SVX200DS River X K2 Kayak

I have made around 25 trips with this boat on class II-III rivers. It handled surprisingly well and is very forgiving in whitewater. It does sit very low in the water which means you are wet most of the time, but this makes the boat a lot more stable compared to others in my group who ended up swimming a time or two.

The valves will leak if they loosen up, but can be completely taken apart. I loosened mine by mistake. 10 minutes, just wash the sand out and put them back together. I've skidded over plenty of large rocks. No issues with damage or punctures.

I'd suggest this boat for floating rivers, not so great for long flatwater trips, it is an inflatable. I would also suggest neoprene shorts under your trunks. You need the bails open but sitting in a couple of inches of 49 degree water gets cold after a while. If you put someone in the front of your boat a extra pfd is great to sit on for a boost so u can see over them. A good paddle makes all the difference in the world as well. Also the d rings are great for strapping down a cooler.

Got it cheap online for under $600. No problems yet. I have taken it down the Yampa in Steamboat Springs, CO. a few times. About class 3 rapids with some big play holes thrown in. It's fairly stable and I am able to surf some holes. It floats well with one of two people in it. The only problem I have with it is the water that collects in the bottom (about an inch or so), it's not a big deal but other IK's I have used have not had this issue. The welds seem a little iffy, but no problems yet...Rock on duckie nation!

The first time we took the boat out it punctured pumping it up. We pathced it. The next time it was fine. The time after that it punctured a couple of miles up a rather deep estuary. Sevylor won't replace it, although it has several flaws along the side channels which have been there from new. When it is working it won't track in anything like a straight line. Take my advice buy a rigid and if you must have a blow don't buy a Sevylor. They're rubbish and the service and support are apauling.

My wife and I recently purchased this tandem inflatable kayak to explore Lake Tahoe and the surrounding lakes. This is the new yellow kayak with the drop stitched floor. This may be the first review of this updated model. Overall, we are very pleased with this kayak. However, it does have several deficiencies. The 3 chambers blow up easily. It took about 10 minutes to fully assemble. It comes with a pressure gauge for measuring the two pressures, 3 psi in the side chambers and 7 psi in the floor. The side chambers come with boston valves. One of them leaked and had to be replaced with one of the two spare valves that came with it. The floor has a different valve that is far superior and worked well. The bailing ports on the bottom were deformed from the folding process and it was difficult to put the caps on to close them. We found that these leaked and I'm considering trying to close them with silicone sealant as we only plan to paddle on flat water. One our first two outings we had great difficulty steering in a straight line. The two one inch deep stabilizers are very inadequate and get warped in the folding process. For about $8, I bought a 15 inch by 3 1/2 inch piece of aluminum. I bent this in half and folded out 2 inches of the top for a flange forming a T shaped skeg that is 5 1/2 inches deep by 3 1/2 inches wide. I drilled 4 holes in the top through which I put the ends of shock cords and tied knots to hold them. The end hooks on these cords I attached to the two D rings on top of the aft end of the side chambers. This made a world of difference on the following outings. It steered easily and was a joy to paddle. It deflates very easily. I can deflate, fold it and have it in the trunck of the car in 5 minutes.

Except for the boston valves and the bailing ports, this kayak is very well made. It's extremely stable and rigid. The seats are comfortable, well made and come with very heavy duty brass hardware to attach them to the many D rings. Velcro secures them to the inflated floor. For the price, I think this is an outstanding value. We hope to get many years of paddling pleasure from it.

This rating applies mostly to flat-water use.

The boat is very nicely made. We checked the weight and, indeed, 32#. It's easy to carry on the shoulder. Set up is a bit more work with the high pressure floor but it's quite rigid for an inflatable. The seats are nice but the back rest is a bit lower than I'd like.

As a solo boat it works well (for an inflatable) but you must use short strokes (especially starting out) or the boat will spin right around. This is no sea kayak. The rudder would probably help a lot. It's not that easy to steer but managable and it's reasonably fast. It's very stable.

