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Reviews

The outfitting make up for 2012 has taken another innovative leap forward.    Our goal in improving our outfitting is to improve comfort, safety, appearance, and functionality.

The internal frame of the kayak,  called “Boat Armor” has been beefed up, again, with an improved U-Channel at the front of the bulkhead.   This U-channel secures the front wall in place, as well as the hull support and cleat for the uni-shock bulkhead.    It is much stiffer than before, and recesses the cleat for the bulkhead adjustment.     The hulls support track has been a work in progress for many years.   We finally found a configuration of a thermoformed track that is welded to the hull, and a seat that is “pressurized” between the seat brackets and floor support.   This creates a very stiff, very strong cockpit set-up.   Turn the kayak over and walk around on the hull and see just how well supported it is.   Feel free to compare to any other brand.    It is a great testimonial to the boat armor system and where we are in 2012 with it.     The seat is adjustable      with one single thumbscrew.   This thumbscrew supports the front of the seat, but mainly it prevents the seat from sliding forward or back.    This is the easiest to adjust seat we can make.    Remove thumbscrew, slide seat into position, replace thumbscrew.    No tools, and no chance for the seat to slide while paddling.     That is a big improvement over our system for the “elite seats” in 2011 and in prior years.

New Water Bottle Holder on the seat.     We finally added a water bottle holder to the seats.    Double bungee holds a variety of bottle sizes and is easy access.    The included JK bottle has a beener that clips to the bungee to secure it.

The Foam components all have a new color in 2012- silver/grey.   Our yellow black for 2009-2011 was replaced.    The main reason for this change was to improve the overall look of the boats, as we changed our logo color, our grab handle color, and our outfitting color to all match.    Slick, clean, and easy to tell a 2012 boat from any other model year!

The seat pad is a foam, molded, seat pad.   We are offering this seat pad as standard, instead of the sweet cheeks, as 50% of our customers preferred it and it is easier to add sweet cheeks as an accessory to the boat, than to add a foam butt pad.    Most of Team JK add sweet cheeks on top of the but pad, or in place of the butt pad.   If you also prefer the sweet cheeks, it is available at your dealer or here on our website as an accessory.    We lowered the price of the boat by $50 to give you the option of adding a sweet cheeks with little extra cost.

Hip Pads and adjustments.   The hip pads are our most popular shape.  We had had 3 shapes since we started JK and this one seems to be the most control and comfort for the most people.   To adjust your hip pads properly, sit in the kayak and see if you can easily put your hands in between the hip pads and your hips.  If you have room for your hands, add one or two of the 3/8″ foam shims in the neoprene pockets on the backside of the hip pad to create a snug, but not too tight, fit.    Place the hip pads on the velcro of the seat in the most  comfortable position and tighten the straps to secure in place.

Sure-Lock Backband—    Our backband system is one of our most game changing designs for kayak outfitting.   Stronger, easier to use, and field reparable make it the “must have” if you want the best.   The proper way to adjust is to grab each rope while sitting in the seat, lean forward and pull straight forward with both hands until the backband makes contact to your back, lean back against the backband and it should lock immediately into the cleats, you are done!   To release, pull on one or both of the ropes straight out away from the cleat to release completely.     This infinitely adjustable backband allows a full loose to tight adjustment in one motion, and also a full release in one motion.

Uni-Shock Bulkhead-  This un-sung hero of so many kayakers legs, knees, ankles, and feet not only is the safest system on the market, but the most adjustable and comfortable.    The system was designed to absorb the shock of a peton, without breaking.     The 1980′s system of a single metal strap attached to the side of the hull by thumbscrews in non- JK boats has been the source of many broken ankles and hobbled kayakers due to terrible ankle breaks where the metal strap allows the  bulkhead to bend back and the foot to slide past, breaking the ankle in the process.   Our Uni-Shock bulkhead runs between two sliders and that prevents it from twisting like the standard bulkheads do.  The rope and vertical pillar flex, allowing the bulkhead to move forward as much as 8″ on a single hit and then return to its original position, body intact, and boat intact.    Of course, we don’t anticipate having a peton often (unless we are running hard class 5 creeks regularly) so the main benefit of the Uni-Shock bulkhead is the adjustability and comfort.   Like the backband, you simply pull the bulkhead up to your feet with the rope at the front of the cockpit rim.   Lock it down in to the cleat and you are ready to paddle.   If you want to loosen it and stretch your legs, simply pop the rope out of the cleat and push the bulkhead down to give yourself more room.   This feature allows you to paddle all day in comfort and be able to be as tight as you want for the hard rapids, too.    Another incredible feature for the bulkhead is that the footplates can be pulled off easily for loading gear in front of them!  Simply pull the bulkhead all of the way up to the front with the rope, reach in and grab one plate with both hands and pull it off the slider.    Load that side and replace.   Repeat on the other side.     You will also notice that two foam foot plate covers are standard with each kayak.  These are to be trimmed to fit based on your leg length.   If you have long legs you’ll need to remove them from the plate (toggle on the bungee) and see just how much needs trimmed off.   Use a serrated knife to trim the foam pad to fit snuggly once you have the bulkhead adjusted for you.     Trim a little off at a time to prevent over cutting it.   If it is snug, that is ideal.  This locks the whole system in place and gives a more solid feel to the bulkhead, plus takes up 100% of the space around the plates.   Once wet it will slide easily again for adjustment.

Grab Handles- 2012 model year has a new solid grab handle.    We took the best of the soft handles and the best of the hard handles and combined them into the ideal grab handle for safety and comfort and looks.    The stainless steel base is over molded with a comfortable, good looking plastic cover.   The shape of the handle is perfect for carrying, loading, or rescuing a swimmer.   It has a large diameter that fits nicely into your hand, is warm in the winter due to the over molding, and the shape at the intersection of the kayak prevents pinching of hands or ropes.    The grey color matches the rest of our 2012 outfitting.

Our 2012 outfitting for this boat takes comfort, safety, and ease of adjustment to the next level.   We hope you enjoy the looks of it as much as the functionality!   Boat Armor coupled with the comfort package and it is ready to go for your first river trip!

*Colors may vary slightly from those shown. Color combinations will vary from those shown in catalog and are unique for each boat produced. Variations in color are not covered by warranty.