Advanced Elements Straight Edge. A 2nd opinion.
Jun 21, 2011 20:58:51 GMT -1
Post by izzetafox on Jun 21, 2011 20:58:51 GMT -1
First off I have to declare I have never paddled a pump up because I don't like them!!!!
As Dom said in the last post of Zeb's review we had the chance to try out the Advanced Elements Straight Edge. Zeb let us take it up to Coniston with us.
Now you have to bear in mind that before trying it out we had been paddling a Flex 11 and an Easky 15 so we had been enjoying our paddle.
Time came to paddle the 'pump up' and find fault with it.
Well out of the bag it came. A quick read of the instructions and check out the innovative valves, these looked good I thought.
At this point I should say that there was a family about 20 yards away who had been pumping up a Sevylor for about 10 minutes and still seemed far away from launching.
Out came the AE pump with pressure guage. 2.25 bar on most of the capsules was what was stated. I started pumping and WOW suddenly I was there and onto the other sections. I could not believe it, barely five minutes and it was inflated.
Seat added and accessory bar fitted and Dom was ready to paddle in less than 10 minutes. MMnnnn reluctantly impressed!
Off Dom went out to the middle of the lake, backward, forwards sideways turning left and right. It looked pretty versatile.
I have to say though as he came back in it did look broad across the beam.
Well now it was my turn. I got in and realised that I was heavier than Dom. How did I know? Well the scuppers were open ( Cheers Zeb
;D ) Wet bum!! Just like so many plastic yaks so nothing new there . Scuppers closed, relaunch. Nice and dry but felt like I was paddling a lilo. But then I paddled a little further and started to warm to it.
It had a reasonable turn of speed and seemed to track reasonably with careful paddling.
The most noticable thing for an angler was that as Dom said, the last paddle stroke dictates your drift. Whilst fishing I will often paddle to a swim to cast a lure, stop paddling and drift slowly towards my target. The Straight Edge will do a quick left or right 90 degree turn as soon as you stop paddling, easilly corrected but a little annoying. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed I could get.
I think there is scope for a fin or skeg to help address these issues.
The beam was, as I thought quite wide and my 220cm paddle was adequate, just, but not ideal for the job another 20cm or so would be a benefit.
The seat was very supportive, a solid unit with an inflatable lumbar support. Units I had seen in Decathlon were with inflatable seats which looked rubbish in comparison. Rod tubes? Great idea. ;D
The accessory bar is a great idea, especially as adapted by Zeb, a couple of pieces of pipe lagging to create a rod rest very useful innovation.
Users will probably want to experiment with the air pressure in the floor to get the most comfortably seat.
The material of the hull looked really tough, more than capable of handling clumsy anglers
The bow and stern point on the hull have
reinforcing and there are small plastic ridges in the keel presumably with a dual function of wear resistance and helping tracking. minimal effect on the latter IMHO.
Leg room was great, stability very good and made me feel safe.
Unfortunately the wind that had been blowing dow Coniston all afternoon had dropped and so I cannot comment on windage
One thing I will say is...GET RID OF THE VELCRO PADDLE STRIP NEAR THE SEAT!! You will see from the pics below that there are velcro stips as paddle retainers. The one by the seat continually caught my hands when paddling. AE get rid or move them ..please!!!
Finally thought is back to the valves. Have you ever tried getting the air out of a lilo? Bl**dy nightmare!! I was amazed. The air cam out as quick as it went in and miracle of miracles Dom and I folded it up and had it in the bag in 7 or 8 minutes and amazingly were able to zip the bag up. Try doing that with any other inflatable device. A big plus from both of us there 
So what is my opinion?
This will never replace my plastic kayaks. AE will say it is not designed to. But at a price on a par with the plastics it has to compare with them. It does not.
HOWEVER. I, as a sceptic, was impressed.
After a few minutes I began to quite enjoy it. I started to see the benefits of a well designed pump up kayak. Have it in the boot....secure, portable, on the water in 10 minutes.
I so wanted to hate this but I didn't.
A winner? Sorry Advanced Elements. I liked it! I want one! BUT!!! If I had £600 plus to spend I would be looking at a plastic yak I am afraid.
