Why can't picking a kayak be easy?

I got to take a revolution and an outback for a spin today.  Thanks Next Adventure!

I was hoping for some clear advantage to base my decision on.

Well,  they seem to be perfectly balanced in terms of pros and cons.

The outback will be better for crabbing and diving, Plus being able to stand and cast would be awesome-  especially back on the Georgian bay where I have done most of my yacking in the past.

BUT the revolution is still as stable if not more, as the kayak I have been using, and it is fast
It will still likely be a decent platform for crabbing/diving,  it is MUCH more pleasant to paddle. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that they are both great boats and it will be hard to pick between the two.

I also took the prowler 13 for a spin.  It is a great boat too.  To be honest, I was hoping that I would hate the mirage drive, so I could spend less money. That did not work out.

I guess I will try to rent the outback and revolution for a day. Maybe something will become more apparent.

I think I will still want one of each though.

I think that is what is called a "good problem to have." 

I hope to be in that position this spring.

Glad to hear you got out today.  They are  all great kayaks. 

are you a gearhead or more of a minimalist? I tried out the Outfitter and the Oasis, which are the respective tandem versions of the Outback and Revolution (had to get a tandem to accommodate the wife on non-fishing trips). We got the Oasis as it is the more enjoyable (faster and more maneuverable) to pedal, but I found out it is hard to find places to mount a lot of gear. The side rails on the Revolution and Oasis are narrow, with the only wide spots being just forward of the rudder up & down controls. The Outback and Outfitter, on the other hand, have wide rails that run pretty much the length of the cockpit(s).Fortunately, I am a minimalist kind of guy, so limited mounting options are OK by me.

Of course, Rawkfish has a Revo, and has a lot of bling and swag, sorry - I mean essential fishing gear, mounted all over it. But I'm sure he will tell you that it has been a challenge to figure out how to get it all on there.

I had the same dilemma as you.  Outback or Revo.  I went Outback because I can put a platform across the tank well with a little seat for my 6 year-old fishing buddy and it is stable enough that he can climb up to the front and peddle for awhile.  Also, I really liked having the storage along the sides. I can set my tools in there and they don't fall out, even in some really sloppy conditions.  The main problem I have found is that  the Hobie paddle tends to pop your unleashed primary sturgeon rod out of the rear rod holder when you are  in the middle of the Columbia River.   I have found it only happens when you decide you need to remove your paddle because your anchor line got wrapped around it while you were pulling your anchor.  I am sure this is a design flaw by Hobie and no fault of my own .  It may have been corrected in this years model.

I used to turn my nose up at the Outback because it was too short and paddled like a barge. I wasn't going to be bothered with a Hobie until I saw an Adventure and that was love at first site. It paddles faster than most SOT"S and pedals even faster. I got it the year before they came out with the Revo.

5 years later I went out with a buddy of mine who has an Outback with turbo fins and the sailing rudder. Danged if he couldn't keep up with me just fine. That made me realize that the Outback (and the Pro aircraft carrier for that matter) are not paddle boats. They pedal and very well at that.  You kinda really do need to opt for the sailing rudder and the turbo fins though.

You might not think you need the rudder, but it's well worth the $20 bucks extra. Anything that gets my BigA to turn quicker is a really good thing . It'll spin an Outback around on a dime. The same bud that keeps up with my Adventure ln his Outback, rarely pulls out his paddle and we fish some really narrow trenasses.
The turbo fins just give the mirage more umph per stroke and move any of the boats right along much better than the standard fins.

 The amount of real estate on an Outback's deck is HUGE compared to the Adventure or even the Revo. The initial stability is off the chain. It still does not paddle worth a damn. But who cares if your pedaling? The Revo is hands down a better paddle boat, but again, your pedaling.

 Getting the impression I kinda kinda like the Outback yet?

Before I got the Outback, one thing I did was paddle the Outback.  I was crabbing in Siletz Bay with Jammer, and wanted to see how bad it would be paddling it in case the mirage drive crapped out.  I was able to get it up to 4.7 mph paddling (with some effort).  It is not as pleasurable to paddle as any of my other kayaks, but it isn't as bad as it would seem.  As FFTW said, with the sailing rudder, it turns on a dime and the turbo fins were worth every penny. 

