The US brand IK and iSUp Advance Elements have come up with a new sleek and innovative angle on the full-point kayak (F DS IK): AirVolutions Inflatable Kayak offers a “panel” design with two high-pressure panels/chambers. With minimal storage under the decks, thus it looks like a Sit-On-Top.
The Airvolution inflatable kayak doesn’t have a lot of storage space under the deck and is designed to be a recreational/day kayak. The entire kayak is innovatively built using a PVC tarpaulin laminated to high-pressure stitching material – it offers a finer finish, increased rigidity, and a sculpted contour for higher rowing performance. The V-shaped body design in the spring and the removable deepwater fins increase the tracking performance, allowing AirVolution to cut through the water.
The seam material (DS) is the same used in the inflatable plate market, where thousands of threads line the upper and lower panels, allowing it to be pumped at higher pressures, thus making it more rigid.
With only two inflatable chambers, the new AirVolution high-pressure inflatable kayak features a simplified set-up procedure, allowing one to get out on the water quickly. The two pressure valves ensure the kayak is not overinflated, releasing at approximately 18 PSI. The open deck design provides ease of entry, while a plugged drain well ensures you stay drier. More so, the wonderfully sculpted EVA foam chair can be ratcheted in four ways, providing maximum support, adjustability, and comfort.
The front and rear deck laces offer plenty of options for attaching equipment, however, there are still options for storing small items under decks
We took AirVolution on an initial trip. We felt the kayak rowed and tracked well, it was sturdy and incredibly stable. The sculpted shell allows water to drain, and the smooth skin is very easy to dry. Everything in the package looks great, The movement of the kayak seat with a height of 12 inches from the back allowed us to be balanced and easily use the front axle as a footrest. We were also able to get up easily.
We also tried to move the chair up to our back. While the knees were slightly bent because we actually prefer that position when paddling. Since we know we will be asked this, for measurement we measured the seat back on the front axle from 45 to 46 “. With” water socks “on it, we managed to put our feet down. So we would feel comfortable saying that AirVolution can be paddled by customers up to 6’2 ″. The actual dimensions of the cabin are 19 cm wide and 48 cm long.
We noticed that the deep wing provides improved tracking, but you need to push the kayak into deeper water when you launch so that the wing does not “close”. More so, one more thing we wanted to emphasize is that because the chair has a four-way ratchet design with 2 ladder locks on the buckle, it’s a little daunting at first. To set the seat properly, you want to even out the straps and wash your seat as upright as possible, then close the buckles to get the curvature.
AirVolution comes with a dual-action manual pump with a pressure gauge, deep water wing, and a roller backpack. Although we did not have the production version of the pump or backpack, even the prototype samples looked good. The payload on the individual kayak is 235 lbs per person (300 lbs per person and equipment), while the double is 500 lbs per person (550 lbs per person and equipment). Weights are 39 lbs and 48 lbs respectively.
A few iSUs have PRVS but we haven’t seen them on F DS IKs and many potential owners will be reassured, as they should help the still untested longevity of DS panels. PRVs limit potentially destructive overpressure when inflatable boats are left in the sun. Unlike DS flat panels, traditional non-DS round tubes share loads evenly (eventually the seams will fail). Left in the hot sun while taking a nap, the seam of the space threads (right) in the DS panels could be broken, which adds to an irreparably destroyed boat.
AirKayaks IK in the US seems to be a favored AE outlet right now and they did detailed reviews of both boats with lots of photos and measurements, followed by a quick spin with flat water. There you can read the open hatch of the double has a length of almost 4 feet (114 cm) and, strangely, there are no footrests. Even the tallest oarsmen will not be able to get up from the front cab unless the seat is further away. A stuffed bag would work or it would be easy to stick some D-rings to run a leg support strap and a hard tube. On a cork-level IK, such as AirVo2, it might not be worth bothering with thigh straps. Both models run a huge 9-inch sketch that will easily land in the depths and suggest that flat-floor tracking may require help. It is easily replaced with a reduced spare part.
Prices in the US are usually reasonable but on airkayaks.com you will surely find the best offers. In the UK the boat is mentioned, but it is not available and will not be such a good deal. It would be a struggle carrying a 23-kilogram boat too far, so for your money, you get a double with wheels, but with small wheels and only for the sidewalk. There is also a repair kit and a high-pressure two-way switching pump that may need a little energy to reach 10+ psi completely. Because high-pressure IK pumps need to be high and thin, they have a low volume, so take some time. AirKayaks reported that it takes 100-150 hits to inflate each room. This is a lot of pumping for a DS boat, but plug-in pumps are available for electric cars.
AirVolution2 looks like a great two-person kayak, but even tall solo users might be better off with the less huge AirVolution unless you add a foot fixing tube. With this design, any of the boats have less storage space than a conventional IK, like a Seawave. Storing equipment under deck bags only adds wind and impedes steering and stability. For tournaments, what equipment has a height of fewer than 4-5 inches could squeeze under the covered ends and, when used solo, the double has about half a meter of room behind the seat and some in the front of the yak.
It’s hard to be sure, but inside it looks like the two panels have been “wallpapered”, leaving no cracks to catch water and much more potentially harmful tiles. This is a big improvement over the ICs of full DSs with three panels so far conventional, where water and oil end up in all sorts of places that are difficult to clean. Being smooth inside, you’d think that AirVolutions could be easily drained by flipping it upside down, then wiped to dry. Maybe, but they added a large clogged drain in the middle of the floor (left) to make this easier (it won’t work for self-rescue unless you’re very light). Judging against some of AE’s other “busy” charts, the blue boats don’t look too bad,
So far, AE has come up with much less elegant solutions to the problem of rigidity in long IKs. AirVolutions: a pair of iSUp boards wrapped and glued in blue leather, is an interesting idea, with some trade-offs, especially in storage. These are so-called day boats, not tourers, but there are many, many more day players out there.
