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Thread: Toon, float or kayak?

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  1. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Wondervu, CO
    Posts
    737

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    You might need to be a little more specific about the intended uses for a definitive answer, but here are some of my observations...

    float tubes
    - easy to transport, fit into the trunk of a car
    - your butt is always in the water, not so nice on cold days
    - not efficiant over distance, few yards OK, a hundred yards is a heck of a lot of kicking
    - can be impossile to return to launch point in high winds, beach the boat and walk home
    - since your legs dangle down you need min. 3-4 feet of water to float
    - entering shallow banks is difficult, need to walk in clumsy flippers to deeper water
    - legs hanging down can be dangerous in moving water, feet catch and flip ya right over
    - light enough that hiking in to remote locations is possible
    - not allowed on many rivers do to safety issues
    - can't pee out of one, you will need to go to shore and remove your waders

    pontoons
    - fits in the back of my SUV when dissasembled, or on top when put together
    - takes 20 minutes to assemble or take down, prefer to leave it set up for multi-day
    - butt sits high and dry in comfy seat with back support, legs can rest out of water too
    - low draft, floats in 6" of water, enter or leave shallow water easily
    - need flippers or extra set of arms to fish and row at same time
    - flipper and oars work best in 'reverse' direction, forward travel is much less efficiant
    - big enough for lots of gear, small cooler, live well, spare clothes, 6 pack, whatever
    - big wide footprint, really hard to flip one
    - some are stable enough for stand up casting, nice feature
    - oars provide efficiant propulsion, can also mount small mount small trolling motor
    - higher wind profile, tough to keep it where you want it when wind is gusting
    - beefy enough for class III rivers, bounces off rocks w/o damage

    kayak
    - need roof rack for transport, include this in cost analysis, those thule racks aren't cheap
    - zero assembly time, gotta love that
    - it's a wet ride, you will be sitting in water much of the time
    - 90 degree sitting position is uncomfortable for some folks w/ back problems
    - paddle and fly rod each need two hands, cannot to fish and steer at same time
    - storage space is limited on some models, where do I put the cooler?
    - stable but it is still possible to flip them, expensive ones can be fitted w/ outriggers for stand up casting
    - very efficiant propulsion, good for long distances or upstream/upwind travel, silent and stealthy
    - travel forward, backward and turn on a dime no problem, as long as both hands are free
    - might want a paddle leash or spare break down paddle, they don't go far w/o one.
    - need full size storage space for off season, 12-16 feet takes up a lot of room
    - modern roto molded plastic hulls are almost indistructable, pass boat the along to your grand kids
    Last edited by kengore; 10-19-2009 at 10:45 PM.

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