Quote Originally Posted by Gigmaster View Post
You've obviously never been in a good one. I would put my Convertible, or my Rio up against any hardshell, or canoe made, for general use. Here is a great example. If you hit a rock on a river hard enough to punch a hole in a hardshell, your trip is over. There is no way to patch it in the field. It will require expensive polymer work to be seaworthy again. A good inflatable, under the same conditions, requires a simple patch that can be put on right there, and a little inflation, and you're back on the water again, in less than 30 minutes. Even a bad rip wont sink you completely, because unlike a hardshell, there are multiple compartments, any one of which is capable of keeping you afloat long enough to get home. Entire bladders can be replaced easily, and relatively inexpensively.

I wouldn't trade either of my inflatables for any model of hardshell. I have a Pelican SIT, but I mostly use the inflatables. I had the Pelican first.
I'm not going to take anything away from your preference for inflatables, but you're not entirely accurate about the other stuff. Small cracks or holes in a "hard" kayak can be patched in any number of ways in the field -IN AN EMERGENCY- at least enough to get you home. Modern thermoplastic roto-molded kayaks can be easily and inexpensively welded and built up to fix all but major cracks and holes, not to mention the material is remarkably tough and forgiving of impacts. Plastic welding and filling is easy to do at home and can be done by anyone with rudimentary mechanical skills. "Laid up" glass, kevlar, whatever, boats also can be repaired fairly easily and cheaply with fabric and epoxy.

I'm sure there are very good inflatable boats out there, but there are reasons why they are still only small piece of the kayak market.