With two people, I recommend using canoe paddles. You can paddle closer to the side (inparting less spin on the boat) and you can use it as a rudder without hitting your mate in the head. Yes, you could use kayak paddles with a more vertical stroke but, since there's no deck, you'll get very wet.

The boat can be used with two full sized adults but it does ride lower in the water and you will have some waves splash into the boat. It feels very safe but it's wet in rough water. Even moving the seats as far apart as you dare, the rear paddler's feet are touching the back of the forward seat so it's a bit tight.

Folding up the boat is more work because there is usually quite a bit of water trapped under the floor so it all needs be removed to drain it and wipe dry for storage.

Overall, I think it's a pretty good solo boat and OK as a double if you don't mind being a little cramped and maybe getting wet when the water is rough. It's a good camping boat. It's very compact and could be used for fishing etc. Other reviewers Have mentioned putting some foam under the seat to raise it up out of any puddle that may form. Good idea.

We are new to Kayaking. I did some extensive research and a little shopping and found the SVX200. I didn't want to invest a lot in our first boat in case we didn't take to kayaking. I wanted an inflatable because I didn't want to mess with roof racks etc. and tying the boat to the roof on trips. The beauty of this boat is it inflates and deflates quickly and can be folded up and thrown in the trunk of a sedan (using a 12 volt high speed electric pump and topping off with a foot pump). You don't need an SUV or Truck to haul this. This weekend we pulled out of the water at the same time as a guy in a hard shell. We passed him on the way out and he was still tying the boat to his roof.

We took it out on our maiden voyage and learned to use it very quickly. We took it out on the lower American river in Northern California. As others have indicated, it is very stable and even made a couple of nervous beginners feel safe right away. We went over some small rapids and hardly even noticed them. We have already run over some rocks and grounded ourselves on sand with absolutely no damage to the boat. This thing is very tough. We got it at a close out price for $540 at a retail store. For that price I don't think you can buy a better boat.

I am thrilled with this boat. We have already used it twice and the fact that you can roll it up and throw it in a closet when your done is much more appealing to me than wrestling a hard shell into overhead storage in my garage, or wrestling a hard shell to a roof rack. The other concern I had is if we went on vacation and stayed at a hotel I wouldn't want to leave a hard shell on a roof rack for someone to steal. With this boat you can store it in your trunk out of sight or even in your hotel room.

To me the only real disadvantage is that it is heavy to carry even from a parking lot to the water. What we are going to try next is carrying the boat to the water without the seats, lifejackets, water bottles etc. and then make a second trip for the rest of the stuff. I thought it handled well although probably slower than a hard shell.

Just completed maiden voyage last Saturday on a heavily used, read power boats, CA Alpine Lake. Boat came with self-bailing valves open so I was easily able to test this feature - it bailed well. Does not drain well after use - as stated in previous review. I give it an 8 thus far without whitewater usage.

I wanted to add this update after this weekend's 2-day trip. The boat continues to impress me on the following counts:

1) Outer hull holding up against massive abuse against rocks, tree branches. One episode had the boat pushed against a tree with broken branches with heavy water pushing the boat into it for about 20 minutes before we could get it free. You could barely see any scratches on the hull and no leaks developed.
2) The seats are really great and I have improved on them further by putting a custom cut foam swim kick board (about 1" thick) underneath - with this, you can have all bail holes open and not have to sit in water. Also, because of the long straps holding the chair in place, there is a lot of flexibility as to where you position them for the weight of the paddlers, equipment etc.
3) The tie down eyelets are all in the right spot, and heavy duty.

4) The ability to carry gear is really phenomenal for an inflatable.
5) Looked cool when I bought it, and I still love the way it looks
6) Great tracking and maneuverability

Now for the bad part: On this last trip, both large side air bladders on one of the SVX200s developed leaks, and upon inspection, they were not in a place where that could have been caused by tears - they were at the very tip, right next to a weld - both of them in the exact same spot - sounds like mfg defect to me. Anyway, we carried extras so were OK, but it's disconcerting nevertheless - I suspect I will get these replaced on warranty, but I hope this doesn't become a recurring problem. Stay tuned.

