Advanced Elements AE1007-R AdvancedFrame Convertible Inflatable Kayak - 15' - Red

I am a whitewater kayaker and previously only had tried whitewater kayaks. I went through the whole novice phase where trying to paddle just turns you around and around - not to mention, extremely frustrating. White water kayaks are meant to spin very easily because you want to be able to maneuver your kayak really quickly when you are in the rapids or among rocks or other hazards. Speed is much less of a concern with a white water kayak since, well, the water is already moving, so you don't need to paddle very hard.However, taking a whitewater kayak in a lake is pretty much good for only two things: 1) An extremely good workout - since the kayaks simply do not want to go straight and 2) Practicing your skills in a safe environment without having to worry about hazards and currents.My wife had been wanting to go on the water with me for a while now so I finally buckled down and bought this kayak (of course after researching the hell out of inflatable kayaks.) Friend kayakers had told me that Inflatable kayaks are in general stable and this kayak just delivers on the mark. I bought it with the double action pump and it worked pretty well. The kayak is pretty heavy - 56 lbs. I consider myself strong but trying to carry it in the case to the water was a bit of struggle. The reason is not that the weight. Rather, the carrying case is is like an oversize shopping bag - of course, zippered, so it is completely enclosed. The handles are not big enough to give you enough length to hang around your shoulders. You can put your arm in and put it on your shoulder, but it is not very comfortable.Setting it up was pretty straightforward. It takes about 10 minutes to fully setup. One thing I had been dreading was pumping the kayak up. Surprisingly, the kayak barely requires 1-2 psi pressure when fully inflated, so the pump really pumps it up very quickly.I did a water launch of the kayak i.e. take it in about calf deep water and then place your butt in the kayak. Then raise your legs and bring them in. My wife is not a kayaker and does not know swimming, so I was quite concerned with stability of the kayak. I suited her up in the life vest and had her sit in first in the rear seat. Boy, it was stable! She sat down with not an issue. I got in without any issues as well. I tried to rock the kayak, it does not rock much. Both Primary and Secondary stability of the kayak are excellent. Primary stability means when the kayak is sitting on water and you try to rock it a bit, does it become tippy whereas secondary stability means when the kayak is almost on its side, does it become tippy or tips over. Happy to say, I did not feel any tippiness at all.Tracking: Tracking means when that when you are paddling, how well does the kayak move in a straight line. Coming from a white water world, I am really well versed with keeping a kayak straight (remember how I earlier said that white water kayaks DO NOT want to go straight and require skill to keep them moving in a particular direction). I was simply amazed at the tracking ability of this kayak. I mean after I paddled it for a few strokes and just let it go, it would go in exactly the direction that I left it at. No turning, no twisting whatsoever. Coming from the whitewater world, this just seems like magic. The fact that the kayak has a welded keel at the bottom and a plastic weldged spine at the bottom must be contributing to that as well. I tested the tracking in flat, calm water and it performed superb. Of course, if you try it in a windy place or otherwise moving water, it would affect the tracking.I noticed while setting the kayak up that there is an aluminum backbone in both the tips of the kayak which keeps the tips sharp and help it cut through the water. It was not much work to make it travel through the water.The seats are pretty OK. The seats attach to the kayak with two buckle straps and I tightened mine to make it near straight back sitting. After an hour or so, it was slightly uncomfortable. You might have to play with a few adjustments, aftermarket accessories if you want to go on a long trip. As someone else mentioned, the rear seat touches the back ring of the kayak, so the person in the back seat is likely getting more support and is likely more comfortable. Of course, this is a bit of nitpick. Any kayak, no matter whether hardshell or inflatable requires fiddling around with the seat to make it work best for you.NOTE: I had read a few comments on how the instructions on how exactly to inflate the kayak are a bit unclear. I concur with those comments. So, the pump connects with the spring loaded air valves. What the instruction booklet does not make clear is that the central portion within the spring loaded air valves can be pushed with a finger and that you can actually turn it with a finger without grabbing it. No seriously, just push the central portion of the valve down and then just using pressure and friction, try to turn it left or right. It will turn. So, this central position has two positions, down and up. When the valve is up, you can pump air in and when you detach the pump, the kayak will hold air. If the valve is in down position, you can pump air, but as soon as you remove the pump, it immediately starts losing air. So lesson: when filling it up, keep the value in the up position and when you want to deflate, push the valve down and twist it with your fingertip till it gets stuck in the down position and it will let the air out.NOTE: Note the way the kayak is folded when you first take it out of the carrying case. If you don't, you might struggle quite a bit to put the kayak back in its case. For reference, this is how I fold it: The back side of the kayak folds a small fold, then the just folded portion is folded again over itself. Next, approach the kayak from the other edge. Fold the other edge on the main body. Now take the newly folded section and fold it over the rear side. Not sure if that helps, but that is the way I do it.Now for the Cons:- When the broadside is facing wind, the kayak feels a teeny bit tippy. I have heard that this is more common with inflatable kayaks. Even hardshells have it, but inflatables have it a bit more- No footrest. Coming from whitewater, this was a bit of a shocker. In white water kayaking, your lower body is completely locked win the kayak. You are pressing a footrest with your foot and your knees are under extended portion of the kayak that covers your knees. Effectively, the point is to make sure that your lower body and the kayak behave as one unit, so you can control the kayak with purely your lower body. This kayak has no footrest. In fact there is quite a bit of space in front of your legs. I guess for flat water, it felt just fine, although if I want to take this in moving water, I would probably stuff something in front of my feet to have something to push on. There are no knee braces, but I guess if you buy the extra shell, you might have something like it.- Water - Some water got in while paddling. Probably less than a cup or two but it did. This is not the kayak's fault. The kayak is open top so of course some water will splash in. I used the white water paddle with my kayak (they are a bit shorter and have wider blades) and no water splashed onto my wife. I read another reviewer's comment saying that it splashed water on the person in the rear, but I did not experience any such thing.- Drying - Now, this was a chore. With my hardshells, I just lift them on my shoulder and twist and turn till I let all the water out and then I just have them sit in the garage while they dry out. The fabric at the top, although nylong, is a woven nylon fabric which gives it great strength but also makes it retain some water. So after I brought it home, I had to use a sponge to take out all excess water. The fabric at the top and around the tubing was wet, so I let a pedstal fan blow on it all night and it was dry in the morning. I have seen comments saying that they leave it outside for a while in the sun and it dries up. I leave in Pacific Northwest and this is not really an option for me most of the year. I guess this is the cost I will have to pay to get the flexibility of an inflatable.I MUST really really complain about the carrying case again (by the way, the fabric of the case seems waterproof and is pretty solid). The issue is not just with this kayak but pretty much anything that comes with a case. The manufacturers try to save on the material to the degree that both taking the kayak out of the bag and putting it back in is a frikkin pain in the butt. I work up a small amount of sweat pushing it back in into the carrying case. I mean SERIOUSLY! I just paid $650+Tax for a kayak. If they would have taken care of making a case that was a few inches longer, I could actually have put the kayak back in easily. As is, it is like wrestling with a gator. It takes me and my wife both about 2-3 minutes pushing and shoving and pulling the case up to get it in.Final observation: I am a big complainer when I don't like something, so please don't read the above comments as if I am trying to dissuade you from purchasing the kayak. This is an absolutely fantastic kayak. I love it and would not trade it for anything. The construction is rock solid. The fabric used is both aesthetically pleasing as as pretty strong. The canvas at the bottom inspires confidence. The fact that they thought over and have two tubes with separate valves that by themselves can keep the kayak afloat - so that in case one of the tubes fails, you can still get back is a testament to the marvelous engineering the folks at Advanced Elements did.Overall, buy without hesitation but be ready to struggle with the wretched case.

