Reviewing new yaks available on the market

So my outback is awesome... But it takes on some water... Yadayadayada,  wife says I can get a new one for next year.

I don't see a huge reason to change from the outback.  However seems silly not to look.  I'm a pedaler for sure.  Spoiled with the hands-free.

So I've been looking at the new outback (love the new seat),  the 12ft PA, and the Natives.  I've seen each of these up here.  My thought on on the pros of the Native Propel is the reverse... And I kind of like the deck styles I've seen.

The PA is my original first choice,  but the 14 was so heavy.  The 12 is 105lbs...but with a dolly... And I'm still in decent enough shape that I can lift half a boat up into the truck. 3" wider than the outback would slow me down a bit, but it can't be that much of a difference,  can it?

Just thinking out loud for any input or thoughts.  I dunno,  of course,  if it ain't broke,  don't fix it,  right? Haha.

I realy like my wildy thresure but you have to paddel those

I like a lot of the hull designs for paddle boats.  It would be great to reclaim the space taken up to accommodate the pedal system.  But I've got a shoulder that doesn't always like to play nice,  and I also wind up doing all sorts of gear rigging and busy work with my hands now.  The expense of pedals and the many extra moving parts are definitely good reasons to avoid pedals from the start.  Also... Just this weekend,  I netted a silver,  got it all taken care of,  and then spent 10 minutes trying to disconnect the net from the mirage drive.  I was so frustrated.  The same silver also made a quick move away from my first attempt to net him and wound my line around the fin...i had to pull the mirage drive up,  and saw that the line had cut a half an inch into the rubber... I'm sure a part of that is user-correctable, but with a 2 foot+ vertical part sticking through the top and bottom of the boat,  things are bound to go wrong at times.  ... Geez,  and yet,  I'm sticking with pedals...

How cool is shopping for your new kayak.   Enjoy it!

We just recently went through the options, but really didn't get a chance to actually try the other Kayaks on the water.   Like you, I like some of the features of the top-hull designs on other kayaks - gunnels that support the use of gear-trak for example, a nice feature if you want the ability to configure your kayak differently for different purposes, species, etc. 

Different drive systems all have the same drawback you mention - anything out the bottom will either get dragged or tangled some day. 

Pros and cons.

You already know where we ended - I am in the process of rigging Susan's new outback 12 this week.    In doing so I have been able to check out the new seat (awesome, really adjustable!) and some of the other features.  There have been a few brass/metal inserts placed in the hull to receive screws that used to just go into the plastic.  The Lawrence port on the bottom for example, and at the seat base.   There are now two mesh pockets.  They have added some foam to the inside for reserve floatation.  ST Fins are now standard, but if you want max power you still have to upgrade to the turbos.  (add $100) I haven't had the chance to ride the new one yet, but hull design looks basically identical, so not expecting it to move better, However, the new seat can't help but raise the effective power a bit along with the ergonomics improvement. 

They did narrow the gunnel top trays.   On my outback I was able to install a RAM ball mount inside the tray, on Susan's I had to cut/grind the RAM mount down to fit it in.  Small thing - but a bit more of a pain when installing.

If you want to check out the new outback as rigged, let me know.

Thanks!  I hope we see you out there.  I got a chance to ride the new outback in HI this winter,  and I really liked the seat.  All the adjustable elements are great, and one thing I really liked was the space to slide a a thin box under the seat.  I love places to stash stuff. 

Nice to know about the mount space.  I use a mighty mount now for my FF.  One definite goal is to drill fewer holes! I put an anchor trolley on when I got it in DC,  and there were no through hull pieces on it.  That's one of the reasons I like the PA so much... Those bars and mounting panels--nothing extra drilled through if possible this time.

How cool is shopping for your new kayak.   Enjoy it!

We just recently went through the options, but really didn't get a chance to actually try the other Kayaks on the water.   Like you, I like some of the features of the top-hull designs on other kayaks - gunnels that support the use of gear-trak for example, a nice feature if you want the ability to configure your kayak differently for different purposes, species, etc. 

