Any kayakers here? Question.

[rick barclay]

Me and the wife recently discovered the wonderful world of kayaking and the advantages it offers to photgraphers. We want to get an inflatable kayak as it is much easier to transport than a hard body. But we have have doubts about inflatables that are causing us to hold off until we do our research.

So, if any of you out there have experience with inflatable kayaks or canoes, we would surely like to hear from you. What are the pros and cons of inflatables and why? Thanks a bunch for any help.

We rented a hard body kayak yesterday and had a blast. We must have got within 50 feet of a great blue heron before he took off.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Inflatable or hard side, you still have to deal with protecting your camera. A good water housing for a DSLR will run you more than any hard side kayak would. My assumption is the inflatable kayaks are cheaper.

A big downside to inflatables is expect to be wet more often since you can't seal an inflatable kayak as well. This makes protecting your camera gear that much more necessary.

Another downside is the high potential of ripping. I haven't been down too many rivers in my kayak without scraping a rock here and there.

The reason outfitters use inflatable kayaks is due to the cheap cost of repair/replacement, the number of boaters per kayak is higher (thus return per kayak is higher) and the ability of boaters to utilize the kayak as floatation (after getting dumped) is somewhat easier with an inflatable.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Inflatible will be a real pain... you'll work twice a shard to go half as far...

Think carefully about the portability benifits Vs. it seaworthiness.

There are a host of lightweight blown plastic "jobs" out there that with a simple roof rack are very portable indeed.. (very lightweight) and won't require inflation (or deflation) at either end of your trip.

If you decide on a solid one.. look close at the hydrodynamic shape.. there are a few hard plastic "tubs" out there that are particular bulbous in shape and will be very hard to keep moving straight.. if I recall correctly "ColeMan" is guilty of making some of these "blobs".

You want a model that can "track" reasonably well so you aren't constantly turning the kayak every time you put a paddle in the water.. (the inflatible will be horrible regarding this.. you'll have a very hard time getting any forward motion at all,. and you'll have essentially no momentum)

[robertwgross]

You will also get more specific advice if you limit your interest to either "kayaks" or "sea kayaks" or something else.

As a general rule, in a sea kayak, the sea water will be choppy enough that you won't want to be using any expensive camera gear while in the craft. Some of my friends haunt the brackish estuaries for herons and marsh birds, and they come back with good photos, but that is still water. I would think that an I.S. lens would give good service there.

---Bob Gross---

[jaypie77]

Wow, I just got home from work and see this topic and think "THAT'S MY FAVORITE HOBBY!"

I have been doing a lot of kayak-photography and I've done it with several different kayaks including inflatables and hard-bodies. My personal preference is for a good quality inflatable as they WILL NOT TIP OVER. I'm using a Sea-Eagle body right now, entry model is a cheap $250-300, nice models are around $1k. The only time I've had an inflatable get damaged is by TSA inspectors in the airport f-ing up the zippers. Otherwise, I've done rapids, rocky shores, sea-shell beach-landings, and much worse. My favorite thing is hanging out where the waves crash on the rocks and my inflatable has never had any problem with ripping nor rolling whatsoever.

The big advantage to hard-bodies, of course, is speed. Hard bodies can get places faster and more easily than inflatables as inflatables are somewhat sluggish (although the expensive ones are faster).

Keeping your camera dry is another issue. Inflatables won't roll, hardbodies will. You can purchase dry-bags of all sorts for $10-20, or you can buy camera-shaped waterproof bags for $120 (not worth it). Finally, if you want to spend a lot, you can buy a custom-shaped waterproof plastic case that will let you use your camera normally, but inside a plastic case - these cost about $1k.

Myself, I use an inflatable kayak and a dry bag. I usually keep the camera out of the dry bag and in my lap or behind my seat, but in stormy conditions I might stick the camera in the bag once in a while to keep it from getting wet from mist. Just so you know, this is my second summer of using my camera this way (a 300D), and I have never had any problems at all - and I've gotten this thing pretty wet.

If you have any questions at all, PM me. Can anybody guess which salt-water body this photo was taken on?

http://www.jasonnh.com/photos/dva.jpg

[nat869]

I am an avid paddler of kayaks and canoes and I am also a builder of woodstrip canoes, although recently I have been inventing and designing machines to help disabled people (mainly my best friend) get access to the outdoors. There are some very good inflatable boats out there, but typically a fiberglass or kevlar boat is better and more durable. River going canoes/kayaks have a lot of rocker, which is the curve that arcs from the stem to the stern. That enables the paddler to turn on a dime which is necessary on a river in rapids, but this is not desirable for cruising on flat water or a big wide slow moving river, in that case you need a boat with little rocker and perhaps a small keel. In a canoe, you can often have more beam (width) which provides a stable non-tippy boat. Kayaks have less beam and feel more unstable, but that is so you can roll it back upright if you are under the water. In terms of taking expensive equipment out on the water....I have a small bilge bag which carries my camera and lens attached and is roped in so it can not go overboard. Since I am mostly in canoes, I have always felt comfortable snapping pics without fear of losing my gear.

