Review of Advanced Frame Scout Kayak
07/08/2015
Lisa and I purchased a couple West Marine Scout Advanced Frame Inflatable Kayaks. If you’re living on a sailboat and don’t want to have rigid kayaks on your bow all the time, this is a great buy. We have had the opportunity to use them a few times since we purchased them. They handle well, are comfortable, are quick to inflate, deflate, and store easily in the forward berth.
Out of the bag they are ready for inflation with the accompanying packlite bellows foot pump. The kayak has 4 chambers to inflate; the body, floor, and two skirt combing tubes. The first time I inflated them it took about 15 minutes to go through the directions and get them all assembled. I can now get them both ready within about 10 minutes.
They seem to be made of pretty tough material on the bottom. They have a strake under the bow for added protection and a fin under the rear to help with tracking. We have ran them up on a sandy beach and pulled them up to a rocky dock with little visible damage. Since they are inflatables they are really comfortable to relax in. If you do damage the material, they provide a patch kit in the carrying case. The topsides of the kayak are a painted thick canvas. The material seems fairly strong, but the paint started rubbing off after a cleaning with a scratch pad. Use a soft cloth if you clean it down.
There are multiple warnings against over inflation, but the pump nor kayak come with any gauge so you have to go by feel. Advanced Elements does make an inline gauge and other pumps with gauges. I may consider purchasing them, but for now the foot pump seems to work fine. The first time I was cautious and under inflated them and they were a little slow and saggy under body. After that I’ve been inflating them fairly stiff and they perform so much better. Still not as stiff as a rigid, but pretty close. They can easily carry myself and Sophia around the bay. They are only 36 lbs and easy to get on and off the boat since they are so light weight.
We haven’t had these in any big waves or bad conditions so I can’t say for sure how they would hold up. We have had them on the river with about 1.5’ waves. They don’t cut through the waves like a rigid, but they do ride the waves fairly well bending a little up and down the wave face.
Stowing them is the big hiccup. Since they are inflatables you have to get them nice and dry unless you want to sit in mildew the next time you use them. We have been stowing them on the bow overnight and partly into the morning before we pack them up. I still take a towel over them and it seems to be working well. No musty smells yet. Once they are dried they pack up nicely after using the pump to extract all the air from the chambers.
Out of the bag they are ready for inflation with the accompanying packlite bellows foot pump. The kayak has 4 chambers to inflate; the body, floor, and two skirt combing tubes. The first time I inflated them it took about 15 minutes to go through the directions and get them all assembled. I can now get them both ready within about 10 minutes.
They seem to be made of pretty tough material on the bottom. They have a strake under the bow for added protection and a fin under the rear to help with tracking. We have ran them up on a sandy beach and pulled them up to a rocky dock with little visible damage. Since they are inflatables they are really comfortable to relax in. If you do damage the material, they provide a patch kit in the carrying case. The topsides of the kayak are a painted thick canvas. The material seems fairly strong, but the paint started rubbing off after a cleaning with a scratch pad. Use a soft cloth if you clean it down.
There are multiple warnings against over inflation, but the pump nor kayak come with any gauge so you have to go by feel. Advanced Elements does make an inline gauge and other pumps with gauges. I may consider purchasing them, but for now the foot pump seems to work fine. The first time I was cautious and under inflated them and they were a little slow and saggy under body. After that I’ve been inflating them fairly stiff and they perform so much better. Still not as stiff as a rigid, but pretty close. They can easily carry myself and Sophia around the bay. They are only 36 lbs and easy to get on and off the boat since they are so light weight.
We haven’t had these in any big waves or bad conditions so I can’t say for sure how they would hold up. We have had them on the river with about 1.5’ waves. They don’t cut through the waves like a rigid, but they do ride the waves fairly well bending a little up and down the wave face.
Stowing them is the big hiccup. Since they are inflatables you have to get them nice and dry unless you want to sit in mildew the next time you use them. We have been stowing them on the bow overnight and partly into the morning before we pack them up. I still take a towel over them and it seems to be working well. No musty smells yet. Once they are dried they pack up nicely after using the pump to extract all the air from the chambers.
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