Creek's kayak reviews

In this area you can find my opinions, free from any sponsor obbligation, on the kayak personally tested from myself. The filterble list resume the main features of every boat. You can compare models using the button 'Compare'. The weight of the kayaker is the one without any gear on.

Wave Sport
Phoenix
Overall
100%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
100%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
100%
Material resistance
100%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
70 - 90 kg (92 gallons)
Good
The Phoenix is fast, spinning like a top, but when goes fast, it stabilizes and it is easy to drive it safely even in difficult water. The very high nose allows you to skip most of the waves without even boofing. The short tail allows you to jump without touching the rocks on the bottom, turn quickly and do not lose control in the waves. When it lands from the boof it accelerates and glide in a surprising way.
Bad
The tail rails are quite marked and sometimes they might be felt if you are missing the right inclination of the boat.
ZET
Cross
Overall
96%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
67%
Lightness
100%
Outfitting
83%
Material resistance
100%
Good for beginner
67%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
83%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
70 - 85 kg
Good
Quite good balanced kayak. Fast and quite easy to direct.
Bad
The nose it's not very high comparing with the new kayaks. The stability is not the best.
Waka
Gangsta
Overall
92%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
83%
Stability
100%
Boof
83%
Lightness
100%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
67%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
from 75 to 85 kg
Good
Fast and easy to control especially on big water. Very stable and keeps the line very well
Bad
The length of the kayak (9ft) could be a problem in very small and technical rivers.
Jackson
Gnarvana
Overall
92%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
67%
Turning
100%
Stability
100%
Boof
100%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
100%
Good for beginner
100%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
67%
Weight Of Use
Version M 75 -90 kg
Good
Easy boat for hard and easy rivers. Very good lateral stability in every situation. Easy to boof and control at medium-low speed.
Bad
The speed is the biggest problem of this boat. It is slow and if it get speed, it's hard to keep it straight. In big volumes the huge volume in the nose could be hard to control.
Exo
Zion Creek
Overall
90%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
50%
Boof
100%
Lightness
100%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
100%
Good for beginner
50%
Good for intermediate
80%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
Size L from 70 to 80kg - Size S from 50 to 65kg
Good
Very fast kayak and quick to turn. Easy to boof and maneuver quickly.
Bad
The only flaw I found is the low lateral stability due to the very narrow width. Occasionally I had feelings of loss of control at high speeds.
EXO
Lion
Overall
90%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
100%
Lightness
67%
Outfitting
83%
Material resistance
83%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
80 - 105 kg
Good
A canoe that can truly support heavier paddlers, yet is easy and fast. Excellent speed through the waves and great lateral stability. Balanced and easy to use canoe.
Bad
I found a slight resistance to the line correction if you miss the line and you are at speed.
Jackson
Nirvana
Overall
88%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
100%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
50%
Material resistance
50%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
83%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
Medium version 65-75kg max!
Good
Easy boat with a great bow rocker easy to boof and control.
Bad
I just found a little problem in stability. The outfitting is always quite bad.
Dagger
Phantom
Overall
88%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
67%
Boof
67%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
100%
Material resistance
100%
Good for beginner
50%
Good for intermediate
80%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
67%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
70 to 80 kg
Good
Fast kayak with an high nose to stay over waves
Bad
It's a bit hard to get back in line. Rise the nose it's not an easy task since the tail is quite long. It's not very stable since is quite narrow.
Prijon
Beast
Overall
86%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
83%
Turning
100%
Stability
67%
Boof
100%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
83%
Good for beginner
50%
Good for intermediate
80%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
67%
Good for volume
100%
Weight Of Use
70 - 85kg
Good
Canoe with fairly standard lines that make it easy to drive. The tail makes it easy to lift the tip.
Bad
Personally, I'm not very convinced by the little tail support given by the high rear rocker (which is common with many waka). I am still not convinced of the material's resistance over time, as it is not even repairable.
Waka
OG
Overall
84%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
67%
Turning
100%
Stability
100%
Boof
100%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
67%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
72 - 87 kg
Good
The super high rocker helps to go over waves and boof very easy.
Bad
I have found little issues in the direction control due to the vertical side walls. In rocky rivers could, the edges could give some problems.
Spade
Royal Flush
Overall
84%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
83%
Stability
100%
Boof
33%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
60%
Good for steep
50%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
75-85 kg
Good
This boat is fast and easy to drive mainly in easy water.
Bad
The biggest problem is the low nose profile that makes the boof quite hard.
