The Complete Inflatable Kayaker

Rating:
Summary: This book has nothing about sea kayaking, lakes or riffles.
Review: I purchased this book based on the promise of itstitle, a promise not kept. The book is almostwholly about white-water kayaking, ignoring my main interest, lakes, ocean, lagoons, and simple rivers without complicated white-water rapids. The book title includes the word "complete" and the book is far from that. It also limits itself mostly to one-man kayaks, little helpful about how to select a kayak to buy. -Jon Claerbout

Rating:
Summary: kayak
Review: kayak shoo

Rating:
Summary: Great for the IK novice
Review: With my canoeing experiences some 20 years ago, I wasn't sure if I would remember how to 'read the water', and was very apprehensive about trying out an inflatable kayak. I purchased this book and found it a very good guide for the IK novice. It has a good section on reading the river with many line drawings of river morphology. The chapter on paddle strokes is very clear, with actual photographs demonstrating them. It helped me to see the strokes being used with the IK. The larger beam of the tubes makes for some differences in technique. The book mainly covers whitewater inflatable kayaking, but the basic strokes can be used in all IK scenarios. Hey - I just ran a Class III river, sucessfully, and found myself using many of the techniques I had read about. 'Working' the IK is different from canoes or hardshell kayaks, and this book shows the reader how to handle this type of boat, accordingly. Most kayaking books seem to cover only the hardshells-this book is for us "duckies"!!! It is easier for me to relate to a photo of a 'yaker' in an IK leaning than to a hardshell rolling. I don't plan on rolling - intentionally, that is - and the self-rescue/safety section tells me how to recover if I do. I recommend it as a general guide for the IK novice, although there are further chapters on more advanced techniques for the veterans. It's easy, enjoyable reading and worth having as a primer or refresher. Fellow duckies - read the book and hit the water! Wa-Hoo !!!

Rating:
Summary: Great for the IK novice
Review: With my canoeing experiences some 20 years ago, I wasn't sure if I would remember how to 'read the water', and was very apprehensive about trying out an inflatable kayak. I purchased this book and found it a very good guide for the IK novice. It has a good section on reading the river with many line drawings of river morphology. The chapter on paddle strokes is very clear, with actual photographs demonstrating them. It helped me to see the strokes being used with the IK. The larger beam of the tubes makes for some differences in technique. The book mainly covers whitewater inflatable kayaking, but the basic strokes can be used in all IK scenarios. Hey - I just ran a Class III river, sucessfully, and found myself using many of the techniques I had read about. 'Working' the IK is different from canoes or hardshell kayaks, and this book shows the reader how to handle this type of boat, accordingly. Most kayaking books seem to cover only the hardshells-this book is for us "duckies"!!! It is easier for me to relate to a photo of a 'yaker' in an IK leaning than to a hardshell rolling. I don't plan on rolling - intentionally, that is - and the self-rescue/safety section tells me how to recover if I do. I recommend it as a general guide for the IK novice, although there are further chapters on more advanced techniques for the veterans. It's easy, enjoyable reading and worth having as a primer or refresher. Fellow duckies - read the book and hit the water! Wa-Hoo !!!