Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Considering getting my almost 7 year old (approx 60 lbs) his 1st kayak. Trying to decide between Fun1 & a Sidekick. Basically river play versus true river runner. Leaning toward the Fun1 because it's been around longer & most of what he'll be doing anyway right now is practicing in flatwater, pool sessions, etc. Thought the Fun1 would allow for more playing around & getting a better feel for what a kayak can do & maybe eventually learn to roll it. I would appreciate other opinions.

Thanks,
Mike P.
Rogers

Mike,

Check out this thread at MountainBuzz, especially the second post: http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f15/ ... post119311

You probably already know this, but the SideKick/Hero series is the Fun hull with extra volume stacked on top - i.e., much less in the way of edges to catch. There are different schools of thought as to what kind of boat to start with - more rounded or something with some edge. My personal preference right now would be to go with the bigger-volume SideKick. Should be a little easier to roll than the Fun1, which will be a great confidence booster for your new boater. It should also make river running a little more relaxed. Getting an early progression of little "successes" (rolling, running the Mulberry or Piney with few or no swims) can make the difference between hooking someone for life or frustrating them completely. Everyone's different and your results may vary, but I think I'm on track for the most part.

Also check out what pro paddler Jesse Coombs has to say about the various Jackson boats: http://jessecoombs.com/testamonials/jackson.html. Granted, he's a pro, but I think he does a good job of describing the strengths and attributes of the JK boat line.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Thanks Randy for your reply. This is very helpful & does make me lean toward the Sidekick. The kayak camp looks pretty cool too!

don't know if you bought anything yet... i'm a huge fan of the jackson kid boats. great products (i'm not affiliated) it's the way to go to get a kid paddling. the range of sizes and light weight really make it doable for kids.


my son is now 5'1" and a skinny 75 lbs.
he's really handling a fun1.5 well. in a pool, hand rolls it both sides.
and in moving water almost never catches an edge, so if your kid is in the lighter end of the weight range (or skinny), i wouldn't worry about fun's edges at all.

when my son is in a sidekick (his older sister's), he still sits a little low for the deck height. he has to reach around it some. it's also a little heavier which makes it a bit more to handle. i'm hoping he makes it through summer in the fun1.5, then i'll move him into the sidekick. i'll experiment with some foam under the sweet cheeks to raise him some (but it'll be a bit tippier)

my experience is a fun1 to a sidekick is a big difference in boat size. if your kid is too big for a fun1 definitely look at a fun 1.5

I bought the Sidekick (for Christmas) with the idea that a) newer design, b) he will be able to grow into it for a long time & so I could justify spending on a new boat, c) hopefully I'll find a used Fun 1.5 or Fun 1 one of these days. Also curious if eventually EJ will update those boats. For now my 3'10" 65# almost 7 year old will hopefully enjoy the Sidekick at the roll sessions. May be a while before I put him on a river, but should be a safe boat when I do. We'll see. I'm looking forward to surprising him at Christmas! Been waiting about a year to buy him one.

What an awesome Christmas present! And what a dad! Will you adopt me??? :)

Bet you all will love that boat. And if he starts growing fast, you can bump him up to the new Little Hero and he won't miss a beat.

Awesome Christmas Present!!! I've been teaching my girls to paddle my whitewater boats on flatwater. They have their own paddles, but I haven't gotten them boats yet. I can't decide between flatwater or whitewater (waiting to see if I can get a transfer back to Arkansas lol).

Ethan loves his kayak. Now we just have to get his little brother out of it so we can go paddling!

That's awesome Mike! Bliss-Stick is working on a kid's boat, so I'll probably just wait, so I can use my discount!