Sinker, I am on my fourth kayak in two years. Started with a Malibu Xtreme 15'. It was a good yak but at 15" it was heavy and hard to transport by yourself. it did not turn that great, but it tracked very well for trolling and could carry a ton of stuff. I then added a Cobra 14'SOT. It had a rudder and handled very well but just wasn't comfortable and not as east to fish from as the Malibu. I sold both of them and bought a Native Ultimate 14.5 tandem kayak (the wife thing...) I actually like this yak, very comfortable seats, can convert from one to two person, easy to paddle and fish from, and hauls a ton of stuff - the only problem is it is a open cock pit style kayak and in rough water or hard rain can fill up with water. I still have this and it works great for a lake yak, but I would never consider taking it crabbing or fishing in a bay or ocean. Finally, I stepped up and bought an Outback and love it. Very stable, easy to rig for anything, and can handle the rougher open water.

There were a couple of things I learned while losing money each time I changed kayaks: (1) length and weight makes a difference depending on your options to transport a kayak. Getting 15' 92lb kayak on the roof of a truck by your self is not easy and it is too long to put in the back of a truck... (2) Deciding what you want to use the kayak for BEFORE buying three of them will save you a lot of money and time; hands free peddling comes in pretty handing when trolling- more so when using a down rigger (3) think about how much room you have to store it.

When I am completely set up. I will end up keeping the Outback and getting a Revo (kind of what you have concluded).  These two yaks will solve all my kayaking, fishing, crabbing, and playing needs.

I know the Hobies are a lot of money, but if you can make it work, get the one you really want first; if not, you will end up nickle and dimming yourself trying to make what you bought something it is not.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing by trying them out.

Good luck! 

Why can't picking a kayak be easy? What's the fun it that?? lol.  I'm not the best person since in Alaska I bought both my kayaks, a mini-x (9ft) and an outback without getting to try either out.  When I didn't know any better, I took my my mini-x out in the open ocean and managed to land both kings and halibut.  I even rigged a full size downrigger and pulled shrimp pots from 500 ft with it!

I didn't have a clue, so it worked for me!  Kind of like you don't realize how slow your computer is or internet connection is until you try something better.  I thought it worked great until I paddled with a 15ft OK and a 12 ft pescadore.  They both flew by my like i was sitting still.  Then I found this forum and that was the beginning of the end  of any thought of sticking with the mini-x.  I still LOVE my mini-x for drifting rivers and I think it's going to be a great tow boat when I decide to take the kids out (9 and 6 year old...one at a time).

I've said on this board that initially I thought the outback was more stability than I would ever need.  But after being in very short wind driven waves (not swells)  up to 5 ft, I now appreciate that stability.  No problems trolling with a full size downrigger in even those conditions though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.  I take my outback in conditions I would NEVER take my 16 ft open skiff in.  Maybe even my 21 ft center console.  Of course its mainly because my outback can't do 40mph like my center console and its the speed that kills in that boat and the self bailing factor in my outback that makes it possible.  The last time I was out, all the power boats disappeared, I ran into some serious chop and I still fished for a few more hours.  It was amazing!  I know the paddle type kayaks might disagree, but for fishing, the hands free drive is just too good for every application of fishing I tend to encounter.  I cannot imagine ever going back to a paddle kayak.

I've already pretty much decided that my next yak is going to be a an Adventure Island to really up the range but I think that is 2 to 3 years out...I think.  All my carefully planned purchases and carefully laid out budget has pretty much been right on...except I had to substitute "months" for "years" in all my carefully planned buys.

But if you plan to fish the big ocean, Two thumbs and two big toes UP for the outback.  With the turbo fins and sailing rudder, I can go all day trolling and I am an out of shape a pack a day smoking desk jockey.  Not saying the other kayaks aren't as good, but I am definitely a HUGE fan of the outback.  it has served me VERY well in the saltwater fisheries of Alaska. 

Two thumbs and two big toes UP for the outback.  With the turbo fins and sailing rudder, I can go all day trolling and I am an out of shape a pack a day smoking desk jockey.

I like the sound of that.  I'm a mildly out of shape (non-smoking) desk jockey.  Now that the baby is here, once I have time to finish the tinkering on my bike to make it rideable again (need to work on the brakes some more).  Assuming I don't wimp out with the cold weather and am riding consistently I'll be in pretty good shape by spring.

Hey Sinker, I think what you discovered is that you will be thrilled no matter which kayak you buy. Also, no matter which kayak you buy there will be another kayak that will do something better. Do not worry about that.