You have what is probably a market leading product but, with so many cheaper models on the market, I feel most buyers will judge the Straight Edge by the price ticket and not the quality
Oh and Dom's opinion? 'It looks cool! Buy one Grandad!'
As Dom said in the last post of Zeb's review we had the chance to try out the Advanced Elements Straight Edge. Zeb let us take it up to Coniston with us.
Now you have to bear in mind that before trying it out we had been paddling a Flex 11 and an Easky 15 so we had been enjoying our paddle.
Time came to paddle the 'pump up' and find fault with it.
Well out of the bag it came. A quick read of the instructions and check out the innovative valves, these looked good I thought.
At this point I should say that there was a family about 20 yards away who had been pumping up a Sevylor for about 10 minutes and still seemed far away from launching.
Out came the AE pump with pressure guage. 2.25 bar on most of the capsules was what was stated. I started pumping and WOW suddenly I was there and onto the other sections. I could not believe it, barely five minutes and it was inflated.
Seat added and accessory bar fitted and Dom was ready to paddle in less than 10 minutes. MMnnnn reluctantly impressed!
Off Dom went out to the middle of the lake, backward, forwards sideways turning left and right. It looked pretty versatile.
I have to say though as he came back in it did look broad across the beam.
Well now it was my turn. I got in and realised that I was heavier than Dom. How did I know? Well the scuppers were open ( Cheers Zeb
;D ) Wet bum!! Just like so many plastic yaks so nothing new there . Scuppers closed, relaunch. Nice and dry but felt like I was paddling a lilo. But then I paddled a little further and started to warm to it.It had a reasonable turn of speed and seemed to track reasonably with careful paddling.
The most noticable thing for an angler was that as Dom said, the last paddle stroke dictates your drift. Whilst fishing I will often paddle to a swim to cast a lure, stop paddling and drift slowly towards my target. The Straight Edge will do a quick left or right 90 degree turn as soon as you stop paddling, easilly corrected but a little annoying. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed I could get.
I think there is scope for a fin or skeg to help address these issues.
The beam was, as I thought quite wide and my 220cm paddle was adequate, just, but not ideal for the job another 20cm or so would be a benefit.
The seat was very supportive, a solid unit with an inflatable lumbar support. Units I had seen in Decathlon were with inflatable seats which looked rubbish in comparison. Rod tubes? Great idea. ;D
The accessory bar is a great idea, especially as adapted by Zeb, a couple of pieces of pipe lagging to create a rod rest very useful innovation.
Users will probably want to experiment with the air pressure in the floor to get the most comfortably seat.
The material of the hull looked really tough, more than capable of handling clumsy anglers
The bow and stern point on the hull have reinforcing and there are small plastic ridges in the keel presumably with a dual function of wear resistance and helping tracking. minimal effect on the latter IMHO.
Leg room was great, stability very good and made me feel safe.
Unfortunately the wind that had been blowing dow Coniston all afternoon had dropped and so I cannot comment on windage
One thing I will say is...GET RID OF THE VELCRO PADDLE STRIP NEAR THE SEAT!! You will see from the pics below that there are velcro stips as paddle retainers. The one by the seat continually caught my hands when paddling. AE get rid or move them ..please!!!
Finally thought is back to the valves. Have you ever tried getting the air out of a lilo? Bl**dy nightmare!! I was amazed. The air cam out as quick as it went in and miracle of miracles Dom and I folded it up and had it in the bag in 7 or 8 minutes and amazingly were able to zip the bag up. Try doing that with any other inflatable device.
A big plus from both of us there 
So what is my opinion?
This will never replace my plastic kayaks. AE will say it is not designed to. But at a price on a par with the plastics it has to compare with them. It does not.
HOWEVER. I, as a sceptic, was impressed.
After a few minutes I began to quite enjoy it. I started to see the benefits of a well designed pump up kayak. Have it in the boot....secure, portable, on the water in 10 minutes.
I so wanted to hate this but I didn't.
A winner? Sorry Advanced Elements. I liked it! I want one! BUT!!! If I had £600 plus to spend I would be looking at a plastic yak I am afraid.
You have what is probably a market leading product but, with so many cheaper models on the market, I feel most buyers will judge the Straight Edge by the price ticket and not the quality
Oh and Dom's opinion? 'It looks cool! Buy one Grandad!'
great review great pictures