Forum Discussion

billtex's avatar
billtex
Explorer II
Sep 11, 2015

AE Kayaks

I know a few Folks here have them!

I have been eyeing these for a while; 15' Tandem Convertible AE1007

Opinions?

Thx, Bill
  • Hi Bob...thanx...yes I have seen the Oru's. Very nice. Pricey!
    Different approach than the inflatables.

    I will check out the AE this weekend and see what we think of it...

    Bill
  • I can paddle my single AE as fast as my kids plastic boat. They soft hulls/seats are very comfortable...I will never go back to a hard shell for a mess around yak. Not comparing sea yaks here. Five year owner...salt water, fresh, dragged. oysters...still in great shape, no leaks. JMHO

    Better prices on Ebay dealers selling last years stock...usually. :)
  • Thanks for the feedback. Some of you have addressed my greatest concern; we do have several hard boats, but were looking at the AE as an easy way to transport.I am afraid we would be disappointed in the performance coming from a hard boat.
    Yes we are experienced paddlers.

    Thanx, Bill
  • I've had mine for a while. Probably 15 or 20 real outings with it and cant complain. I also have a couple regular hard kayaks and can say the AE is more like paddeling a canoe, sort of. Tracks well, very stable, durable, lots of room. But if your expecting it to be a regular hard shell sea kayak, it's not that.
    It do's take a bit of time or work to get it dry inside and out as the others have posted. I have hit some major sharp rocks with it expecting to find some holes or damage but havnt yet. Happy with the purchase!
  • We have not owned the double but we had an air elements single of the same line. Air elements make more than one style. We cruised on our boat in the Caribbean for six months with that boat and a couple of hard shell sit on tops. I was leary initially of the paddling ability of an inflatable but was pleasantly surprised. It paddled much better than expected and was very stable. We even did some mild surfing in it. I am a big guy, 6'4" and 240 lbs and it floated and fit me well. The price is reasonable and the quality was certainly acceptable for the price range. I guess the question is really how avid a paddler are you? We paddle a lot and to me it just did not compare to a hard shell. The other issue we had with it was drying out. We travel for extended periods and unless we were just packing up for a couple days we wanted to dry it out which was not always convenient. With all the nooks and crannies it took more than a day to dry out. Owning one of these can certainly be validated for some but for us it was not worth the sacrifice so we sold it when we returned to the states.
  • I would find out what the three layers of "material" are. If it's Hypalon like my Achilles inflatable then I'd go for it. That stuff is nearly indestructible and holds up to UV. If its PVC like my old Zodiac inflatable then it's pretty good. Doesn't last like Hypalon but is good stuff. If it's vinyl then forget it at that price.

    Mike