

Traditional kayaks are made of hard plastic. How do they get the weight down? There’s a handful of methods, and some are better than others. Recreational kayaks are naturally lighter because they’re more bare bones. Fishing kayaks have to be bigger to tow gear and extra features. Instead, you’re shopping for the lightest options in the big kayaking categories-recreational, fishing, touring, whitewater, etc.-as well as length. There isn’t a standard definition for a lightweight kayak, and “lightweight kayak” isn’t a category in the industry formally. Anyone who’s kayaked understands how important controlling direction and quick course correction is to the activity it’s what keeps you out of tricky spots you should avoid, or slice through them all together. If you want speed, turn responsiveness, and control, you want a lightweight kayak. This is especially handy for folks who fish out of their kayak or take their kayak down rivers to find good spots to camp. This could mean a more heavily loaded cooler, more food, and other equipment you might take on a kayak trip. This one is as simple as it gets: If you’re cutting 50 percent (or more) weight from your boat, you can bring more gear with you. If you’re worried about overworking yourself, or you want kayaking to be a bit more recreational and a bit less full-body workout, lightweight kayaks are a solid option. For one, you can probably log more strokes when your vessel is half the weight it usually is, and more strokes mean longer runs on the river, lake, or ocean. Lightweight kayaks are advantageous for other reasons as well. And though the weight figures don’t stand out that much-your typical sit-in, recreational kayak will weigh about 60 pounds or so-their unwieldy length make loading, unloading, and hauling to water a tedious undertaking. Pulling a 10- or 12-foot hunk of thick plastic from the roof, over your head, and safely onto the ground takes power and a lot of stabilizing muscle activation and, more importantly, isn’t the exercise you signed up for when you got a kayak. So what’s the story with lightweight kayaks? If you’ve pulled a full-sized, full-weight kayak off the roof of a car you’d know how cumbersome they can be. Why Lightweight Kayaks? Convenience & Transport Our picks for the best lightweight kayaks, a sub-category of kayaks that’s been growing for a few years now, were selected through product-to-product comparison using the following criteria: materials, price, warranties, reviews, and, yes, weight. The activity works most of your body-quads, core, biceps, triceps, delts, hamstrings, and more-and, once you’ve got a boat, paddle, and life vest, it’s relatively affordable just drop your kayak in and go.

Whether you’re fishing, looking for whitewater, or paddling down a sleepier stretch of water, kayaking can be both relaxing and strenuous (in a good way). There are very few summer hobbies better, and better for you, than kayaking.
