Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Inflatable Kayak with Bag and Pump

I have always enjoyed kayaking and have been paddling for over 5-6 years now. Every time there was weekend plan for a beach or a river or any water body, I'd spend a lot of time looking up places where you could rent a kayak without having to go through the trouble of lugging it on top of my car. I also hated the fact that most of nice little remote, but beautiful spots for kayaking had no kayak rentals for miles! Hence, the search of a kayak of my own began a few weeks back and because of all the obvious reasons (portability, performance vis-a-vis other inflatables, the whole hybrid factor, space constraint to store a hard-shell and of course, affordability) - I zeroed in on the AE AdvancedFrame Inflatable Kayak. I got a good deal on Amazon.com - the whole package, 96" paddles, kayaking friendly PFD (life vest), AE dual-action hand pump along with the kayak so it made sense. No backbone. Sure enough, the entire stuff reached within 3 days of my ordering it. I was tracking it online so I made sure I left work a tad earlier so I could take it out for a quick test-run in river close by. Reading from reviews online, it made sense to set up the whole thing within the apartment once - so I don't spend time figuring things out in the open. Definitely a good idea and I familiarized myself with the whole process in about 15-20 minutes. Instructions are pretty comprehensive and it comes all assembled, just lay it out and inflate! After this I deflated the kayak and hauled it to the river nearby and in set it up again in under 10 minutes. I chose a spot with at least a 1 ft depth to launch my kayak so I can take the whole rocks/tree branches thing out of the equation. This thing is really stable, sturdy and the paddling experience - at least in a mild river, was pretty close to a hard-shell. The seat (without any additional cushion) is comfortable (max. I tried till now is 2 hrs or so). The ease of maneuverability and tracking is quite decent. Once I got in to a rhythm, the kayak moved very effortlessly. Overall experience on the first time on water - extremely positive! After waiting it out due to really windy conditions, I decided to take the kayak out on the same river but on a different stretch of water slightly down stream. The first thing I noticed was the choppy waters due to the wind and the rocky bottom at the launch site. The last thing I wanted was to damage the kayak or the tracking fin because of the rocks but then I decided to wade a couple of meters towards slightly deeper water before getting in to the kayak. Again, the AE AdfancedFrame kayak performed well in very strong winds and choppy waters. Of course, had I been in a hard-shell, am sure paddling against the wind would have been relatively easier but honestly, I don't think that's a fair comparison. Still, I guess the loss of performance could not be more than 15-20% at the most. Considering that it is NOT a hard-shell, that is perfectly acceptable to me. Now as I was nearing the shore to exit the kayak, I ran over some very nasty rocks that I could literally feel them underneath. Expecting the worst, when I turned the kayak over - there was absolutely no damage barring a few tiny surface scratches - which even a hard-shell would have suffered had it run over those rocks. Nothing at all in terms of any damage, which speaks volumes of the quality of the construction I believe. I had loads of fun once again. Observations, 1) Make sure you get long-ish length paddles (96" / 230 cms or more) 2) Get a pump with a gauge to make sure you don't over inflate the kayak chambers 3) While this kayak is pretty sturdy, why launch it in a place with sharp rocks etc? 4) The area behind the seat is decent to store stuff but I can see the utility of a deck-bag 5) The life vest (PFD) should allow good arm movement - greatly affects overall experience This seems like a very good buy based on the first 2 runs and I am now really looking forward to the summer :)

Now that the dura-floor insert is available, this yak is great! No, it cannot be all things to all people (nothing can), yet if you like easy portage, light weight, no storage probem, stability, good tracking, durability and versatility then this is it. It took me some outings to realize how important it is to keep the rear fin aimed down vertically, it makes a difference. I also tried turning it over in the water and it is near impossible. It does look like a hard shell until you hit arock and bounce back...grear perk! Just as for my hunting boots, spraying the top (orange cloth) with waterproofing spray speeds the drying to no time. What l like about this yak most of all are the options it gives you, such as, to store in its bag or to keep inflated as a hard shell ready for next day or next week. Most of what you need and reach for on any trek can be in front of you held by the web, nice. Yes, the inflation is an important factor to keep in mind although not at all a worry. At first l pumped by the book going by the two way hand pump gauge, but then you get the feel for the right firmness, never a problem. As to "what about the pump being too large to take with you" well with seven chambers and one very large one and a triple layered floor, the problem never came up. Leave the pump behind already. The best flexiblity in this yak is in price and features. It looks great ( people want to know where l got it ), it is light and stable, sets up in less than ten minutes after a couple of "warm ups", store anywhere, fits in a small trunk and it is quite durable...my former hard shell at twice the price would not have survived...so, for the price, can you get better? Doubt it but then, this yak is great and l would have faulted it in a NY minute IF it had given me the slightest reason to. ONE YEAR LATER: Several river trips with white water and rocks...no problem at all. There has to be those who just don't get how to care for this yak. The Durafloor alone makes it very stiff and steady. The back bone was a pain. It has taken beatings with kids, rocks, and "heavy" guests + it has been deflated and put away many times. I read when some call it junk probably bc it takes just a little time and work but, it all works well and it just will not capsize no matter. Try getting out and back in with a hard shell in a shallow swift running river..l saw what happens.

