KAYAK TEST: Can the Itiwit X500 Strenfit keep up with sea kayaks? 

Hey there! I've heard this before - when I selected the video clips in the compilation I was just thinking about the visuals and not about showcasing cadence. In some cases here I'm accelerating to catch up to or pass kayaks, making the cadence look off. I could just as easily cherrypick clips from paddle trips where I'm using the exact same cadence as some sea kayaks around me - and when one looks for that even in this video, one can find it. This kayak is shorter and wider, so will require more energy, but 2-3x cadence is not at all accurate. 😎

Thanks fellow X500 paddler! It's indeed a great yak. I keep being surprised at the performance at that pricepoint and the simplicity with 5 minutes setup time. Heavy to lug around but having brought it to two different countries and other cities on my back, I still love the flexibility... I've never had the chance to try a V1, would be fun to try if I ever came across one!

Quote: "Anywere..." Would or did you use it on whitewater like on ww level III ? Just interested. ( Being a ww kayaker with a ww Jackson kayak 😀) PS. I don't know the wild water level system around the world. Speaking about Europe level III.

Glad you liked it :) Of course, a "fast" sea kayaker will outrun the X500, but paddling at normal paddle speed, the X500 is powerful enough to keep up during long paddles.

@@AirOnTheWater That's true bro! agree! Most of paddling event I attended before, I would say people just like relaxing paddle style.Just spent some good time on the water not really focus on the speed, so x500 shour works really well😂

@@guojunlong2247 Exactly! 🙂

I don't think any of the examples were a competition to be fair 🙂 The basic characteristics of a sea kayak are such that they are typically longer and more optimally shaped than the Itiwit X500. Thus, if a sea kayak paddler is really trying to "compete" with an X500 paddler, they'll have a clear advantage and as long as they're somewhat well trained and competent, they should "win". The point is rather that the Itiwit X500 has high enough performance to keep up over long stretches - in this case up to 40+ km - with sea kayakers that aren't trying to paddle faster than normal (as long as they don't have a really fast sea kayak that would outpace most other sea kayaks). So in other words, the question is whether the X500 is powerful enough to keep pace with sea kayaks out on longer trips, which in my experience it very much is. But it depends on the paddler in the X500, in the sea kayak, and what kind of sea kayak it is, of course. I'd say the X500 pretty much functions like a sea kayak - the time when it has a disadvantage is when paddling against strong wind!

@@AirOnTheWater .Thx for answering. I know and was just joking a little because when comparing 2 articles ( boats or whatever) the external factors shouldn't be that much different as you 're also saying in your last sentences. (hope you understand me as a non native English speaker).

@@greatfun7316 Sure, gotcha. 🙂 Yes, it's hard to compare as you say - a friend of mine has a super fast sea kayak that's half shaped like a surf ski, and leaves the rest of us behind easily, regardless of whether wer'e in a sea kayak or Itiwit X500, so there's a degree to everything. 🙂 What kayak(s), if any, do you paddle yourself?

Thank you! It's a great kayak 😎

Nice! It's a great kayak - highly recommend it. You'll find lots of X500 videos on this channel showing how it works :)

@@AirOnTheWater oh yeah I already watched a lot, sweet!🤗

Hi! Thanks for the positive note. Well, I've used knee bracing quite a bit in really choppy waters, and you can brace to some extent which certainly helps with stability - but there is a bit of a give to the central cockpit area so it's not the same as one would have in a sea kayaking. For me, it's been sufficient in significant waves, but in really extreme conditions, it wouldn't be optimal (and this kayak isn't made for those either, just as not all sea kayaks aren't). I'm using a third party spray skirt, Tahe Outdoors Zegul, as I wasn't happy with how stiff the Itiwit original spray skirt was to put on in cold conditions. They've recently updated the Itiwit spray skirt though for a better fit - haven't seen that one yet, but I hope it does the trick.

Glad you enjoyed the video 😎 I've sat around in this kayak and just gazed at the stars on a clear night, at countless sunsets, and after getting more used to it, also sat "chilling" while in quite a bit of waves. It's more stable than most sea kayaks (in its second version - check that there's a flap on the lower side of the outside of the backpack that says "v2" which is the model produced after 2020), and if you want extra stability, there's the option of decreasing floor pressure from 10 PSI to 5 PSI to make it more stable. That being said, it's not as stable as a "pontoon-style" inflatable kayak which is virtually "unflippable", so if one is completely new to kayaking, this might require a bit of practice to get used to its balance. Once you got that down though, it's quite reliable and stable. I've never capsized, and I've felt comfortable in the kayak ever since the first trip with it, when I had some kayaking experience but not a huge amount. Would definitely recommend the x500! 😀 There's a reason it's visible in the majority of my videos 🙂

