of all you can really tell the difference 1 is the length, touring boats are designed to go from point A to point B efficiently Whitewater boats are designed to spin so you can kind of see the whole design is going to really determine what happens with the boat. A couple of other things with our touring boat is you can follow all the way to the end it got a rotter, it helps when you got wind and the boat is weather clocking to keep it going in a straight line. It also has patches to store gear and other budgies to help store gear on your deck if you need it. So it is a great boat if you are goal is to go camping, take a look at wild life, make some distance. These whitewater boats are designed like I said to spin so they don't go straight so don't even try. They are designed to turn, maneuver, and work really fast. You could sort of think of all these boats if the sea kayak is mini van this is a maserati it turns fast, they are all boats just like those are all cars but they are designed for different purposes. So we are going to take some specific look at which boat is best for you. If you look at some of these whitewater boats I'm going to pick this one up here the haul or the bottom of the boat is a flat planning haul. You could see how flat it is, it is a pretty hard edge right here okay hard shine. That is for doing more areal maneuvers, designed to surf really well, designed to turn really well. Our river runner here is also a flat planning haul boat so it still has flat planning holes but it is not as hard right here. It is designed for quick maneuvers with some speed. Our creek boat has a displacement haul so if you look at the haul it is a little bit more round on the bottom so it is designed to keep some haul speed and it also has a lot of volume up near the front. So when you are going over waterfalls this front kind of basically takes up the impact of the drop and your are able to rise back up to the surface. So all these boats are for different purposes, you should decide which one do you like."