I bought two AE kayaks, the advanceframe and the Lagoon 1. I chose them based on other reviews, and for the compact storage feature. I just got my kayaks delivered, and was very impressed with their construction and ease of inflation. I've never been in a kayak before, so I was excited to try it out. (As a Coast Guard Captain, I am used to bigger powered craft) My wife got the Lagoon 1 model. I live in Florida on what is known as the Nature Coast. Plenty of local rivers to choose from, and I decided to venture onto the Chassahowitzka River. The two craft were easy to set up, and we were on the water in no time at all. Both boats handled well and had no problem propelling and maneuvering either craft. Now for the exciting part: As we were exploring a small and narrow side creek, I hear the sound of a powered water craft. Now mind you, I am in a part of the creek that is about 8 feet wide and 1 foot deep. I pull my brand new 1 hour old kayak off to the right, and wait to see if a boat is coming around the bend. Sure enough here comes a jet ski doing about 30mph. As he makes the turn around the bend, his jet ski is only 10 yards from me when he sees me. Needless to say, nothing he can do at that speed and limited maneuvering area. He crashes into me and the kayak. The Jet Ski careens over the top of me, and comes to a rest behind me into the saw grass. I was uninjured, and the AE Advanceframe had not a mark on it. I think because it was an inflatable it saved me from injury. (As I said, I am a CG Captain and was following standard navigation procedures.) The only negative is the drying process after use. My kayak had water in it from the collision, and drying the inside was an issue before folding and storing. The Lagoon 1 did not get wet on the inside, so it was easy to rinse off and dry. If your vehicle will accommodate it, I suggest deflating the kayak and loosely folding it into the trunk, or in my case, the bed of a pickup. You can then hose off, dry, and properly fold and store at home. Highly recommend these boats for anyone who does not have, or want to use a lot of room for the storage of hard shell kayaks.

I have taken this kayak out on a small curvy river with lots of riffles and class I rapids, a large river, and a few lakes. It has handled very well, and I would say it rivals a hardshell kayak in that regard. It's pretty easy to maneuver, but If you're looking for speed, this isn't the kayak for you. It tracks well though and fits very nicely in the back of my small Honda Fit. As a small 5'5 woman it is a little heavy but I can still manage to carry it a small distance. The setup is extremely easy once you get the hang of it, and I have managed to get it fully inflated in 5 minutes. There are a few things I'm not a huge fan of, one of them being the fact that it is pretty hard to dry out. I feel like I have to take out the floor and sit the kayak out in the sun before packing it away to ensure that it is dry because there are plenty of nooks and crannies where water can hide. The lack of foot braces is also slightly annoying, but you can purchase them separately if you need them. All in all, this is a great boat. It's gotten me out on the water and I'm surprised by its durability and tracking ability. Not to mention all of the questions and compliments I get when I'm out paddling! If you're looking for something simple, portable, and good looking to get you out there, I would recommend this kayak and the AdvancedElements brand.

