Hyside Padillac K1 Solo Inflatable Kayak

The Hyside Padillac K1 Solo Inflatable Kayak is one of the most stable whitewater inflatable kayaks and is often a choice for rental livery operations with its tough double-sided hypalon and excellent workmanship. This is a good example of a forgiving inflatable kayak, though with its bulk and wide profile it's the slowest of the lot. The 3/4" bail holes run along both sides of the inflatable floor, so you can install the lace-down thwart backrest or optional thighstraps anywhere via hoopi thru these holes.

Hypalon (or whatever you wish to call it, now that DuPont quit making Hypalon pellets under their registered trademark) is pricey stuff, so the Hyside's have long been one of the more expensive river inflatables. The price point has to be considered for private boaters thinking about a first kayak, given that you can get better performance from boats running 60% to 80% the Hyside's cost. It should be noted that the factory building the Padillacs makes less money on them than they do on the Hyside rafts, so it's not a matter of greed or high mark-up's, just high labor and material costs.

Hyside Padillac K1 Solo Inflatable Kayak a Good Choice

Hyside Padillacs are a decent choice for novice river runners or anyone else looking for a low maintenance craft that can handle serious abuse. However, the underside is deeply grooved between the two tubes and the inflatable floor, giving it a trimaran look. This ridged underside gives the Padillac kayaks some odd handling traits that can be unpredictable in cross currents and violent eddies. It was fairly rare in fact, for our rental customers to want to use one a second time; they usually opted for something sportier. That being said, if someone forced us to go down the Grand Canyon (with it's huge hydraulics) in an inflatable kayak, this would be a good choice. In blue with Leafield valves and a full coverage five-year warranty.

Also note that with the advent of AIRE's Outfitter series, it is now possible to buy something with the Hyside's stability, but with a much smoother bottom and better hull speed - and with a slightly lower price.

Any accessories purchased with your boat are 10% off, and also note that our shopping cart as yet does NOT reflect these discounts - it will show a higher total so we will adjust the bottom line before ringing the transaction through. If for any reason we manage to forget, we will enclose a refund check for the difference inside the box with your receipt.

The tandem version of this boat can also be ordered - it runs $250 more but is not on our shopping cart.