[rick barclay]

Whoa, thanks, people, for your replies. I went to a dealer today and a hard body is pretty much out of the question for our rv, because we can't mount it on the roof, and we don't to drag a trailer around behind us.

Steering the thing is one of my main concerns. I've seen some inflatable models that go as long as 15ft, so I'm hopeful that's long enough to make it maneuverable. We do not plan on doing any sea kayaking or white watering, as we are doing this mainly to enhance our photography and camping experiences.

I'm also concerned somewhat with the speed of an inflatable, as I really don't want to spend an hour of back-breaking paddling to traverse a half-mile lake. I know longer is better on that front, but the flexibility of an inflatable's hull works against it.

Jaypie, I'm pm'ing you. I've read much about that inflatable you mentioned.

Thanks again, all.

[Sathi]

I like to go kyaking but underwater housings for an slr are insanely expensive. I'v been using a G2 and a dry bag for now. Is there anyway to protect a 20D from water without spending $1500?

[rick barclay]

We're heading back out tomorrow to rent a kayak where we saw the GBH. I'll be packing my Mark II, 24-70mm, and 100-400mm in a gym bag for the trip.

Can't be good--be careful I always say. :) Hope my cheers don't turn to tears.

[robertwgross]

Can anybody guess which salt-water body this photo was taken on?


Ha! That's a good one. That is "Lake Manly," approximately 280 feet below sea level.

That is taken in Death Valley National Park, not too far north from Badwater. That may have been taken about March 2005. The peak in the background is Telescope Peak. The canyon running up toward the peak is Hanaupah Canyon, and the vegetated spot at the bottom of it is Shorty's Well.

---Bob Gross---

[jaypie77]

Bob Gross knows his geography! Next time I should offer up some sort of freebie prize...

And regarding the speed of an inflatable kayak - I am a strong paddler and can average about 3mph going at a steady speed for long periods of time (several hours) - your mileage may vary, but yeah, these are slower than hard-bodies, but not terrible.

Regarding steering of the inflatables, mine, the two models I'm familiar with, including the 8 or 9 footer, turn on a dime.

Storage is also a big bonus, I keep mine in the trunk in a small sack, I strap it to my backpack for long hikes to hidden water, etc... It blows up in under 5 minutes with a foot pump and breaks down even faster.

So, I'm a big fan, but I also like having a hard body for hard-core ocean travel. Ideally, I'm looking for a sail-rig tri-catamaran kayak, but that's changing the subject a lot...

Sathi - I purchased (and returned 13 months later - lucky) one of those $120 SLR waterproof case-bags. It fits a film slr best, but it fit my 300D just fine. The only problem is that you can't use a big lens and you can't really work a zoom through the plastic. If you are cool shooting all auto, then you'll get sometimes crappy through-the-plastic shots. Your best bet, if you're into underwater and really-wet photography, in my opinion, is to buy a cheap p&s that's made for underwater. You'll spend a few hundred on the thing, but you'll have a reliable, no-worry solution and it will be pretty decent.

[robertwgross]

Bob Gross knows his geography! Next time I should offer up some sort of freebie prize...


Let's just say that I am intimately familiar with that place. I was there shooting the salt lake in March. However, if you look in the background at Telescope Peak, it only looks that way for a month or two each year.

(Honest story) One year we hiked up Telescope Peak... from the bottom. We started at Shorty's Well (-250 feet) at 3 a.m. and got to the summit (+11,049 feet) and then finished at 8000 feet for about 24 miles total... all in a day. Unfortunately, I knew it was going to be so brutal that I carried only a P&S film camera. <sigh>

---Bob Gross---

[rick barclay]

Wow. Longest hike for me was 2.5 miles up Overlook Mountain to the abandoned hotel and observation tower in Woodstock, N.Y. My wife kept stopping for cigarette breaks. ::shakes head::

Thanks, jp. You sure make rough surfing in an inflateable sound like carefree fun. All we have to decide now is which brand to buy. Your mention of the Sea Eagle goes a long way for making up our minds, but there are many other brands listed on Google than look even nicer. Tough decision.