About a year ago my wife and I decided we were interested in getting into kayaking, both as a form of excercise and so my wife could have a way to get out on the water (she lived on a boat for 5 years and being in East Texas, 5 hours from the sea, was getting to her). Two problems though, both of us drive relatively small cars (Prius and a Versa), and storage space at home is limited, so hardshells were out of the question, not to mention price range. We decided to go cheap since we weren't 100% on whether we would even enjoy kayaking in the first place and bought a Sea Eagle SE370 Inflatable Kayak with Pro Package The kayak was OK, very basic and had the hydrodynamics of a VW Bus, but we were hooked on the sport. After a few excursions we determined that if this was something we'd be doing long-term it was time for an upgrade and started shopping. After some extensive research online here at Amazon and a few other outfitters we narrowed in on the Advanced Elements Af Expedition Kayak for me and the smaller Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Inflatable Kayak for my wife. For the price of this kayak and the quality of the materials used you can't go wrong. So far we've taken them out on some quiet rivers and flat water lakes in our area and have loved every minute of it. Both kayaks track straight, are very comfortable to paddle once you get the seat positioned where you want it and a breeze to inflate/deflate. When we received our kayaks from Amazon, we set them up the first time in our living room to familiarize ourselves with the set up process and make sure everything seemed to be as it should. The whole process took about twenty minutes per kayak, but after that initial dry run, the first time at the water took about ten. I highly recommend you do the same the first time around, better to be figuring it out in the AC than in the sun. The process is pretty simple once you know how to do it. Overall we could not be more happy with our decision. These are great kayaks and the fact that they fold down into a duffell bag makes it possible to take them virtually anywhere. In fact, ours are packed up in the back of my Prius right now gear and all. Hopefully if the weather cooperates we'll be on the water after work!

Took good care of and stored well. This is not a use issue, this is a design flaw (see photo - the metal structural hull bow eventually wore holes through). It made it through two decent seasons (not super vigorous, but well used), and two very light seasons. First time out this year and it started taking on water a mile in (reminder to self: always examine your craft!). I would recommend a car rack and a solid craft instead of this, because that is a lot of waste for only 4 years (when you could likely sell a solid one for any difference in ‘savings’). Out of all the parts, that is not at all what I expected to be the first to go. I have to look into how to recycle this thing (because there is no way I’m trusting a patch in that area on a long haul), and look into if they have a warranty. Disappointing ya know?

This boat met all my expectation and then some. I used to do some white-water kayaking but these days mostly want to paddle around on lakes and such. I just got this kayak about 10 days ago. Did a quick float on a lake and then took it on a week-long river trip. On the lake trial run, I realized a couple useful things. First and foremost, I really like the kayak! You should know that the 12V electric pump, will not be able to fully inflate the kayak. It says that in the Kayak manual, but I didn't know that when I ordered it and didn't have anything else to use on this first attempt. I also didn't have the backbone in on this first float. Still even though it was somewhat under-inflated, it performed pretty well on the lake. I didn't like sitting down that low, and my butt sank even further down than normal due to the under-inflation. Also made the paddle angle kind of weird - every stroke kind of like a sweep. It tracked well on the lake and was still fun. So for the week-long raft trip, I had a hand pump, the backbone installed, and a 3" canoe cushion to sit on. The kayak was well inflated and I was sitting up higher, which is more comfortable for my back. It was a blast! We were on a pretty flat stretch of the Colorado River, but there were still a few class 2 rapids to play in. As one might expect trying to surf waves in a kayak with a keel is pretty challenging, but still fun to try. It did great just running the class 2 rapids. The only problem was that I didn't have a spray skirt in and took on a lot of water over the bow in the waves. It still performs great even with a fair amount of water in it. It is very stable. Emptying it is a little tricky, but the standard kayak rocking on the shore will work pretty well. I am definitely going to get a spray skirt for it. BTW, the canoe on our trip took in even more water on the same level of rapids and didn't handle well at all until we could get it pulled over to the shore and bailed. No big surprise there, but definite points for this kayak. The other cool thing about it that even though it performs well as a kayak, it is so stable, that I could slip out of it on the river and lay down on the top like a lounger or hang my feet over one side and relax. Also, I could put one of the kids on the trip sitting on the cargo area in front of me and paddle them around. I love this boat! With all the internal pieces parts, it is a little hard to get all the the river sand and debris cleaned out of. I totally took it apart after the trip. For my more typical lake kayaking, this won't be as big a problem. ------------------------------------ Later took this boat on a week-long sailing trip in the San Juan Islands. Because it packs into such a small package, some friends tossed it in the back of their car for me to get it out there. I stowed it in the dingy while I wasn't using it and took it out early every morning to paddle around the areas where we anchored. Strapped my morning tea to the front cargo area. Because it is so stable, I sometimes just slipped into it wearing my pajamas. Always smooth water, so I don't know how it handles in rougher seas. It tracks so well, I could take a couple strokes and then silently glide in the morning San Juan quiet while sipping my tea. Had to top it off every couple days, so make sure you take you pump with you for multi-day adventures. No surprise. The manual mentions you may have to adjust inflation. Hard to dry out thoroughly at the end of the trip. Count on having to completely disassemble it to get it completely clean and dry. Not that big a deal once in a while.