$460 on eBay plus the shipping. From looking around, it seems you can pay considerably more than this, but the average bargain price seems to run in the $460-$510 range. This was my first inflatable and has worked out well enough that I have since ordered an Aire Tomcat tandem. The Aire has not arrived yet so I cannot make any comparisons between these two boats.

Since moving to Arizona, the opportunities for using my two sea kayaks and recreational kayak have shrunk. What seemed to open up was some river running, particularly the Verde and Gila. That is what drove the purchase of the Sevylor. As a shakedown, took the SVX200 on a seven-day solo float down the Green River in Utah. Launched from Mineral Bottom and took out at Spanish Bottom on the Colorado.

The boat performed admirably, although it wasn’t stressed very much. A half-dozen sandbar groundings, a couple run-ins with rocks at the riffles, and one sickening incident with an unseen, underwater snag. I could not even find a scrape. In seven days, only topped off the bladders once so even the cheap Boston valves worked fine. Made sure I carried two spare valves. Rigged as a solo, there was no loading issue with its 250-pound passenger, 9 gallons of water, and other gear. Didn’t weigh it, but it would not be far off the 425 pound mark. The 650 pound spec seems high, but 550 does not. That is assuming easy water. I had the self-bailers plugged so was reasonably dry. Rigged as a tandem in white water, both people would be sitting in water at that load level.

Have not taken it into any real moving water yet. I don’t have any experience in other inflatables so cannot objectively judge the handling. A good sweep stroke will spin it 360 degrees within it’s own length, or close to it. Have had it on a lake twice, once as a tandem and once as a solo. It worked, but you really have to enjoy pain to want to do it much. Synchronized paddling is not in my wife’s vocabulary, so it was a struggle in that situation, but probably not for others. Tracking took a lot of effort on my part and the speed left me bored. Didn’t bring the GPS to get a number unfortunately.

The seats are typical SOT types. I found myself gradually “sinking in” which required constant effort to keep an upright paddling position. For the Green trip, the dry bags/icebox placed directly behind the seat gave me a very nice seating arrangement. The six D-rings give adequate tie-down points. Wish the floor had been re-enforced PVC as you could just feel the sand and grit wearing away at it. Especially on the Green trip. It was difficult to get the footrests inserted and I typically leave them out. They should work better than they do. Another issue with them is due to my leg length, the adjustment for them just didn’t work for my foot placement.

Have not weighed it, but it is a ton. Especially if you forget to completely close the maintenance zippers and get any water into the bladder area. The carry bag is a joke and barely works. Haven’t solved the issue of drying/cleaning it. There always seems to be a large amount of moisture in with the bladders and I can never get all the sand/dirt out of the narrow area where the self-bailers are.

Overall, it’s been a decent boat so far for the money spent on it. I like the cosmetic look of it a lot better than the Tomcat.

When I first heard of the SVX 200 I was enticed by the description of this duckie (and the $500 price), but skeptical due to Sevylors reputation of making cheap, un-reinforced PVC "pool toys" that were infamous for ripping and blowing seams. These boats were relatively new on the market and there was precious little information available from people who had actually used one. I couldn't find a single dealer here in Alaska who had one in stock that I could look at. After two months of "research" I finally located a dealer with a good return policy and decided to buy one sight unseen with the idea that if I didn't like it, I could send it back. Before I get to the details, let me say that Sevylor is finally making an IK that is capable of handling serious whitewater and seems to be acceptably durable.

