Advanced Elements Advancedframe Ultralite

We have a small lake just 10 minutes from our home so there are many days that I would love to just do a quick kayaking workout but it’s always been difficult to pull off by myself (loading a hardbody kayak up on a rooftop car rack, etc). I decided to try this and it’s great! It’s lightweight so I can carry it myself and it’s simple to assemble/inflate by myself. Once in the water, it tracks well and feels like a hardbody. I am so happy with it that we bought one for my husband for days he can join me. I think our days of hassling with a roof rack are pretty much over. Now we are talking about bringing them along on trips so we can include kayaking in our adventures.

Because of where I live I am pretty much limited to either an inflatable or folding kayak. When my 20 year old Bic Yakka died, I was presented a choice of upgraded technologies and after quite a bit of shopping around, settled on Advanced Elements inflatables. Because my Yakka was so heavy, I went for their Ultralite. This was a mistake. The problem is rigidity. When inflated per directions, my weight (185) was such that I was basically paddling a partially inflated balloon. The bow and stern were higher than the middle, where I was sitting. I solved this problem by buying the optional drop-stitch floor, which adds a few seconds to the assembly and takes a bit of room in the boat but provides the necessary horizontal stability. Advanced Elements offers a number of options where this floor is built into the kayak, and one of those would be a better choice than the ultralite. Just one paddler's opinion.

Perfect, lite kayak to carry across parking lots, declines to shore or pushing off piers; trading off air bed or drop-stitch (weight) for semi rigid neoprene floor. Side air chambers provide added stiffness for smoother ride in choppy waters. Anything over 145# may want the inflated floor or drop stitch surface area for smoother ride & less paddle effort. Stable shd you climb in from the water...

Pros: Built well for what it is. Quality covering canvas materials and plastics. Blows up easily and takes a firm, controlled shape. Seat quality very good. Foot support, nice touch. Lightweight, very easy to take down. Very good on calm water. Cons: Could use more padding on bottom support/floor support. Only takes a certain amount of pressure in the bladders, but cannot tell what you are putting in as No pump with gauge is provided, no oars provided. Unstable on anything over a 6" to a foot of chop. Bigger waves, the non-rigid structure bobs around. $600 very high for this Kayak. You can get a hardsided unit for half that and with no pump or oar, the price is just too much.

Item is misrepresented. It is NOT lightweight. It is actually heavy. You will not get an easy refund from this company. I would highly recommend getting a kayak from another company with better customer service.

Took my first trip in it about 10 days ago. Loved it. Easy to load, unload, clean off - I am 72. Pumped it up in about ten minutes. Cut pretty straight through the water....minimal tacking back and forth as I paddled, and no air loss whatever. Paddles like a hard side kayak. Really glad to have those paddle straps on the side of the kayak, but I can't quite reach the front one, so I stuck the front of the paddle in the tie downs and strapped the back in when I wanted to just relax and float. Good buy, no, a great buy! If it were 27 lbs, I just couldn't handle it.

I am an experienced kayaker and this kayak was not for me, it was too flimsy if you are use to a hard shell kayak. Didn’t track well on a windy day, however, the company was great & accepted my return. Read the fine print on their refund policy before you buy.

In Nov 2020 I bought two of these inflatable kayaks. I enjoyed them for the first few months. At the time they were perfect for time on my local canal. All of that changed late in the summer 2021 when one bladder on one of the kayaks popped. Advanced Elements was great, they replaced the bladder as it was still under warranty. Thankfully it popped when setting the kayak up. Today (early Sept 2022) was a different story. For the 1st time this year I had the opportunity to spend some time on the nearby canal. I set it up, I got in, I paddled for 5 minutes when suddenly a loud “pop” and a rapid deflating of the right side air bladder. Thankfully I was close to where I started and it was only the right side that burst. Slowly I crept back to where I started. The kayak shell is fine. The air bladders are unreliable and possibly dangerous. What would the outcome have been if this was in open water or if there was even a little bit of chop.