I looked at a lot of kayaks before buying this one and am very happy with my purchase. I had some experience in a hard shell kayak, but they were all out of my price range (especially the tandems). I wanted a kayak that would allow me to paddle solo or with a another person, I wanted a kayak that tracked well, and I wanted something that would break down in fit in the back of my car. This kayak is all those things.Obviously the biggest drawback to this kayak is having to assemble and disassemble after every use (and every time you clean it). It only takes 5-10 minutes to inflate (even with a cheap hand pump) and even less to deflate. Taking it apart and cleaning it after every use has been the only downside. I mainly kayak in the ocean and also live in the Pacific Northwest, so I need to make sure everything is clean and dry when I pack it up.It is important to fully inflate all chambers for ideal performance, but you dont want to over inflate or you might damage the kayak. This is why I ordered the Advanced Frame Dual Action Pump with Pressure Gauge, however, cheaper pumps work too. When I've gone solo in this kayak I noticed it sags a bit in the center (to be expected for an inflatable) and the sides of the fabric bow out and can start to collect water. I'm sure with the addition of a spray deck and the backbone this wont be an issue anymore.I noticed a lot of people complaining about how heavy this kayak is and it is heavy (around 55 pounds) but it is just as heavy as a most hard shell kayaks. Another thing people said in reviews is that they were unable to get the kayak back in the duffel bag. I got mine back in just fine, all you have to do is make sure you get all the air out first.To sum things up, the Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Convertable Kayak is an awesome kayak. It is ideal for people who dont want to spend the big bucks on a hard shell kayak and want something that they can fold up and stick in a duffel bag, while still getting the performance you would expect from a hard shell kayak.Pros:Great price for a convertible kayakCan easily fit in the backseat of your carMade from high quality materialsGreat tracking, cuts right through the waterVery stable on the water, even in choppy and windy conditions.Cons:Inflating, deflating, and cleanup can be a choreSpray decks and backbone needed for best performance (but not required)

So I have had this boat for a little over 2 years now and have had some great experiences. First of all this is high quality boat and is built really well. There is plenty of space for 2 people or even 1 person and two kids or dogs etc. It tracks really well and is a pleasure to paddle on the water.Pluses- great amount of space if your taking multiple people - not a problem to paddle alone but there may be better options- design with outer shell seems perfect for durability - no problems at all to report- paddles really well and tracks well- setup is fairly easy - after the first time setup shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes- storage is great as it fits into a large bagDrawbacks- weight - even though fairly easy to store its pretty heavy to heft around- drying it out after use is the only reason I cannot give five stars. A certain amount of water gets into the kayak and based on the design its very difficult to dry out unless you remove the inner part and dry seperate - once you do this putting everything back together is definitely a pain.In conclusion I can highly recommend this boat but just be aware that even though setup is a breeze that drying out and preparing for storage is a bit of a project.

What a great product! It's rigid, it's strong, it's durable, and it's easy to deflate and store when you are done using it. Also, we strapped it to the roof racks and it rode well, we suggest you flip it upside down for the best ride (as the fin in the back may scratch your roof). Happy we purchased this model!