Tandem, or two-person
whitewater inflatable kayaks
from AIRE, Incept, Hyside,
Tributary, Innova, and NRS are
in this section. If you are
looking for a tandem boat for
ocean, lake, or "calm water"
use, those are in the Touring
IK section.
Any of the tandem river
I.K's can be paddled solo, but
some will be easier to
manuever than the others
depending on the width and
waterline of the kayak. All
models in this section except
the Innova Vagabond are
self-bailing. We sometimes
refer to tandem models as
"K2's", as in
"kayak-two-person". This might
cause some confusion since
there is an Innova model
actually called the "K2",
though it is one we don't
carry.
You will need to pay more
attention to weight capacity,
or "payload", with tandem
inflatable kayaks than with
solo models. Tandems are often
expected to hold double the
weight, but are typically only
20 to 25% bigger. If the tubes
are too small and/or the floor
is not thick enough, a
two-person self bailer may
hold little more than the
weight of one average adult,
with water coming in the bail
holes as you add a second
body. Tandems from Sotak, Sea
Eagle, Stearns, Sevylor, and
even the Tributary Strike II
all suffer to varying degrees
from this problem. Even if you
spot one at bargain price keep
this in mind if you and your
paddle partner add up to much
over 350 pounds.
And here is a novel idea:
Let's say you have a family of
four, and are torn between
buying a raft or buying a
couple tandem inflatable
kayak's. With two small
additions to your kayak order,
you can essentially have both.
Here's how: When you order
your new boats, get three
extra 6' camlock straps, and
two sets of handle adaptors
with your Carlisle or Cannon
two-piece kayak paddles. Or,
just buy some inexpensive
3-1/2' or 4' canoe paddles.
When the river starts looking
too intimidating and you want
more stability than a single
kayak alone provides, strap
the two boats together
side-by-side by running cam
straps down & out the bail
holes of one inflatable kayak
and back up through the
matching bail holes on the
other inflatable kayak. Then
convert two of your double
blade kayak paddles into four
single blade canoe paddles
with the handle adaptor kits
you purchased.
Now, you have a four-person
paddle raft! At 6' wide and
over 12' long, two tandem
kayaks strapped together have
the hole punching ability of
an inflatable kayak. matched
to the safety of a 13 foot
raft's footprint. Because you
are sitting very low compared
to a raft, the decreased
center of gravity actually
provides a far more flip-proof
rig than much larger rafts. We
know this sounds like a goofy
concept but it does work
reasonably well and costs very
little to try. Just note that
on occasion in certain
hydraulics, one boat's left
tube can end up sitting
partially on top of the other
boat's right tube after you
come through the rapid. Two
six foot lengths of pipe
(larger schedule 80, aluminum,
or emt) spanning the tube tops
near the front & rear of your
rig can prevent this from
happening if you strap the
pipes down tight.
For information about
multiple boat discounts, and
discounts on accessories that
are purchased with your boat,
please see the F.A.Q. page of
our website. New here for is
the ultra-stable AIRE
Outfitter II. You might also
want to look at the AIRE
Traveler & SuperLynx in our
Touring section. These are
both very capable river boats.
Also, please note there is
a more complete introduction
on the main Solo River I.K.
page. The Tandem River IK section
was updated March, 2010.
