What do people think of the Prijon Invader?
Peter LANCASTER
so. The question is, what do you think about it?
I'm considering buying an Invader but I wanted to get
a "consumer" report first.
Thanks,
Peter Lancaster (pet...@microsoft.com)
Go ahead and reply to this article for everyone's sake.
Cliff Wood
>so. The question is, what do you think about it?
Gee, I'll put my two cents in. My observations are from
paddling the "new" line of boats from 2 seasons ago. This
included Lazers, Infinitys, Responses, Invaders, plus the
"normal" boats i.e. dancers etc. A lot of people were
really hot on the invaders. They were selling lazers left
and right. Personally, I ended up with a response and this year
a crossfireI like the lazer a lot but 6 ft and 150 lbs is on
the tight side. The new Excel is a much better fit. The invader
felt tippy *** to me ** and I was also uncomfortable in it. I
grew up in the Lettmann Mark V/VI days and possibly the dagger
boats have a hull that more closely resembles the Mark V hull.
It would be easier to talk about boats if the type of water,
size of the person, background, etc. was known. But, if you
want my BIASED opinion, I'd look at the Excel or Infinity. What I'd
REALLY do is find a place that had demos and demo ALL of the
boats I was considering. If for liability reasons, no
one will do demos anymore, then take a 1/2 day class somewhere and
explicitly tell them you want to demo some boats during the
class.
J Crowe
quite a few people had a go in it....the general consensus was that it
was a pig to turn, and pretty difficult to roll (mind you, this is
mostly coming from rotobat paddlers). A lot of people had trouble
staying in it when upside down - thigh braces suspect???
Anyway, the owner decided he was going to give up canoeing after
swimming down a couple of Alpine grade IVs out of it (although this may
be more of a reflection on his style of paddling rather than the
invaders handling)
Hope this is some use....
Bri.
Jonathan Byrd
boat. i have also paddled the dancer, the t-slalom, and the eskimo
gattino.
the boat is short (only 11'), and has a lot of rocker. it also has
the keyhole cockpit, and is available in pillar and bulkhead models.
pros:
----
surfs well (even on small waves)
spins easily
comfortable
forgiving
easy to exit
rolls easily
sturdy
cons:
----
seat is not adjustable
slow
not highly responsive
square sides make side-surfing a little tricky
tippy
to gain an idea of my perspective, i am 5'11'', about 145 lbs. i have
not boated anything harder than class IV so far.
--
jonathan byrd
j...@apollo.med.utah.edu
Brad May
>The Invader has been out on rivers for year or
>so. The question is, what do you think about it?
>
I've paddled one for a year. (my background: I'm a novice, this is my first
kayak, and my experience is limited to Dancer, Dancer XT, Response Dagger, and
a short paddle in a Perception Corsica. I'm 6' and 185 lbs.)
The boats I was looking at were Infinity Lazer and Invader. Both had more
rocker and turn *much* faster than a Dancer; the Lazer had slightly sharper
side rails and I was afraid if would be too "edgy" for one my skill level
(based on comments from people that had paddled both). Other comparison
issues: the Invader is available with a bulkhead and no center pillar (this
was important to me for reasons of safety--being a novice I swim often, and
the lack of a pillar makes it a snap to exit); the Invader is heavy compared
to any other boat; an the Invader is blowmolded (this mave have good or bad
impacts on repairability, but I don't know what they are); the Invader back-
band is very comfortable; the rear deck of the Invader is higher than some
boats, so it may interfere a little with laying back for "western" rolls or
ender stuff.
Someone posted they thought the Invader was tippy (compared to a rotobat, I
think). My opinion is the Invader (and Lazer) has less primary stability
(tendency to stay flat in the water) than a Dancer, but Invader has *excellent*
secondary stability (tendency to not flip when put on it's side). Even a
clutz novice like me can tip my Invader 45o either way and hold it there
with just the tiniest of braces for stability. Other comments I've read:
"it's hard to roll": I don't buy this. I taught myself the Eskimo roll in
my swimming pool, and I can do hand rolls *with just my bare hands*, in spite
of a less-than-great technique. "It easy to fall out of when you roll": it
sounds like bad outfitting of the boat; I have no such problem.
I second the opinion to not buy *any* boat without paddling it. My only
problem with the Invader is that something about it tends to put my legs to
sleep! I didn't paddle the Invader before I bought it, but I had never had
this happen with any other boat, so I wouldn't even have though of it as an
issue. I've since talked to a couple of other Invader owners that have had
the same problem, but no solutions so far (except to sit in it until your
body corrects for whatever the problem is).
bm...@chips.com (Brad May)
Mike Dege
(too many cliff dives and nasty rock gardens) and promised myself
I would investigate other boats. Trouble is its cold
around here so I hope I would also appreciate any comments from the
net from anyone with experience or suggestions about boats.
First off, I am 6 foot 153 pounds and a Class IV+ boater. I
have been using a Dancer ever since I graduated from fiberglass and
I LOVE it. I am unconcerned about boat material, comfort, weight
colors, volume or how they roll (a trivial manuever).
I am concerned on how they PLAY, hole riding is number 1,
followed by enders, surfing and responsiveness for eddy
hopping. I am considering but not limiting my search to :
Dancer
Dancer XS
Corsica S
Wave Sports Excel
I have heard some of the expert hot doggers I know of rave about the
Corsica S, I have tried the Corsica, What a dog, feels like paddling
the Titanic. I hope we can get this discussion going since I
think a lot of people are interested in boats other than
the *Me too* (Dancer) - Thanks
Mike Dege (Sex, Drugs and Rocky Rolls !!! )
email : sun!unislc!mrd
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| Mike Dege |
| email : sun!unislc!mrd phone : 801-594-4448 |
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Scott Smay
It sounds like you are mainly into holes and enders, with some surfing. I inter-
pret that to mean you don't need a lot of hull speed. For hole riding and enders I think its hard to beat the Dancer, which is still a great allround boat even
if it is 10 years old (I think). The Corsica S is slower even than the Corsica,
though a great fit (I'm 5'9" 155 lbs). I have found it to be a good surfing boaton waves that I can catch, but I blow off many waves that were cake in a Dancer.This was so frustrating that I ran out and got an Infinity, which is a fast
GREAT surfing boat, soso for enders because the deck spills water, soso for holes because of the sharp edge. I paddled an Aeroaquatic for a couple of weeks and
never hated a boat so much; I found it suitable only for riding holes and popping enders, but again INCREDIBLY SLOW. Guess I just don't like slow boats.
As much Dancer bashing as is going around, I'd still take a close look.
cheers,
scott smay