Jackson Kayak Zen 3.0 Review. The perfect beginner Whitewater Kayak??? 

FedexMza gracias!

Both fun boats but for different uses I’d say.

Yea for sure! I am 5ft 11in, 165lbs, shoe size about 10.5.

Glad it helped you a bit, let me know if there is other gear things you want me to dig into!!

You too, thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching!!

The z3 is not easy to roll when compared to smaller narrower boats. Not saying u shouldnt get one but expect it likely to be harder than what u r rolling now

1stVARifleman it does look horrible though. Luckily it paddled Better than it looks!

It is an easy boat to jump into and go give'r, I would say ideal if you have a few things you are paddling as there is little to no lag time from jumping in it after being in another boat for a while

Seth Ashworth thanks.

The small version of this boat will be boss for you at a smaller size. Don't be put off by the numbers and actually try one out, it is easy to paddle and very forgiving. Because of the seat/knee position, distance rail to rail, seat height and some other factors it makes those numbers hard to interpret because they don't give an accurate idea of how it feels to paddle. I am sure you will dig it.

The small version of this boat will be right up your alley. I think there are already a few of them floating around the south east. Hit up Stephen Wright on Facebook I think he has one right now at least.

Right on Todd, there is definitely some paddling Sumatra, and I think Java even has its own kayaking club. Worth a Google. . . Zen 3 is a solid first boat, also recommend looking at Antix 2.0 as another great first boat option.

@@SethAshworth Thanks Seth 🙏 I'll check out the Antix. Have you considered Sungai Alas in Aceh? I'm sure Kalimantan and Papua have untapped opportunities. Just watched the Sumatra video 👍. Sorry you got sick. It happens.

@@toddwinslow9974 there is definitely a lot of room for exploring but the jungle is so incredibly dense more than any where else I have been before. It’s out there though

@@SethAshworth The logistical challenges are possibly some of the most difficult to be encountered. A real "suffer fest" for sure. Add to that cultural and language. Sanitation is a big factor as well. In the end, I suppose that is what makes adventure travel so rewarding.

Great questions here and some valid concerns let me tell you my 2 cents for what it is worth. You can take it or leave it of course. 1. I think there is a special niche for crossover kayaks and it is certainly not the one boat for all things, to say it does everything poorly is unfair but it is certainly master of none imo. 2. Is Z3 a stable/easy to paddle/forgiving boat? Yes absolutely, will it hide some technique flaws and maybe slow our progress in the longer term? Maybe but if you were paddling it less than say every weekend of the year it will probably not be that noticeable of a difference. 3: Will it be easy to go straight? Im gonna let you in on a secret here, no whitewater kayak is designed to go straight, they are designed to be easy to turn because that is the bulk of the work in WW paddling. Does that mean they cannot go straight, HELL NO! But the first time you paddle it, you might feel as though it has a mind of its own. by the third or fourth time you should have it figured out and correcting your direction with a sweet stroke and of course LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING which is one of my main teaching thesis points. 4: Will another WW boat be better for me? Ultimately choose whatever fits you r size and your budget best. As i mentioned in the video I am supported by Jackson so thats what I would steer you toward but if you can try other stuff out try it out, just make sure it is the right size for you and have fun. hope that helps.

@@SethAshworth Thanks for the quick reply. Definitely helps a lot. " Does that mean they cannot go straight, HELL NO! But the first time you paddle it, you might feel as though it has a mind of its own. by the third or fourth time you should have it figured out" Great to hear. This was my only real concern. I know WW boats aren't intended to track on flat water (I have other boats for pure flatwater) but was just wondering if the Zen would endlessly want to spin in circles on stretches of river with little current. If I could pose two additional questions. The Jackson Nirvana. More racing style boat in comparison to the Zen; the Nirvana seems to like to go faster and straighter in WW and is a little narrower. Would a Nirvana be easier to track on flatwater stretches, or would the difference be negligible? If I were to go with the Zen. I am 6'1 190lbs. Seems like I could do either the medium or large. Which would you recommend?

@@michaelr4950 Great follow up questions: 1: There is a difference but honestly it will not make a HUGE difference for what you are looking for. 2: Yea M or L would probably be fine. You are a little bigger than me (5,11 175) but I think you could get away with either. Proabably M Nirvana if you went that route or M or L Z3. Try them both out if you can. hope that helps.

Colten Todhunter yea it feels super different!

I’m about the same size. I would say yea it will probably be fine. It since it’s now 2022 I’d recommend the Gnarvana as well. Gnarvana definitely my go to over the Zen3.0

@@SethAshworth - thanks as always! Keep the vids goin 💪! 🫵🫡🤘🛶

@@wolfriveroutdoors fingers crossed back on track soon

Don't get me wrong, it's fun to paddle. Just not to look at...

Great question. The answer is kind of the same with every boat though. The difficulty of whitewater a boat can go down is determined by the skill of the paddler. Around the time of this hosts release there were lots of paddles taking it on the hardest whitewater. Dane ran an incredible first descent on the Indus River in Pakistan in one of these. Hayden Voorhees has a bunch of hard runs in one. Tom Dolle too has many on his RU-vid channel from a couple years back. Design helps but ultimately what you can do comes down to you

@SethAshworth thank you Seth. I kind of new that in my gut. I guess I was kind of looking for confirmation. I've told a few of my friends the same thing, "it kinda depends who's in the boat. " Again thank you.

I guess easy is relative but i thought it was easy.

I am 5'11' and 220 lbs. I bought a Z3 and found that adding knee blocks to narrow up my knees helped a lot.

@@johngillerman4288Hi John did you go medium or large? I went large but not sure I made the right decision.

ryan potochnik zen 3.0 just came out last year. Not expecting it to be redesigned for a few years. I would guess at least

Stay warm pal!!

Thanks for checking it out. I stand by the title though. I do think it is important for people to know about those biases before starting though !

Scott Toland thanks for taking the time to watch the video and leave a comment. I’ll do my best to tighten up. For future reference what parts specifically did you find to be not useful?

I disagree, I liked it, I liked that you talked over the different attributes and when and why it would be useful. I found it just right.