For myself I looked at the Revo and the Outback. I had no kayaking background so for me the extra stability of the Outback was nice. The other thing is that I weigh about 200lbs and when I demoed the kayaks it was a windy, choppy day with a lot of boat wakes. I took water over the front of the Revo multiple times, but never on the Outback. For me the stability and dryness were appealing. To be clear, the Revo was quite stable and faster, but in the end I decided that speed was not that important of a criterion to me.  I am sure that there are others who would have had the same test experience I did and found the speed to be the most compelling aspect. I love my Outback and I am sure I would have loved the Revo every bit as much if I had chosen it. The only bad choice is not having a kayak

You have found a wonderful dilemma that will be decided on personal preference. Your choices both have the hands free option which is just "flippin" awesome. I went with the Outback because I already have a paddle yak that works like a charm in shallow waters and lakes. The real estate on the Outback is phenomenal. The weight capacity of 400 pounds is tough to beat. (It will come in very handy for crabbing next week.) The stability is about equal to my Freedom hawk with the pontoons deployed.

If I was to have only one kayak. I might go with the Revo. It can be easily paddled and yet has a very stable ride.  Sort of like a cross over between Paddle and Peddle.

My two cents,
Stevehawk

I take my outback in conditions I would NEVER take my 16 ft open skiff in.  Maybe even my 21 ft center console. Of course its mainly because my outback can't do 40mph like my center console and its the speed that kills in that boat and the self bailing factor in my outback that makes it possible.  ...  Not saying the other kayaks aren't as good, but I am definitely a HUGE fan of the outback.  it has served me VERY well in the saltwater fisheries of Alaska. 

Now thats what I'm talking about and, for me, that says it all!
 One of the first things the unenlightened masses asks is "what if it turns over?" The correct answer is "roll it back over, climb back on and check your bait." Just try not to smile too smugly.   Unintentionally rolling your boat is not quite that trouble free (see DAMHIK forum), but it should be very close. Rolling a power boat is, at best, the end of the day. At worst, somebody dies trying to rescue you.

Although that really applies to almost all SOT kayaks, in the Outback it applies almost doubly so. You really have to work at getting dumped.  After that, it's all about how comfortable you are in your environment. Although I got to play in some sketchy conditions just south of Rudy (see QCI trip a couple of years ago), I still don't think I have his environmental cojones. 

The (Outback) stability is about equal to my Freedom hawk with the pontoons deployed.
My two cents,
Stevehawk

Okay I know its stable, but thats saying a whoooooole lot   I played on a Freedom Hawk once (and it actually paddled surprisingly well).  But with the butt split open (pontoons extended), I don't think one person can turn it over.

Finally, paddlabilty is relative. I called the Outback a barge, but compared to what? Nobody would head out into the big briny any distance in a rodeo boat. Going downstream, the Outback should be great with a paddle. For flat water, longer and narrower would be better, but an Outback is still good for a few miles without killing you under oar. Pedaling is even better.

I take my outback in conditions I would NEVER take my 16 ft open skiff in.  Maybe even my 21 ft center console. Of course its mainly because my outback can't do 40mph like my center console and its the speed that kills in that boat and the self bailing factor in my outback that makes it possible.  ...  Not saying the other kayaks aren't as good, but I am definitely a HUGE fan of the outback.  it has served me VERY well in the saltwater fisheries of Alaska. 

Now thats what I'm talking about and, for me, that says it all!
 One of the first things the unenlightened masses asks is "what if it turns over?" The correct answer is "roll it back over, climb back on and check your bait." Just try not to smile too smugly.   Unintentionally rolling your boat is not quite that trouble free (see DAMHIK forum), but it should be very close. Rolling a power boat is, at best, the end of the day. At worst, somebody dies trying to rescue you.

Although that really applies to almost all SOT kayaks, in the Outback it applies almost doubly so. You really have to work at getting dumped.  After that, it's all about how comfortable you are in your environment. Although I got to play in some sketchy conditions just south of Rudy (see QCI trip a couple of years ago), I still don't think I have his environmental cojones. 

First of all, WHAT?  you can paddle an outback?  I was wondering why they included the paddle. lol.  Only use it when its too shallow to deploy mirage drive from the start.  PAIN in the back end with rod holders and such all around me to paddle.  I not only carry a real paddle but a telescoping emergency paddle as well.

Holy Cow that QCI trip looked killer.  Gotta put that on the list! Some decent sized swells as well. 

here's a quick 12 second vid of two weekends ago.  The wide angle lens I don't think does the conditions justice.  Was trolling using a downrigger.  No problems!  Of course my plan if I hooked up to a king was definitely not fight it right there but to move in closer to shore and behind me where the current and the waves were not as big.  But I had to fish there since that's where my sonar told me the bait concentration was! Now keep in mind I have never tried any other kayak, but have I said this yet?  I LOVE MY OUTBACK! 

Of course I was awestruck in junior high by this new fangled invention known as the "floppy drive." Perhaps I am easily impressed...lol.

nice video! there is no way I would try that in a paddle kayak... That is another reason why the Hobies are so good.