Best kayak for husband as paddler

AmyWagner

Any recommendations for a kayak for my husband? He would like to support my long training and marathon swims in rivers, lake, ocean. Any advice from paddlers would be appreciated!

curly

Very cool that your husband is signing on. I can't recommend a specific kayak, because there are a lot of brands and types. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. But I'll give you a few things to think about.

First of all, the kayaker is a part of your endurance adventure. It's not easy to sit in a kayak for hours at a time. As much as you are developing your strength and endurance, so is your kayaker. You are a team with different roles. On my team, my wife is the kayaker and she is excellent. Your mind has to be in sync. If she's off, I'm off. Kind of interesting.

So, of first importance is that your kayaker will be comfortable for a long period of time in his kayak. You might even try rentals at different spots. See what he likes the best. First question will be what type of kayak will work for him. Sit on top vs sit in kayak would be the first question to answer. Think about how you guys are going to use this. Is it guidance and support or is it potential rescue? If it's rescue, how will you do this? Ocean, lake or river? Different conditions call for different craft. What do you think will be predominant? Maybe a kayak for your normal swims and rent for your out of the ordinary swim.

How will you store and transport your kayak. Depending on your space and your vehicle, there are limitations to what kind of kayak you can get. Don't forget, there is other gear that you need to deal with along with the kayak. PFD, siphon pump, paddle, floats, dry bags, etc. All of that needs a place to store and transport and use. Plus there are some swimming specific items such as an extra life preserver, feed bottles, a flag to indicate a swimmer in the water. And my wife's favorite item, a small collapsible net to collect garbage or drowning bees out of the water.

I will tell you that after looking at everything mentioned above, we finally chose to get an Oru Bay ST folding kayak. Based on the types of swims we do and a lot of the storage and transport issues, the Oru really fit the bill. We actually ended up buying another one for me and I will occasionally go out for a paddle with her. It's funny, but I actually find swimming to be easier than kayaking. I will say that it is kind of fun to paddle around and see the view while I'm high and dry.

Enjoy your adventure. Take your time figuring out the kayak because it is an important part of the whole thing. Sort of like getting the perfect pair of goggles. What may be right for one person won't work for another. So try before you buy.

bruno

100% agree with @curly

I share with a few friends an Oru Haven (though I'm the only one using it). I'm more than happy with it. It's open, canoe-type, therefore not recommended for waves and winds (risk of flooding), but my take is that if we can't take the kayak out, we'd better not swim either.

I'd only add that perhaps the first decision is if you want to paddle or you prefer a pedal kayak.

On a side note, my dream wold be to build myself a skin-on-frame kayak. But this would take too much time that I want to use for swimming...

bruno

I forgot a couple of points:

• Inflatable kayaks tend to have a soft or non-rigid, so hydrodynamics is not very good
• With sit-on-top you get wet, so I wouldn't recommend for fresh/cold water; in fact they are really uncomfortable, so I wouldn't recommend at all!

swimmer25k

I’ve got a Perception Carolina, which is a 14’ sea kayak. I’d get a 12’ one next time. It’s got lots of cockpit space for gear and I strap two milk crates (in front and behind the cockpit) for drinks.