Different drive systems all have the same drawback you mention - anything out the bottom will either get dragged or tangled some day. 

Pros and cons.

You already know where we ended - I am in the process of rigging Susan's new outback 12 this week.    In doing so I have been able to check out the new seat (awesome, really adjustable!) and some of the other features.  There have been a few brass/metal inserts placed in the hull to receive screws that used to just go into the plastic.  The Lawrence port on the bottom for example, and at the seat base.   There are now two mesh pockets.  They have added some foam to the inside for reserve floatation.  ST Fins are now standard, but if you want max power you still have to upgrade to the turbos.  (add $100) I haven't had the chance to ride the new one yet, but hull design looks basically identical, so not expecting it to move better, However, the new seat can't help but raise the effective power a bit along with the ergonomics improvement. 

They did narrow the gunnel top trays.   On my outback I was able to install a RAM ball mount inside the tray, on Susan's I had to cut/grind the RAM mount down to fit it in.  Small thing - but a bit more of a pain when installing.

If you want to check out the new outback as rigged, let me know.

My Outback is finally coming in this week. I would like to see pictures of how you rigged the new craft as I'm new to the game.

I would seriously consider the revo 13.

How cool is shopping for your new kayak.   Enjoy it!

We just recently went through the options, but really didn't get a chance to actually try the other Kayaks on the water.   Like you, I like some of the features of the top-hull designs on other kayaks - gunnels that support the use of gear-trak for example, a nice feature if you want the ability to configure your kayak differently for different purposes, species, etc. 

Different drive systems all have the same drawback you mention - anything out the bottom will either get dragged or tangled some day. 

Pros and cons.

You already know where we ended - I am in the process of rigging Susan's new outback 12 this week.    In doing so I have been able to check out the new seat (awesome, really adjustable!) and some of the other features.  There have been a few brass/metal inserts placed in the hull to receive screws that used to just go into the plastic.  The Lawrence port on the bottom for example, and at the seat base.   There are now two mesh pockets.  They have added some foam to the inside for reserve floatation.  ST Fins are now standard, but if you want max power you still have to upgrade to the turbos.  (add $100) I haven't had the chance to ride the new one yet, but hull design looks basically identical, so not expecting it to move better, However, the new seat can't help but raise the effective power a bit along with the ergonomics improvement. 

They did narrow the gunnel top trays.   On my outback I was able to install a RAM ball mount inside the tray, on Susan's I had to cut/grind the RAM mount down to fit it in.  Small thing - but a bit more of a pain when installing.

If you want to check out the new outback as rigged, let me know.

My Outback is finally coming in this week. I would like to see pictures of how you rigged the new craft as I'm new to the game.

Sure.   Here are a few Pics.   PM Me for contact info if you have any questions. 
- I rigged the Scotty rod holder into a round Scotty base over the top of the right side molded rod holder. 
- I used the cable port in the right side mesh pocket to wire out to fish Finder.
- the lowrance elite 4 is mounted on a RAM mount.  The circular base of the ram had to be cut and ground a bit to fit in the gunnel channel.  I do this to keep the ram ball below the gunnel top for when we flat load upside down.  It's also really low profile when FF is stowed.
- Transducer was easy fit into the 'ducer pocket on bottom of hull.   
- H2O proof battery boxes come in tomorrow.  I will wire battery and fuse inside dry box, with waterproof cable connections to the box.  Hoping the connectors come in From Allied Electronics before the weekend. Pics of the power box later.

We are both right handed - whole setup can be reversed if you are a southpaw.  I took a lesson from Kardinal-84 on the right-to-left cross kayak rod holder rigging for trolling.  Been liking that.  The only downside of rigging all to the right - I am right hand dominant and haven't learned to harpoon with my left well at all, so the challenge is keeping my buoy line off the fish finder... lets just say I gotta be careful harpooning or practice up more on the left.