River X Single

It gets great marks for ample supply of D-rings and the thigh straps. It hauls 400 lbs. and inflates to a rigid form. I find my biggest problem is when maneuvering a rock garden in a fast current, getting broadsided by large submerged rocks cause the boat to stop and the rider to want to keep going. A top heavy rider may find it too unstable. I have scarred mine and have had to do some minor repairs where some glued edges have given up. I probably overinflated on too hot of a day and caused that problem myself. The repair kit seems to have enabled my fixing the issue.
From what I hear about the newer versions of this kayak, if you could take the best features of both, you'd have a great kayak. It is a boat for a big paddler as a fully inflated floor will help keep your butt off of the rocks. Of the 4 or 5 inflatable and hardshell kayaks I've owned, this is the only one I've gotten tossed from (see early broadsided comment). The tubes are slippery when wet and slightly impede deep water reentry. If you inflate the floor before the side tubes, your base will be wider and you'll gain some stability. It is rated for class IV white water or whatever you dare attempt. I doubt I'd take it past class III due to stability issues.

I have to give this kayak a 10 on cost, a 9 on features, a 9 on durability, a 5 on tracking, a 6 on stability, and a 6 on speed/drag for an overall rating of 7.

My kayak arrived at my home and I promptly set about putting the kayak together, test inflating it and seeing how it performed in my swimming pool.

Yesterday I took the kayak to the Esophus Creek in the Catskill Mountains of New York. This is a somewhat steep rock strewn creek with class II-III whitewater. The kayak performed very well and it was easy to maneuver around rocks and caught eddies very easily.

There were a couple of large standing waves where I was able to test out the self bailing floor. The River X does bail very slowly with larger whitewater and becomes a bit heavy until the water drained out in about 15-20 seconds.

The outer hull seems very strong and I was able to inflate the floor to a high degree of firmness. The only downside to the kayak that I can see so far is the use of cheap pool toy boston valves. These valves make inflating and deflating the kayak a lot more of a chore than with the Aire and Vista kayaks that I own.

Overall this is an excellent inflatable kayak for the money, and I hope to use it for many years to come.

If you are looking, consider paying for a 2003 model because there have been some changes. Thigh straps and a foot brace now come standard (thigh strap easily added/removed). I assume that six d-rings have been added also, because they are not present in the photo ads, but they are on mine. They are nice for securing coolers, gear, etc. I am quite pleased with the quality of the outfitting, sturdiness, and the feel of the boat in general. I am 5:11, 160 pounds, 33 waist. My hips are nice and comfortably snug in this boat, but those with MUCH larger torsos might need to think twice before buying.

I don’t have many negatives to offer. If you like to buy American, forget this boat. It’s made in China and the company is French. I suspect Chinese labor costs are largely responsible for the low cost and high value, however.

Documentation is virtually non-existent. If you are new to rafting, you will have to figure it all out yourself. Fortunately, it isn’t rocket science. I would not expect the greatest customer support at this price, but I did have a question and I received a prompt response via e-mail.

When I first tried to inflate the boat (there are 4 air chambers), two of the rings that attach the cap to the inflation port popped off way too easily (much like the way some gas caps are attached to the car so you don’t lose them). I don’t really consider this to be a quality problem, but it is a concern. I reattached them, but until I had time to work on it, I kept the loose caps in one of the drawstring mesh bags on the back of the seat.

This boat comes with a mesh carry bag, but there is no way I could get the boat folded to fit well inside it. Instead, I use it just for the seat, straps, foot peg and other gear. The boat folds easily into a space of about ‘2 x ‘2, 8” x 7” with only four folds. Good enough… It is no longer worth the stress on me (or the boat) to try to compress it to a smaller size. Material is very stiff and hard when cold, so it would probably be worthwhile to bring it inside to warm up some before inflating/deflating or folding.