Lettmann
Manta
Overall
84%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
100%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
50%
Material resistance
50%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
80%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
67%
Weight Of Use
from 75 to 87 kg
Good
This model is really easy to drive especially at low speed. The tail rocker is very high and therefore the boof is really easy. In the wave trains this model can really follow the waves very quickly
Bad
At high speed the control of the boat is a bit harder. However is easy to recover. The boat seems to be not very solid and the outfitting is not the best.
WaveSport
Recon
Overall
82%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
33%
Turning
100%
Stability
100%
Boof
100%
Lightness
67%
Outfitting
100%
Material resistance
100%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
80%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
67%
Weight Of Use
recon 70 max 60kg, recon 83 max 70kg, recon 93 max 85kg
Good
Very forgiving kayaks. It boof by itself and it's very easy to set up. It give its best on rocky and steep creeks.
Bad
At high speed the kayaks is not very easy to control.
ZET
Five
Overall
82%
Manoeuvrability
67%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
100%
Stability
67%
Boof
83%
Lightness
100%
Outfitting
83%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
50%
Good for intermediate
80%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
67%
Weight Of Use
from 60 to 73 kg.
Good
This model is a fast boat developed for creeking. The rocker are pretty high but the speed of the boat is good.
Bad
The only problem is that the boat keep weird lines as soon you loose a bit the control. The long tail sometimes touch the rock while boofing.
Waka
Tuna 2
Overall
80%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
83%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
67%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
33%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
50%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
100%
Good for steep
50%
Good for volume
83%
Weight Of Use
Good kayak for the intermediate and advanced paddler for big volume rivers. The kayaker must be maximum 75-80 Kg.
Good
Very easy to control on big water. Very nice the feeling when you land from a boof. Good stability
Bad
The construction is still a work in progress. The seat is quite high and it's not possible to low it down. The side rails can give problems on rocky rivers. The new version doesn't have an high nose for boofing
EXO
T-Rex
Overall
80%
Manoeuvrability
67%
Linear Speed
83%
Turning
100%
Stability
83%
Boof
83%
Lightness
100%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
67%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
80%
Good for steep
83%
Good for volume
50%
Weight Of Use
The Trex is optimal from 70 to 85kg.
Good
For sure a very good boat, easy to control and very fast on flat water and on boof landing. It makes easy to not loose speed on whitewater and turbulent zones.
Bad
The only small problem of this boat is a lack of support in the tail area in certain situations. Sometimes the long tail can touch the bottom in case of boof.
Dagger
Mamba creeker
Overall
78%
Manoeuvrability
100%
Linear Speed
50%
Turning
83%
Stability
100%
Boof
67%
Lightness
50%
Outfitting
100%
Material resistance
83%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
80%
Good for advanced
40%
Good for steep
50%
Good for volume
67%
Weight Of Use
model 7.6 from 50 to 60kg, model 8.1 from 65 to 75 kg, model 8.6 from 75 to 85 kg.
Good
The mamba is an easy boat to start with. It's indicated for river under class IV. It could be considered a easy boat to start with since it's stable and quite easy to direct.
Bad
The low profile nose, associated with the general low volume, do not permit hard creeking and doesn't help in difficult water. The hull is slow but stable and easy to direct. The design is quite old and there are more performing boat on market now.
Dragorossi
DRX
Overall
78%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
83%
Stability
67%
Boof
83%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
67%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
100%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
80%
Good for steep
100%
Good for volume
50%
Weight Of Use
70-80kg
Good
It's good and it forgive at low speed especially on the rocky creeks.
Bad
Very lox back stability. At high speed is quite hard con control properly.
Pyranha
Machno
Overall
76%
Manoeuvrability
83%
Linear Speed
67%
Turning
83%
Stability
83%
Boof
100%
Lightness
50%
Outfitting
83%
Material resistance
83%
Good for beginner
83%
Good for intermediate
60%
Good for advanced
80%
Good for steep
83%
Good for volume
33%
Weight Of Use
Available in S M L. M is good from 65 to 78Kg.
Good
Very good nose control. Works very well on rocks.
Bad
The big volume on the tail makes it hard to control in the volume. I didn't really fond a way to control it on the tail.
Dragorossi
DR9
Overall
76%
Manoeuvrability
67%
Linear Speed
100%
Turning
83%
Stability
67%
Boof
83%
Lightness
83%
Outfitting
83%
Material resistance
67%
Good for beginner
50%
Good for intermediate
100%
Good for advanced
80%
Good for steep
83%
Good for volume
67%
Weight Of Use
from 68 to 75 kg.
Good
Fast boat and easy to turn. Good rocker.
Bad
It's not support over a certain inclination. At high speed is hard to keep it in line.