Driftsun Rover Inflatable Kayak – Inflatable White Water Kayak – Inflatable 1 and 2 Person Kayaks for Adults with High Pressure Floor, Padded Seats, Action Cam Mount, Aluminum Paddles, and Pump

In my opinion, the DriftSun marketing department committed intentional fraud by saying the weight of the 2-person kayak was 28 pounds—it’s not even close, in any configuration. (They also claim the 1-person kayak is 22 pounds—likely bogus as well.) However, the engineering and manufacturing of this kayak was so fantastic, that I am still giving it 5 stars despite the completely unnecessary apparent fraud of the marketing department.The real weights: Kayak with included seats (no paddles): 37 pounds. Kayak with no seats, no paddles: 30 pounds (this is silly–the kayak is not usable without the included seats); Kayak with included seats and included paddles: 42.8 lb.; Kayak with pump, backpack AND 2 life vests (vests not included): 49 pounds.The weights are important to me, because I plan to put two of these kayaks in the back of my Cessna 210 airplane to fly to remote locations, like Big Bend National Park.I am comparing this to an Advanced Elements 2-person inflatable kayak that I have owned for more than 15 years, and have taken it in Class III whitewater (Taos), various river trips (Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend), through the surf on the ocean, and back saltwater bays. The old-technology AE would easily fill up with water and bend into a “U” shape when broadsided against rocks in whitewater, so I bought all the extras for it: aluminum pipe/keel for strength and tracking, zip-on deck, and water skirts, which ballooned the weight of the AE. Even with the extras, the AE could not handle whitewater and surf, the skirts just came loose and it filled with water anyway. The AE was great to throw in the back of my Cessna 210 aircraft, and fly to remote places. But for trips (drives) to the surf and whitwater, I eventually bought non-inflatable Lifetime plastic sit-on top self-draining kayaks. Which would allow surf and whitewater to drain out, but they were not portable in an airplane like an inflatable.I was amazed at how the engineering of this Driftsun kayak allows it to be rigid and also MUCH less weight than the old technology inflatables. AND it is self-draining which will allow it to go in surf and whitewater. (Based on the other reviews, I might make it into a one-person kayak when going into the surf, so it sits high enough to drain faster.)The rigidity of this kayak comes partly from the new-tech “drop-stitch” floor, very similar to an inflatable SUP board. Except it is not perfectly flat like a board–it curves upward on the prow and stern, to help in the surf. (See my photo of the bottom of the boat–you can see the outline of the inflated floor.) The drop-stich technology has connections inside the board that allow it to be inflated to a high pressure while retaining its custom (non-round) shape. The floor is so hard and rigid it feels like you are sitting on balsa wood, a huge difference from the old AE floor that felt like you were sitting on a pool float mattress. The Driftsun floor is attached inside the rest of the boat all the time. There is no separate floor removal (not tedious like the AE), so you have no extra assembly when you pump up this Driftsun boat—just pump it up, put in the seats, and go.I was so tired of dragging my non-removable keel on river rocks in the AE, that I almost took a knife to permanently remove it. In the Driftsun boat, the keel is removable. But, the base of the keel sticks out a couple of inches even when the keel is removed. So, I might take a grinder and round out the front of the keel base so its shape is less likely to snag rocks, after my first few river runs.The weight savings compared to the old technolgoy AE inflatable, comes from the fact that the side bladders are just single layer. In the old AE, the internal inflatable bladders sit inside of fabric external tubes, which are wrapped in the exterior flooring material–essentially three layers. In this Driftsun boat, the pontoons are just one layer of airtight fabric, not three layers. It feels very tough. We will see if it lasts more than 15 years like the old AE boat.The paddles break down into four parts (instead of the typical 2), and everything fits into a backpack. The pack seems very strong, has a zipper that opens up like a big suitcase (one entire side), and is big enough to easily fit the pump and two life jackets in with the kayak. I think this Driftsun will take half the time to set up and take down, compared to my old AE. The pack and pump are light enough, you could throw them in the back of the kayak to allow you to pack-out the kayak at a remote take-out spot if necessary.Don’t buy an expensive electric pump. With the supplied dual-direction pump, I think this will pump up faster by hand than with an electric pump. And you’re outside trying to get exercise, anway. Don’t be a wimp. The supplied pump is very common–I bought an identical generic replacment pump for my AE, inexpensive but very effective. It takes about 55 pumps to get each of