Comments Reviews on theboatpeople.com Raft Cataraft Inflatable Kayak Products and Service › Forums › Comment on Products › Inflatable Kayaks Whitewater › AIRE › AIRE Outfitter II Inflatable Kayak › AIRE Outfitter II Whitewater Inflatable Kayak review by TBP
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October 15, 2013 at 4:06 am #869Lee Arbach TBPKeymaster
AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable Kayak
Any accessories purchased with your AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable Kayaks are 10% off, but please note that our shopping cart as yet does NOT reflect these discounts – it will show a higher total so we will adjust the bottom line before ringing the transaction through.
If some of the measurements you see here vary (see bottom) from what AIRE’s website or catalog lists for the two person Outfitter, it’s because we are going by the ones we’ve measured here.
This AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable Kayaks model looks far more odd than you can tell from AIRE’s photos. As the name implies, it was geared toward the commercial outfitters who provide “duckies” for their clients to use on the rivers they operate from. As a general rule, those clients will be happiest if they do not take unintended swims in the big rapids. The simplest way to prevent this on tag-along trips is to make sure the inflatable kayak they are paddling is as stable as possible. The way to make a boat stable is with a wide hull and a deep seating position. All of AIRE’s other models are either very shallow (the Lynx’s, the Force series, the Super Lynx) or somewhat shallow (like the Strikes and Tomcat II).
The preceding may make the tandem Outfitter sound like something a private boater wouldn’t want to buy, and we do not mean to give that impression. Of the four true AIRE & Tributary tandem whitewater models (Strike 2, Lynx II, Tomcat II, and the “O-2″, the Super Lynx withstanding since it is more a hybrid than solely a river boat), the Outfitter II has emerged firmly as our best selling model, and every buyer we’ve talked with after the sale has been delighted with this boat. All deep inflatable kayaks like this one do require you to raise your elbows a bit higher when paddling, but other than that minor comment the feedback for this boat has so far been 100% positive – something we cannot say about the Lynx tandem or any other boat in this section of our site.
The Outfitter tandem and solo’s are geared toward the Hyside Padillac market, perhaps a bit shamelessly, but one thing AIRE really improved over the Hyside is the profile of the Outfitter’s underside. Unlike the Padillac, it is nearly pancake-flat. This makes the boat float higher, increases payload, and makes it far less prone to hanging up on rocks or getting messed with by eddy currents. The Outfitter II is also faster than the Padillac, about the same as a Lynx II, and just a tad slower than the Strike II. If you compared it to a Strike II with 450 pounds on board though, the Outfitter tandem would definitely be quicker.
AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable Kayak PayloadThe tandem Outfitters we have measured are 40″ wide (an inch less than AIRE shows), 12’4″ long, 46 pounds, with 12-1/2″ tubes, and they hold about 525 pounds This is the highest payload of any tandem whitewater IK under 13′. We know that Sea Eagle shows some very high figures for their 380 and 420 models, but they only hold these weights if the bail plugs are closed. In self-bailing mode they have fairly low capacities.
The AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable Kayaks tandem is the same price as the Lynx II – $1,499 – but it does have nicer lift handles, bigger bras, and a big towing D-ring on the bow not found on the Lynx II. With your $75 UPS/accessory allowance, shipping will be free to any lower 48 State destination. If there is change left over (and for most delivery addresses there will be) we will either give you back the difference or put it toward any other items you order with the boat. These are available in the same five colors as all the other U.S. made AIRE kayaks- red, dark green, orange, yellow, light blue, and if you can wait a while, dark purple may also be available. Check to be sure.
Warranty for AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable KayaksStandard warranty for AIRE Kayak Outfitter II Inflatable Kayaks is 10 year NO FAULT
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