Ich bin sehr zufrieden mit den Kayak. Die Fahreigenschaften sind gut. Das Boot lässt sich gut lenken, ich habe umgekehrt keine Probleme geradeaus zu fahren und die erreichte Geschwindigkeit ist ok. Mit einem Handschalen-Kayak ist man bestimmt etwas schneller, aber ohne direkten Vergleich fällt das nicht auf. Durch die Luftschläuche an den Seiten ist das Boote sehr kippstabil und daher auch für unerfahrene Fahrer geeignet. Auch die Bugwellen von Motorbooten und kleinen Schiffen konnten mich selbst beim seitlichen auftreffen nicht zum kentern bringen. Der Sitz ist bequem und stützt den Rücken. Durch den dünnen Boden merkt man die Wellen stärker, was im ersten Moment etwas ungewohnt ist. Das Material ist gut verarbeitet und robust. Auch wenn das Boot für Wildwasser I-II ausgeschrieben ist, sollte man bedenken, dass es sich um ein Kayak in Leichtbauweise mit relativ dünner Bootshülle handelt. Einen normalen Bodenkontakt hält es problemlos aus, aber es gibt Grenzen in der Belastbarkeit. Ich fahre auf tieferen ruhigeren Flüssen und Seen. Der Aufbau geht schnell (10 min) und ist auch alleine ohne großen Kraftaufwand zu schaffen. Bei den ersten Malen braucht vielleicht man etwas länger. Man sollte beim Aufbau aufpassen, dass der Boden und die Luftschläuche einigermaßen mittig in der Boothülle liegen, da sonst die Fahreigenschaften etwas leiden, aber das kann man leicht korrigieren. Auch das einpacken geht schnell und die Tasche ist groß genug, sodass alles einfach wieder zu verstauen ist. Da das Kayak, wie alle Aufblaskayaks, relativ breit ist, sollte man darauf achten ein längeres Paddel zu nehmen, damit man nicht an die Bootseiten schlägt. Ich komme mit 2,3m Paddellänge gut zurecht. Im Boot ist nur wenig Platz für Gepäck. Es gibt als Ausgleich vorne und hinten Verschnürungen auf dem Boot, wo man zusätzliche Dinge unterbringen kann. Für mehrtägige Touren, bei denen man alles Gepäck selbst transportiert, ist das Kayak aber daher nicht so gut geeignet. Wenn man übergewichtig ist und einen sehr breiten Hintern hat, sollte man beachten, dass der Sitz seitlich durch die Luftschläuche begrenzt ist. Umgekehrt bekommen große Menschen besimmt Probleme mit der Beinfreiheit. Für mich mit 1.7m ist es ideal, aber ich denke so ab 1,85m wird es eng für die Beine. Ich habe mich vor allem wegen des geringen Gewichtes für dieses Modell entschieden. Obwohl ich nicht besonders kräftig bin, kann ich das aufgebaute Boot mit allem Zubehör alleine auf der Schulter zum Wasser tragen. Die mitgelieferte Tasche hat außerdem Rucksackträger, sodass man das Boot auch gut auf längeren Wegen (z. B. auch in Bus und Bahn) bis zum Gewässer transportieren kann. Eingepackt ist die Tasch etwa 85x35x40 cm groß.

Venivo da un Intex K2 explorer pagato circa 100 €, ho deciso di alzare il livello. Questo kayak sembrava ben fatto e la sua portabilità mi aveva convinto. Tuttavia andandolo a provare al lago in condizioni ideali (zero vento, zero onde) ho notato che tende a deviare vistosamente verso destra quando smetto di pagaiare. Sul libro di istruzioni c'è scritto che questo problema può essere dovuto al fatto che il pavimento non è ben centrato. Tuttavia, provando a sistemare il pavimento nelle varie direzioni si ha lo stesso problema. Tra l'altro se il problema fosse dovuto alla posizione del pavimento il kayak dovrebbe girare a sinistra o a destra a seconda della posizione del pavimento. Invece gira sempre a destra. Ne consegue che è un problema di fabbrica o di assemblaggio. Di questo problema ne risentono pesantemente le prestazioni: se con il canotto da 100 € riuscivo a tenere una velocità media di 5 km/h in condizioni ideali, con questo da 620 € non riesco ad andare oltre i 4 km/h: inaccettabile. EDIT: Probabilmente ho avuto sfortuna a ricevere un modello difettoso. Il venditore comunque si è dimostrato affidabile, rimborsando pienamente il prodotto e senza accampare pretesti per non concedere il reso.

Wow. Facile a assembler et a ranger. Stable sur l'eau. Des heures de plaisir à venir

My friend Has a AE1012 Model and when i tried it it was amazing how stable it was, also Very well made. So i Decided to buy one for myself. I decided to Buy the AE3022 Model as it is half the weight and it fits what i was looking for. I have to say this Kayak is amazingly light weight ( 17.5 lb) and it is is very stable and Paddles very well and no problem with that. But after my first use I noticed several cuts and scratches that will need patching before the next use. I was very carful and can not recall how it happened but I am quiet disappointed that they used the type of material that so weak for this Kayak. So if you get one treat it with extra care . Other than that Advanced Elements Kayaks are amazing Specially AE1012 Solid and has amazing performance. As I Said AE3022 Performs very well And I have no complain I am just worried how many use i can get out of $900.00 Kayak.

Took it out twice so far! It's a good 12 min prep. At that price I sure hope it last a few seasons...