Touring Inflatable Kayaks

For the time being there is no American distributor for dealers to buy the Innova-Gumotex boats through. There is one Canadian dealer, but all Innova pricing has risen by at least half again from what it had been a couple years ago.

The Innova tandem Twist II (2), Double Twist touring inflatable kayaks are now coated with nitrylon rubber on the exterior, though it is a lighter material than some or the other Innovas. No tandem touring inflatable kayaks made packs smaller or is lighter than the Innova Twist II, so this works well for air travel, or even in a bicycle trailer or for motorcyclists. Anyone packing in miles to a lake or stream would enjoy the low 25 pound weight as well. And just how small is the packed size of the Twist II touring inflatable kayak? The boxed size from the factory is a mere 1-1/8 cubic feet (9" X 12" X 18"). As we said, nothing else comes close.

Please note that this model will be in the color red for 2022.

Touring Inflatable Kayaks Potential Problem

There are some potential problems with a touring inflatable kayaks that lacks exterior rubber. The main one is a lack of abrasion resistance, which means you should step into this boat from a dock or push it out into a foot of water before boarding. Another thing with the litepack material is that it can be harder to keep clean, and after salt water use you should always wash it off with a hose.

Acid Test for Touring Inflatable Kayaks

Tim from Innova has an old solo Twist that he has paddled in salt water for a number of years now, and he has deliberately left the touring inflatable kayaks unwashed after using it. So far, this acid-test Twist is holding up fine, and it's air retention is still perfect. None the less we believe in erring on the side of caution if you want your touring inflatable kayaks to last. In our 32 years experience anything short of high grade hypalon does not dig salt crust much, though pvc can do pretty well.

Touring Inflatable Kayaks Stiffness

The stiffness will not be quite the same with a Twist or Innova Swing as it would be with any of the fully coated models (Sunny, Solar, Helios, Safari, etc) because the base fabric of the others is 1200 denier, whereas the lighter material is 500 denier. More base fabric means less stretching.

Despite the short 11'9" length (they usually measure a tad less actually) the tandem Twist touring inflatable kayaks holds two reasonably tall adults. The rear seat is so far back compared to the other, longer Innovas that there is leg room even for a person up to 6'6". This boat can hold 400 pounds, but it is better with 350. The Twists feature lift handles at the bow & stern, and two more in the middle. These center interior handles are very handy for climbing back into your Twist if you happen to be swimming.

These do not come with the fancy shoulder-pack drybag of the other Innovas touring inflatable kayaks, just a canvas stow pouch, but the removable tracking fin & patch kit are included.

Please note that any accessories purchased with your Innova touring inflatable kayaks 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.