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I purchased this kayak used, well after it was discontinued by Wilderness Systems. I had to do some reading up on it because the used price the gentleman was offering was very close in line with what some other cheaper and lesser quality rotomolded PE yaks were goi g for brand new.
I got lucky with this one but I feel it necessary to star that if you buy one of these used you should be sure of what you are getting. The one I purchased from this gentleman was the flagship version of the Pamlico 140 in that it came with ALL of the premium features that model offered. Phase 3 Lite seat, rear sealed bulk-head, stern hatch, adjustable foot races and deck rigging. NOT EVERY version of the Pamlico 140 comes with all of those features standard so be sure to check. Not all come with a stern hatch,and less come with the sealed bulkhead.

Volume: if you Google around on the internet you keep seeing the weight capacity is 400lbs…. Not sure where people got this but the W.S catalog from ‘02 clearly states the “recommended capacity” is 300lbs. I try to stay under that figure when I go out. I’m a 5’8” man who with loaded PFD and aluminum-shaft paddle comes out to 150.6lbs. So I have roughly another a little under another 150lbs of gear capacity to play with on this thing. I entered kayaking and kayak camping from the backpacking world/hobby so smaller lighter camping gear was already filling my gear shelves and with that in mind I seldom ever come close to even 70lbs of gear in this thing. I have easily done that with a small hard sided cooler filled with ice and drinks and not lost a bit of paddling performance.

Performance: some people leaving reviews are listing this a a touring kayak but I would respectfully disagree with that categorization. This kayak has an extremely wide beam. Not as wide as some but if you are a person of smaller stature trying to do a braced turn or edge this thing is going to be extremely difficult. It has pronounced and solid primary stability and very poor secondary stability there’s no thigh braces on this kayak and not even thigh PADS. W.S clearly never designed this thing for manueveurs such as that. That being said a skilled paddler can definitely move this thing around just fine. Indeed even a novice paddler will have no trouble turning this thing on flat water or a slow river whatsoever without the need to edge this kayak or lean that much even. I would place the Pamlico 140 solidly in the “performance recreational” or “premium re recreational” categories. It has premium features you don’t find on most rec boats like real sealed hatches, good adjustable seating, sliding and locking foot braces, and some actually halfway substantial deck rigging.

This boat is both wide and has a more flat/Rounded hull with two “tracking channels” on the bottom. Being that this boat is so wide and has such a large volume spread over its 14’ length as well. The old timer that sold it to me stated “this thing will float in 3” of water….I can attest that that appears to be quite true give or take an inch or two depending on paddler weight/gear.
my local river’s level fluctuates throughout the year quite a bit. If my local gauge reads less than 5ft the river is considered at that point to pretty much be impassable unless you like getting out and lining your yak through the numerous and lengthy shallow spots. Even @ 5.5ft there are still areas in late summer where one must get out and walk alongside their watercraft or completely bottom out. In this kayak (with gear) I did not have to do this once and for that reason I am thrilled with it. I was initially skeptical about taking a 14’ with an open cockpit on this winding river by me figuring it would be a bear to turn and the wave trains would fill it with water. That was not the case and the fact that I can pack enough gear in here to safely stay 2-3 nights out on my local river(longer if I do strictly dehydrated meals or re-supply at one of the many towns along the river with take-outs and river access points.

W.S states this can handle up to Class II rapids…. Well like anything that is going to depend on the specifics of the class II rapid as no two are Alike… if you have class II’s on your river with pretty straightforward lines to follow you will be just fine. Anything beyond that and you the paddler needs to really know what you are doing. You will have to use more intermediate/advanced paddling techniques to turn the boat quickly while not losing momentum in order to execute those types of rapids. Even with the large open cockpit of a rec boat there is still a large amount of angled front deck to shed some of that water if you end up plowing through a wave. I haven’t got one yet but there is an actual combing on this large cockpit that WILL allow you to put a larger skirt on this boat. Being the size it is it would bviously will not stop everything but would help you stay drier.

This Pamlico is also Rudder capable but I do not have one installed and I’m on the fence about if I want to invite the additional expense of adding one. As it stands I paid less than 4 Benjamin’s for this boat and the W.S rudder kit for this is a touch over 3 banjamins… that’s 3/4 MY cost of the overall boat JUST to add a rudder. It may be in the cards at some point later on but not now.

If you are a discerning person who doesn’t have the bread to fork out the cost of a brand new performance/premium rec boat at over a grand getting plugged into one of these available on the used market is a great option.

Weight: I’m not going to sugar boat it. This is a large PE boat built of appropriately thick material with premium features…. It’s heavy for a 14’ kayak at around 60lbs. By comparison the day-touring Tsunami 145 by W.S that has another 6” in length, a bow sealed bulkhead the conventional Phase 3 seat (not the lite version) and thigh braces comes in @ 53lbs.
getting it on top of the car is possible with proper planning but still not fun. Bath mats are your friend and I suggest only lifting one end up at a time. This kayak would pair best with a folding or collapsible kayak cart but if you are reasonably strong it in not too bad to shoulder carry (empty) over short distances. This kayak is not winning any award in the weight category but that’s ok for my purposes. But something potential buyers should understand.

All in all the Pamlico140 is a great rec kayak. Definitely one to get if you THINK you may like kayak camping but can justify the cost of a dedicated touring boat just yet. Equally as at home on a slow river enjoying some drinks with friends or the odd overnighter could fish out of it without too much trouble aswell. It’s really a kayak that does a lot of things pretty okay but is not purpose built to excel at any one them but it’s a solid step-up from a basic box-store sit-inside I will be purchasing a more dedicated touring boat later this year but I will be retaining this in my line-up as a “buddy boat” because it just does so many things so well. Overall I’m QUITE pleased with the boat and I think anyone that can snag one at a “used” price will be extremely happy with it. I’m