“We bought a KXone Slider 410 from Bay Sports. We are really happy with the boat. It inflates incredibly quickly, it's light and coupled with a kayak cart, you can move the boat around so easy. The boat cuts through the water so nicely which reduced the effort in paddling. The seating position with the foot rest was really comfortable. It is a super piece of equipment. I would recomend this kayak to anyone. Bay Sports were easy to deal with and I appreciate that they were all too happy to answer questions and help with updates with the courier after the initial purchase. 5 stars all round. Cheers.”
“Kayak is light easy to handle ,tracks well with the fin in ( on sandy estuaries I've left it off as we need more depth wih it in) .Easy enough to inflate but the floor valve is very stiff and hard to lock the pump in ,tho the hand pump is quite easy to connect ,still having a drama deflating it and getting it in to the pack.Is there a preferred way ? Other wise happy with it comfortable and quite stable.”
“The canoe seems excellent after two sessions in the water. When fully inflated, the canoe is very rigid and feels more like a traditional canoe than an inflatable. Compared to other inflatables I’ve seen, the sides are more vertical and thinner, so you don’t have to reach over a wider edge to paddle. The canoe has a solid formed bow and stern which means it carves through the water cleanly. I’m very pleased with its performance.
The solid bow and stern, generous boat dimensions and heavy-duty construction material do have a disadvantage when packed away as the bag is larger than other inflatables I’ve seen. This is worthwhile in making a canoe that is very satisfying to paddle, but does mean that the bag is too large to leave in the back of the car on the off chance that you might use it.
Overall, I’m very pleased. I’d be happier if Bay Sports had a physical store where you could view products before buying, but apart from not seeing the product before buying I was very happy with their online sales and after-sales service.”
“Overall I would give this kayak 4 1/2 stars but I rounded up to 5. The construction is very tough - I have scraped undersea rocks in shallow water and there doesn't seem to be any damage.
I waited until I'd taken the kayak out a few times in different conditions before writing the review.
Lakes and sheltered estuary areas: 10/10 - perfect! You can get a fast speed with even just one person paddling. Glides through the water and very stable.
Exposed estuary (eg Botany Bay): 8/10 - handling is not quite perfect but that's to be expected. You'll need to fine tune the balance especially with 2 people. The high sides seem to catch the wind a bit and then the struggle is real. Still, damn good workout getting back from Green Hills beach in Cronulla to Sylvania against the wind and tide.
The kayak is pretty much rigid once inflated, and there's plenty of adjustment for positioning the seats for balancing (which you really need! it doesn't perform well if front or back heavy).
Despite what you might read on other reviews the metal fittings are all good quality stainless steel and don't rust. For extra caution I coated all the SS fittings with that agricultural anti-rust spray coating you can get from any car superstore.
Packing away becomes a lot easier after 2/3 uses, probably a combination of the kayak loosening up a bit and also working out the best technique. Can now fit everything, the two seats and oars in the suitcase even solo without a struggle. It was easy to lift the suitcase into the back of a small car.
Kayak is fairly easy to carry around fully inflated (like in the instruction video) providing there's not much wind - even for a computer nerd who doesn't do gym.
Great attention to detail - drain plug, locking air valves, adjustable seat positions, warning on every value about max pressure, pressure gauge in the pump, the removable fin thing seems to help keep your line too. You can see the team who designed this knew what they needed.
Overall - this is a near perfect compromise between practicality and functionality. Of course it's not going to be as good as a solid ocean kayak, but if you're exploring the estuaries and rivers around Sydney it seems like the ideal thing, one up or two up it works great, glad I got the 2 person one as although it's a slightly bigger package it's a lot more fun with 2.
Would recommend.”
“The KXone is well made, easy to carry and quick set-up/pack-up. It is stable in the water and tracks pretty well. I’ve used 5 times in last 3 weeks and appreciate its ‘backpackability’. Great in both single and double seat configuration. Backpack not comfortable for long distance hiking - good for up to a couple km though. Paddles and pump are fine.”