the side bladders of the Driftsun beginning to take shape (see included photo). Then you can pump the floor up to its max 6 psi pressure (or less–leave room for expansion when the sun heats it), and finally go back and add 25? or more pumps to get the side chambers up near the max 3 psi. The boat comes with a pressure gauge with bayonet mount that fits inline with the air filler hose. I wish that I had one of these gauges with my AE, because I probably under-inflated it out of fear for rupturing it. The most amazing difference between this Driftsun and the old AE, was how rigid this new boat is without the need for any extra aluminum keel (as my AE needed).Also, there is a huge difference when you lift this boat, compared to the weight of the old AE. It’s like a feather, even if it is way more than 28 pounds.Three things are a game changer for this boat: 1) light weight; 2) self-bailing design; 3) stiffness without a keel.I may update this review after taking it in whitewater or surf.UPDATE 1-28-23I took it out on flat water to test it today; paddled 3.5 miles on Trinity River next to Audubon Center in Dallas, flat water with slow current, with 170 lb and 210 lb males. With moderate effort it travels between 4 mph and 4.5 mph, but averaged 3.2 mph because we took it out twice to put on the keel and switch places. Not a racer but also did not feel draggy. Without the keel you will need to be a skilled paddler to make it track straight, but with the keel it tracked straight relatively easily. Unlike my old AE, which has an aluminum tube for a keel that is hard to get straight, and a removable floor that is hard to center (and hence you are always slightly off-track or tipped) this DriftSun tracked straight and was in balance with no adjustments. Our first riverside setup (ever) took less than 15 minutes, but 7 minutes was trying to sort out how we wanted to set the seats. 75 pumps each on the two side pontoons, and 55 pumps on the center floor, is all it took to inflate; I expect it to be less than 10 minute setup next time. I suggest that you put the rear seat in first, as far back as it will go. Then sit down, see how much room you need, and then put in the front seat in a place that will share the leg room. You will need all of the leg room if one of you is tall. I confirmed that this will fit in the Cessna 210 hatch (see photo), so now we are buying a second one and looking forward to some really fun trips with friends. We did not test the self-draining feature, but the paddle splashes that normally end up soaking my rear end in the old AE, did not reach my seat–the self draining feature keeps paddle splashes running down and away from you, even if you have the plugs closed. Nice! Bonus: We saw a pileated woodpecker, a red-tailed hawk, and a beaver.2nd UPDATE: 2-22-23We threw 2 kayaks in the back of the Cessna 210, and put them in the surf on the Gulf of Mexico off of Port Aransas (Corpus Christi). In 15 mph winds and surf (see photo), at first the self-draining feature failed. We unscrewed all the drain plugs, but it would not drain fast enough to stay ahead of the surf, even with just one person in a 2-person kayak. Then, we realized that you need to unscrew the plugs AND remove them from the boat (they come with tethers). If you leave them in the boat, the water pulls the tethered plugs back to the openings and they partially block the drains. After completely removing the plugs, the water drained FASTER out of this kayak than my plastic sit on top self draining Lifetime kayaks. It mostly emptied of water between the big swamping waves, allowing us to get through the surf. However, paddling into the 15 mph wind parallel to the shoreline was nearly impossible due to the wind resistance. The next morning, with no wind and smaller waves, we took our kayaks through the surf a quarter mile out, and paddled up and down the beach. It was great fun. We probably could have put two people in the boat in moderate to light surf, and it still would have drained OK and we would have had more power in the wind. Great fun, the boat fulfills its mission.3rd UPDATE Summer 2023I took this boat to the Amalfi coast of Italy on a family vacation. It checked as a regular bag on an American Airlines international flight from Dallas, with two life jackets included. Even though it poofed out a little, the weight and dimensions were OK as a regular bag. Coming back, I pressed my luck and included my snorkel gear in the bag. The Italian gate agent was almost ready to check it as a regular bag when I volunteered that it was a boat. Big mistake, she said that even if it was not oversize I would have to take it to the special baggage line for screening, which almost caused me to miss my flight. I don’t think you need to declare a boat in your luggage, so next time I won’t be volunteering that it is a boat. Our Italian vacation rental was five minutes away from the beach along the Mediterranean, so it was easy to backpack this to the beach and then pump it up on the beach. 15 minutes of paddling took us to Pandora’s Cave (pictured) and other places on the Mediterranean only reachable by boat. Nice!