Guys alot of you have helped me along the way. I just wanted to put some of this info out there. I had a very hard time finding info on kayaks with large men. 300 plus pounds puts me in a special bracket per say. So heres my story.
Im 6ft 2in and 358 pounds naked. When i joined this site i was quickly drawn to the kayak section for some reason. I used to sit and dream about owning one. But in my mind 350 pounds wasnt gonna work with a kayak. Most u read on the internet say it isnt optimal. LOL Well yeah its not. But dont let that stop you. Thanks to froggy advice i decided to try out as many i could get my hands on. So me and my father hooked up the tralier and road to the local outfitter. I wont say whom i purchased from as it not far to the sponsers of the site. But he was awesome in some ways others not so much. He kept telling me i wouldnt like a kayak. He wanted to sell me a nucanoe. Now i feel he had my best interest in mind. Well he talked my dad into a demo on the nucanoe.
Day 1
Nucanoe day
Got off work early whoo hoo. Meet dad at the lake. We put the nucanoe in the water. First impression looks cool. Heavy but looks cool. Dad quickly got in and within secs was paddling off. I did notice it was wobbling pretty good. Dads 6 ft 6 200 lbs. Well then came my turn. I didnt feel comfortable at all. Boat seemed to sway back and forth. Or better yet side to side. To the point water was entering. I didnt make it far befor i was ready to quit. Now on one hand i really gave it a stablity test. And to me it failed. Looking back it really passed with flying colors since i didnt get wet. I quickly doubted if a kayak was for me.
Day 2
Woke up feeling like i had something to prove. Called dad early he was still gonna buy the nucanoe. I asked him to please try a kayak. Just one. So off we went to the local outfitter. The only thing that would fit my weight limit that he had a demo for was the Jackson Big tuna. So we loaded it up and the last thing he said was. Now its a steady boat but nothing like the Nucanoe. Heart sank figured i was setting myself up for failure. Got to the lake and unloaded it. Heavy very heavy. But two men could do it easly. Got it setup and i sat down. Water was about 3 ft. Boat was crazy stable. I mean crazy. Dad said i was sitting on the bottom. LOL i paddled away leaving him and all my fears. Its stable comfortable and inspired confidence. I didnt go far but i knew it was a surprising discovery. Put dad in the boat and he agreed. Extremely stable no side to side wobble. Paddles easy and i was quickly chasing racing a random duck who sway by. Big tuna gets a huge thumbs up. I knew this boat was a lil out of my price range so we headed back to purchase a kayak.
Wilderness Ride 115
Now i fell in love with the Wilderness system ride 115 the first time i sat in it. It just felt right. Hard to explain but i really wanted to try it. Well he didnt have a demo so i was just gonna buy it. I knew from what i read people where saying it was stable. Theres that word again stable. LOL. The store owner refused to sell me the boat with a demo. So he loaded it up risking loosing a new boat. He also loaded my father a Jackson Kayak cousa.
We went directly to the lake and carefully got the ride in the water. I sat down and it was perfect. Did get some water in the scupper holes. Not much it quickly drained. Good blend of stable yet seem fast. No its not as stable as the big tuna. ( Spoiler alert) It was the boat for me. Fit nicely in my budget since my car sold.
Jackson Cousa
Now this boat i was really close to the weight limit. If not over it. It handled like a dream. No water . Very stable and fast. However the price tag and the weight limit is what turned me off.
Ive really never done anything like this in a forum. But had i read something like this a few weeks ago. It would have inspired me to get out there and try. I am in no way a professional. Yesterday was my first paddle. Im very happy with my purchase and look forward to fishing with you guys.
Thx David
Im 6ft 2in and 358 pounds naked. When i joined this site i was quickly drawn to the kayak section for some reason. I used to sit and dream about owning one. But in my mind 350 pounds wasnt gonna work with a kayak. Most u read on the internet say it isnt optimal. LOL Well yeah its not. But dont let that stop you. Thanks to froggy advice i decided to try out as many i could get my hands on. So me and my father hooked up the tralier and road to the local outfitter. I wont say whom i purchased from as it not far to the sponsers of the site. But he was awesome in some ways others not so much. He kept telling me i wouldnt like a kayak. He wanted to sell me a nucanoe. Now i feel he had my best interest in mind. Well he talked my dad into a demo on the nucanoe.
Day 1
Nucanoe day
Got off work early whoo hoo. Meet dad at the lake. We put the nucanoe in the water. First impression looks cool. Heavy but looks cool. Dad quickly got in and within secs was paddling off. I did notice it was wobbling pretty good. Dads 6 ft 6 200 lbs. Well then came my turn. I didnt feel comfortable at all. Boat seemed to sway back and forth. Or better yet side to side. To the point water was entering. I didnt make it far befor i was ready to quit. Now on one hand i really gave it a stablity test. And to me it failed. Looking back it really passed with flying colors since i didnt get wet. I quickly doubted if a kayak was for me.
Day 2
Woke up feeling like i had something to prove. Called dad early he was still gonna buy the nucanoe. I asked him to please try a kayak. Just one. So off we went to the local outfitter. The only thing that would fit my weight limit that he had a demo for was the Jackson Big tuna. So we loaded it up and the last thing he said was. Now its a steady boat but nothing like the Nucanoe. Heart sank figured i was setting myself up for failure. Got to the lake and unloaded it. Heavy very heavy. But two men could do it easly. Got it setup and i sat down. Water was about 3 ft. Boat was crazy stable. I mean crazy. Dad said i was sitting on the bottom. LOL i paddled away leaving him and all my fears. Its stable comfortable and inspired confidence. I didnt go far but i knew it was a surprising discovery. Put dad in the boat and he agreed. Extremely stable no side to side wobble. Paddles easy and i was quickly chasing racing a random duck who sway by. Big tuna gets a huge thumbs up. I knew this boat was a lil out of my price range so we headed back to purchase a kayak.
Wilderness Ride 115
Now i fell in love with the Wilderness system ride 115 the first time i sat in it. It just felt right. Hard to explain but i really wanted to try it. Well he didnt have a demo so i was just gonna buy it. I knew from what i read people where saying it was stable. Theres that word again stable. LOL. The store owner refused to sell me the boat with a demo. So he loaded it up risking loosing a new boat. He also loaded my father a Jackson Kayak cousa.
We went directly to the lake and carefully got the ride in the water. I sat down and it was perfect. Did get some water in the scupper holes. Not much it quickly drained. Good blend of stable yet seem fast. No its not as stable as the big tuna. ( Spoiler alert) It was the boat for me. Fit nicely in my budget since my car sold.
Jackson Cousa
Now this boat i was really close to the weight limit. If not over it. It handled like a dream. No water . Very stable and fast. However the price tag and the weight limit is what turned me off.
Ive really never done anything like this in a forum. But had i read something like this a few weeks ago. It would have inspired me to get out there and try. I am in no way a professional. Yesterday was my first paddle. Im very happy with my purchase and look forward to fishing with you guys.
Thx David