1. Outfitter boats tend to be Old Town
Otters, and many paddlers prefer other brands of kayaks and/or
canoes. Kayaks,
Canoes
2. Some river outfitter boats may be worn out or nearly worn out,
even in the off season. They spend so much more time in
the sun that they rarely have the lifespan of a privately owned
kayak.
3. Most outfitter supplied kayaks lack features like fishing rod
holders, storage and tie downs. My wife Dianne and my
buddy Yakker both enjoy kayak fishing.
4. You don't have to rent very many kayaks to cover the price of
owning one. We bought our first kayaks in the $400 range, brand
new and they have been well worth the cost over the last 3 years.
5.
Many times the outfitters only have canoes to rent and no
kayaks and they often open too late in the day or close too
early. Since my wife and I both like to steer the boat there is
significant risk of mutiny in a canoe or tandem kayak!
6. Most Oklahoma rivers have no canoe and kayak outfitters
(Broken Bow and Tahlequah are the key exceptions).
If you want to chase sunsets and sunrises across a body of water
close to your home, you probably need to buy your own kayak. I
heartily recommend the activity listed above! See
my Flickr photostream for examples.
7. Many kayaks are designed for a weight limit of 225 lbs and
some of us Okies are bigger than that! A general rule is that
longer and wider kayaks carry more weight.
8. Tulsa Stores like Bass Pro Shop, Sun & Ski and Academy Sports offer a
small variety of kayaks to choose from and many outfitters don't
offer any kayak choices at all.
9. Canoe and kayak rental businesses tend to be closed for at
least half the year. In Oklahoma we often see a number of
75 degree days in the midst of winter. These days are not
wasted by wise kayak owners.
10. Doesn't your Geo Metro look cool with a 16 foot long kayak strapped to the
roof? Ok, that may be a bit extreme, but I will bet that
adding paddling to your lifestyle will change your outlook on your
own life. It certainly has improved my worldview!
Of course, there are also many good reasons NOT to buy your
own kayak.
Top Ten Reasons to NOT Buy Your Own Kayak
1. Shuttling is not included in the purchase price of your boat,
this can mean a lot of paddling upstream. Your only other
alternative is to recruit fellow paddlers for self-shuttling.
2. Many outfitters don't like shuttling private boats and others
refuse completely.
3. Some outfitters charge nearly as much for shuttling your boat
as for renting AND shuttling theirs!
4.
You need a way to haul your 10 foot to 16 foot yaks to the
water: car top,
trailer, roof racks, truck bed, etc. the options are somewhat
limited. Don't put this decision off, you have to get your boat
home on the day your buy it! This photo is our 2003
Eclipse hatchback carrying two 9.5 foot recreational kayaks.
Obviously, this is NOT an ideal shuttle vehicle.
5. Sunshine can kill your kayak. You will need a place to store
your plastic boats OUT of the sun. If you don't have the space
to shade a 9.5 foot boat try renting instead.
6. Maybe you cannot decide what kind of kayak to buy: touring,
fishing, recreational or whitewater. Renting kayaks gives you a
chance to try different types and options.
7. Buying a trailer, trailer hitch, chain, lock and about 50
bungees to haul our two yaks was costly. In time, we
decided to trade Mamma's sports car for Chevy Silverado Truck.
It solved our kayak transportation problem, but created a 'Mamma
Problem' and those are the worst kind!
8. Outfitters offer more services than mere boat rental... such as
river reports, advice, timing estimates and safety tips. A
simple command like 'Keep Left" can save a novice paddler
significant swim-time. God
Bless the Canoe Livery operators for that!
9. After a long, hot and somewhat exhausting paddle trip,
leaving your boats at the shore rocks! Cleaning the kayaks up and
strapping them in for the journey home can be a rather inelegant
ending to a great paddling trip.
10. Maybe you get free rentals from an outfitter in barter for managing
their website or some other helpful task. Why buy if
you can borrow?
When we did the math, it was worth it to buy our own kayaks to
serve our new addiction.
Had we not chosen to be the last
American family to NOT buy an SUV, the hauling might have been
cheaper. We recently gave in and traded our little foreign car
for a big ol' American pickup and the shuttling has improved a great
deal! I just toss them in the back of the Chevy and secure one
bungie.
If you choose to get yourself some kayaks, make sure to rent a
few from time to time. A little reminder of how it feels to have
a wet butt for 10 miles, really helps you accept the cost of
buying yourself that cool new
Heritage Kayak
for Anglers.
Also, it is important for paddlers to support the outfitters that
help keep our scenic rivers clean and open to discovery by
generation after generation of Oklahoma youth.
Sit-Inside Kayaks vs.
Sit-On-Top Kayaks
Choosing a Recreational Kayak to purchase requires
deciding between Sit-Inside Kayaks (SINK's) vs. Sit-On-Top Kayaks
(SOT 's). When Dianne and I bought our first kayaks, we chose
Sit-Inside Kayaks because they felt more like 'real' boats to us.
Also, we rented both SOT's and SINK's and found that Sit-On-Top
Kayaks often left us sitting in a puddle of water. Sitting in
a puddle of water may be refreshing for 15 minutes or so, but I
don't recommend it for an All Day Paddling session.
We ended up with two 9.5 foot Sit-Inside Kayaks.
I paddle the Perception Swifty and Dianne paddles a Heritage Angler
Kayak. Both have been great boats. We treat them to a
great deal of rock scraping and mud sliding, including portages
across blacktop, gravel and mud. We have had to home repair
Dianne's Heritage, but it is about a year older (and 5 lbs lighter)
than my Swifty.
Repairing these kayaks is dead easy. You use
little plastic welding rods and a glorified hairdryer to repair
holes in minutes.
Although we treat them rough, we are careful to KEEP THEM OUT OF THE
SUN when not in use. These are plastic boats so sunshine is
the enemy...paddle in the shade whenever possible.
Shopping online for a new kayak is a great idea,
whether you choose to buy online or not.
Our Kayak Store lists a much larger selection of kayak brands, kayak
styles and kayak prices than you are likely to find at any local
retail outlet. Naturally, getting a kayak delivered is a
little more complex than ordering a pizza, so you may choose to buy
on site somewhere, once you have done your homework.