Since the second version (V2) of the Itiwit X500, which is what is being sold now, is quite stable, it's handled well in choppy water that I've encountered, but as the rear hatch isn't fully waterproof in case of a capsize and it can require some extra effort to self-rescue in, if you had 1m waves I'd only go out in that with the X500 if you're really experienced, familiar with the craft and absolutely confident in your re-entry skills and ability to handle those kinds of waves. For most paddlers I would not recommend it. In, say, 60 cm waves, it handles surprisingly well. You can see if handling a few waves in this video, though not as rough as you're describing. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EjU6qz-ylzQ.html

These aren't 1m waves but still a bit choppy. Might demonstrate a bit as to your earlier question :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m6pYDR6x-LY.html

I'll need to revisit some small leaks that I should have repaired quite some time ago. Will get back after that. But generally, my X500 has been used extensively during almost three years now and it's certainly been bruised and battered. I would have had expected an inflatable kayak to not survive a lot of what I've put the X500 through though. Will be getting back with updates on this in coming months, including a review video.

Hi there! I agree with the technical points and some of them are, if very briefly, alluded to in the summary comments later in the video. A longer sea kayak is of course faster/requires less energy than this 380cm inflatable - it's just physics. Back when I made the video though, it wasn't intended as a technical demo, but just listing examples of events where paddling with sea kayakers had worked very well. The cadence is thus just from random moments, in some cases it shows as quick because I'm accelerating, in others in the video you can see I'm using the exact same cadence as the kayaker in front of me. Mostly, a somewhat higher cadence will be needed, but not +50%. As the video hints at, any competent sea kayaker if racing this boat will pull away easily. The final example in the video, however, is a large 115 kayaks event at an average speed often of 6-6,5 km/h where, after the event and 40 km paddled, I suggested (in this kayak) continuing to hit 50, but my sea kayaker friend was exhausted. I had a better paddle, but a slower kayak, and often raced around the other kayaks to film. Often in the middle of the group, so noone was accommodating me. The point isn't whether this kayak can race a sea kayak - that wouldn't make sense - the point is whether it works when paddling with sea kayaks for long stretches. Fast sea kayaks will pull away, "normal" sea kayaks will go at a comparable pace. I've been on sea kayak only archipelago tours where we've kept the same pace as I would with this one. The 115 kayaks trip can be seen in 5 clips here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3FZo7iQHkYE.html

@@AirOnTheWater Thanks for the reply. Yes, as stated the shorter boat has less wet surfaces area & therefore less skin drag at the same speed. Therefore, other things being similar, at speed below hull speed, the shorter boat experiences less drag. This is pretty well established. So it comes down to paddler fitness really, if both paddlers are equally fit enough to sustain a sea kayak close to it's hull speed, then the paddler in the sea kayak will easily outpace the shorter boat. However, if both paddlers are only capable of sustaining the shorter kayak close to hull speed, then the one in the sea kayak will be slower at that power, because the skin drag is higher. So, my underlying assumption is that the sea kayakers are fit for their boats, which is a condition I did state. So my basic point is that it depends on the paddlers fitness level. I am a retiree now, & I paddle several kayaks, both sea & vintage slalom boats. I am not competing, nor do I have the fitness or strength of youth. However I sustain around 8 kmph with the 17 foot sea kayak, which is below it's hull speed. So yes, I would do better with a shorter boat, but not as short as the slalom boats. Perhaps a 15 ft touring kayak would be my ideal fit now. Looking at the age of that group I assumed most of the paddlers would be far fitter than me. They ought to be fitter & stronger than a 60 kg retiree don't you think?

@@kenwebster5053 8 km/h is pretty good! Thanks for the technical points. Yes, I've received comments about this before and also pointed out as you say that there are a lot of factors at play - a lot of this depends as you note on the paddlers' respective fitness levels (as well as paddling experience and how inclined they are to paddle at high effort). In the case of this kayak, there's an additional limitation in that it used to be faster but less stable, and in this second version it's been flattened in the center, meaning a somewhat slower kayak with more resistance but increased stability. In the past week and half, I've been told by another sea kayaker that I tend to typically paddle faster than them when we paddle together (myself in this kayak), but also been easily outpaced by a far faster (and much more expensive) sea kayak, and to make it worse, said sea kayak inhabited by an ambitious and fit paddler. 🙂 For my part, it's just a privilege to be able to take part in major kayaking events with an inflatable kayak given its portability - in most of my other kayaks this would not be possible at the paces kept, but if I weren't willing to put in a bit of extra effort sustained over time, this wouldn't really work unless other paddlers slowed down a bit to compensate. It seems you probably have quite a number of years of paddling experience - would be nice to hear what your best experiences/paddles were on the water (trips, views, or most unusual encounters for example).