Construction: The outer hull is made of 1000 denier fabric re-enforced PVC with machine welded seams. Top quality boats are usually made of fabric in the 800 to 1500-denier range (hypalon or PVC), so this material falls well within an acceptable range. The inner bladders and floor top are made of un-reinforced PVC. I would prefer a floor top of reinforced fabric for added durability. Time will tell how serious a weakness this really is. Valves are the Boston style, which are definitely low end. That said, I paddled the boat a total of 10 hours and did not experience any air leakage whatsoever. When the SVX arrived, I left it inflated in my living room overnight with no noticeable change in firmness. Still, long-term durability may be an issue. Valves are easily replaced, however, and I will carry spares on all extended trips. The factory welded seams are overlapped about 3/4 of an inch and rather sloppily done. Workmanship is vastly inferior to my other inflatable, an Innova Helios. But then Innova is known for high quality hand-welded seams. Still, the seams on the SVX appear strong.

Design: The SVX 200 is designed for whitewater use: moderately rockered hull, fairly narrow 32" beam( for an inflatable), low above-water profile and self-bailing floor. The rockered hull is similar in shape and dimensions to the Aire Caracal. There are a total of 20 bailing ports in the dropped floor. These can be closed with stoppers for flat-water paddling. Two nylon-covered foam seats clip in to D-rings. The boat can be rigged as a single or a double. Footrests are foam covered plastic tubes and slide into nylon sleeves stitched to the floor. There are four additional D-rings (two fore and two aft) mounted on the side tubes for tying down cargo. It's no lightweight and not easily backpackable. The actual weight of the boat is close to 50 lbs., more than the advertised weight of 40 lbs something. With practice, it can be folded rather small. I managed to pack it into a 42x18x15 duffle with seats, pump, lifejacket, repair kit and a pair of river shoes.

Performance: The SVX inflates very firmly with a foot pump and can be fully assembled in about 15 minutes. In a 20-mile test paddle on the Colorado River it proved to be very stable and maneuverable in Class I-II+ water. A moderately vigorous forward or reverse sweep will spin the boat within it's own length, yet surprisingly it also tracks very well. Tracking is improved by 18" flexible rubber strakes mounted midway on the hull. Correcting strokes are seldom needed to keep the boat going straight and veer is minimal. When properly inflated, the hull is very rigid and cuts well through waves and wash. The boat is so stable you can actually sit on a side tube with your feet dangling in the water and not flip over. I did manage to flip the SVX once while trying to surf a hole, but the boat's stability allowed me to re-enter rather easily while swimming in a 3 mph current. Bailing is adequate: After shipping a boatful of water in steep waves, the SVX drained in about 20 seconds. Not great, but acceptable for the Class III water I will be paddling. The shape of the inflatable floor has one serious drawback: the groove down the center holds water that has no way to drain out the bail holes. This presented no real problem as the seat keeps your butt above water; still the design is poor. I go 6'2", 220 lbs. With 30 lbs. of gear the bail hole did not allow an excessive amount of water into the boat. Other reviewers have pointed out that with two large adults, the inflatable floor of the SVX is not thick enough to keep the paddlers butts out of the water. I suspect this is true. I seriously doubt Sevylor's claim that the SVX 200 will haul 650 lbs. efficiently. This is a guess, but I would say an optimal load is in the range of 300-450 lbs. Like any inflatable, the SVX 200 is slow. My Innova is a lot faster (but less maneuverable). Still, it's no barge, like some other IKs: Sea Eagle, Hyside, SOAR. I had no trouble keeping up a 3.5 mph pace (measured by GPS). In a boat that can be used for fly-in trips on Class III-IV rivers, this is very acceptable. The low, above-water profile of the SVX 200 catches less wind than most other IKs. The hull is much harder and more slippery than my Innova. After skidding over several rocks, the hull sustained just a few, barely visible, superficial scratches.

Pros: Price!!! Maneuverability, tracking, stability, fair load capacity, slippery hull material. This is a good whitewater IK up to Class III.

Cons: Sloppy welding, poor floor design, un-reinforced PVC floor, cheap valves. Bailing feature is not adequate for continuous Class IV and up.

Recommended: Yes, for up to Class III.