I really wanted to like this kayak. It has a few good reviews. My experience was very disappointing. The unit is difficult to inflate. In fact, I couldn’t keep it inflated. I think my unit is faulty. The valves are bad. It’s also very small. I’m 6 foot tall 180 pounds. I wear a size 14 shoe. I could not fit comfortably in this kayak, even with it partially inflated. If the inner walls were fully inflated, there would be no room for my feet at all. Definitely made for a smaller person or a child. Not at adult. The included pump is very low qualityL I will be returning this and would not recommend it.

This is an excellent recreational Kayak: Pros - Easy to manœuvre, glides, seat comfortable - Once you get watch the Youtube video for Advanced Elements it's easy to open and inflate and simple to put away - Rigid once inflated - Great carrying case - Fits in the trunk of virtually any car Cons: - Included instructions are terrible search for the YouTube video on how to setup - Getting in the kayak is great, getting out can be tricky - Doesn't include air pump or the two adapters you need to inflate - Need to purchase an oar, get one that breaks into four sections and fits in the bag

Je connaissait déjà le modèle, c'est la nouvelle version avec quelques menues améliorations et un tissus un peu différent (tramé), c'est un très bon kayak pour sorties en mer ou sur lac. Bonne glisse, robuste. Le seul inconvénient il est long à sécher.

Robuste et léger, les matériaux sont de qualités. Parfait pour une personne de 5pi4po 160lbs.

Este kayak ha estado 3 años en mi lista de deseos. En el momento que bajo de 729 euros a 600 lo adquirí. Se infla rápido y fácil, lo uso para navegar por una bahía en el mar bien protegida de oleaje y casi siempre en calma. mis primeras impresiones han sido muy positivas navega muy bien y es relativamente cómodo para una persona. Hoy ha sido mi quinta salida y me siento muy satisfecho. hay que comprar la pala en la foto veréis la que he comprado en Amazon un hinchador un chaleco salvavidas una bolsa estanca para meter algún cabo, una camiseta,agua, bronceador,un sombrero, si quieres algún refrigerio o metes lo que te dé la gana.....y a navegar. recomiendo también llevar una funda estanca para el móvil que también la llevo y un silbato de estos tipo 🆘. Y...... a mejorar ..existen dos mejoras de Advanced Elements : una es una especie de vértebra que se pone el suelo del kayak que se llama backbone para dar rigidez al kayak y otra que se llama Dropstitchfloor. que prácticamente hace la misma cosa pero mejor...se trata de un suelo hinchable que queda muy rígido en sustitución del que lleva de serie qué es una especie de colchoneta hinchable. el drop Stitch floor se hincha a 6 psi y queda rígido como una tabla de paddle surf. he leído muchísimas opiniones y reseñas sobre todo en el extranjero y todo el mundo lo recomienda así que me puse en contacto con outequip en Dianamarca y se lo adquir a ellos. creo que ganará muchísimo en todo sentido ya que el kayak al ser hinchable tiene tendencia a arquearse por la panza.... proporcionalmente el drop Stitch este es más caro que el propio kayak.. pero ya puestos al lío...pues se hace todo de una vez. Tengo la fortuna de vivir a 50.metros del agua.. así que normalmente después de endulzarlo lo dejo hinchado..atado y con alarma. pero eso no quita para que se pueda deshinchar muy fácil y guardar en la maleta que viene con el. también he comprado de cara al invierno un spray skirts para que no entre agua en el kayak...y ahora a palear....ojo!! se hace deporte...el kayak no.tiene motor 😉...y cansa la verdad.... pero a cambio la sensación es de estar en el mar el viento la sensación de paz y de relajación es brutal... he leído también en alguna opinión que este kayak solamente vale para lagos y pantanos o ríos y yo no puedo estar más en desacuerdo navega fenomenal en el mar pero claro no te puedes meter en medio de un oleaje de muerte, hay que hacerlo con precaución ,con cuidado y con cabeza. de verdad que no tiene nada que envidiar a un kayak rígido he probado ambos y estoy súper contento con este.. por todo ello recomiendo absolutamente su compra no puedo haberme hecho mejor regalo!!!😃🛶

Era da tempo che volevo acquistarlo e quando ho visto il prezzo ne ho aprofittato subito. Ho sempre letto bene di questo Kayak su tutti i forum e non posso che confermare che è costruito veramente bene è facilissimo da trasportare e si gonfia in un attimo. In acqua è molto stabile e abbastanza veloce unica cosa, ma è una caratteristica di tutti i kayak gonfiabili, risente un pò del vento.