@@AirOnTheWater Well, I started slalom kayak in high school back in the early 70s. The teacher who instigated that was an experienced paddler from UK. He taught us all the skills, explained them during lunch times, then we practiced them on sports afternoons. One weekend, he took us to a local inlet where he taught us all slap for support, AKA high brace in the morning and pawlata roll in the afternoon. From there, I transferred this it other rolls. This is all within the first few months. The school was on the coast, so we would take the boats surfing, did slalom practice in local power station water outlet as there was permanent current there. The local canoe club included Olympic slalom team members including our national champion Garry Nelson. I did some state high school championships & paddled with white water clubs well into my 30s. I have continued to paddle for fitness though less frequently as I got older. Anyway, I noticed in the video, your paddling stroke seemed rather shorter than the sea kayakers. I assumed that you hadn't had a whole lot of paddling experience at the time. I understand that your boat has more beam then the others which may partially explain some of this. There are different paddles stroke styles. A wing paddle style is very different. However most non wing paddles are more efficient if you can keep the power stroke as close as possible to the boat, minimising energy lost to turning effect. Some sea kayak paddles have a blade that is angle across the shaft a little so that the blade is more vertical in the water (closer to the boat) during the stroke. Also, lifting the shaft more vertical gets the blade closer to the boat, which is more efficient. However, as paddlers get tired, they tend to drop their arms lower which moves the blades further from the boat which is less efficient & as they are tired, put in less effort so are much slower in that state. I tend at consciously resist this as I view it as a defeated posture & inefficient. Look, its fine if you just want to float about casually, but I was into competition back then. In sea kayaking, you may be faced with very strong cross winds, which can catch the upper blade of a feathered paddle, & upset your balance. So you need to consider that paddling high and efficiently will make you less stable & so is not always advisable, but if it's calm, no problem. In rough conditions a lower paddle is more at the ready for support. Coming from a slalom background, I made my paddles very large to catch aerated white water & I am still using those same paddles for sea kayak. However, some sea kayakers do use paddles of that size, so they are not ridiculously big, just around the upper limit. I have used some smaller blades, but I prefer the larger ones as I am used to them I guess. Even in my slalom days, I did a lot of flat water training. I concentrated on making my strokes long. Pumping with the legs & twisting from the hips as racing kayakers do. I also reach and rock far forward for the catch, then rotate & rock back to increase stoke length. Often my forward blade comes to or crosses the centreline. If I am not sprinting, I find it advantageous to pause & let the boat glide, before before reaching forward & placing the next catch. This rocking and reaching forward and back action is relatively subtle, but I have found this with the pause, to be an extremely energy efficient stroke for sustainable higher average speeds over long distances. It isn't a casual paddling technique though, it's for maintaining sustainable effort close to aerobic threshold. I don't know anyone else who advocates this, I just watched racing kayakers, thought about it, tried things & it works for me. I guess there isn't much new under the sun, so I would not be surprised if you find it elsewhere too. Anyway, perhaps there are some things of interest to you in all this. Shalom ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oBDyiPl6vkg.html

@@kenwebster5053 Sounds like an immense amount of experience and countless great kayaking trip memories! I just came back from a 4 day kayaking expedition in the outermost southern Stockholm archipelago with my Itiwit X500 inflatable and three sea kayaks. Just saw this message now. Among them, I was the third fastest paddler - no chance to keep up with the two leads in their much faster kayaks being paddled by experienced paddlers, which is quite reasonable. You're quite right in your observation - I am using shorter paddle strokes and often a lower stance than would be optimal for my wing paddle, unless I need to. When I really need to go at speed and conditions are appropriate I'll often shift to a high stance, but my wing paddle is quite large in volume and that is quite strenuous for long paddles. In the examples in the video, many were long trips and I didn't really need to use racing techniques or "high energy" techniques, so it's correct to say that I consciously use a more "relaxed" combo of higher cadence but shorter, lower paddle strokes unless I really need to increase pace. That being said, I have a long way to go yet though to improve my wing paddle technique! By the way, this weekend's expedition was quite amazing. I was surprised to see my kayak actually performing really well compared to some of the other sea kayaks when things got heaviest against headwind and waves. We did keep a leisurely pace for the most part though, as we were conserving energy expecting *really* heavy winds and weather on the last day. We managed to circumvent most of it. In the second part of this video I noted after uploading it that I'm actually keeping the exact same cadence as one of the sea kayakers and catching up despite my inflatable being fully loaded and heavy. Now my problem is I have 400+ video clips to go through, but also some amazing memories 🙂 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m6pYDR6x-LY.html

I think that's a fair assessment! Nonetheless keeping in mind that with equally strong, capable and motivated paddlers, the Itiwit X500 will be easily outrun by a fast fiberglass sea kayak, for example, but if the paddler abilities and stamina differ, it becomes more complex. In all cases it's possible to make a reasonable paddle effort together with sea kayaks that aren't in a hurry, which is definitely an unexpected feat for an inflatable kayak.

At a quick glance through the clips in the video, many of them are catching up to or accelerating past other kayaks, so of course a higher cadence. That being said, a sea kayak is longer and faster by design, so usually a somewhat higher cadence or better technique is required to compensate. Definitely not 200% 😁 The point of the video isn't racing, but whether this kayak can be used for longer trips together with sea kayaks - the activities listed being examples of how it has worked just nicely.

@Air On The Water thanks, maybe I was a bit short on my message, or just jealous ;)

@@frantz4318 Haha, no worries. I've actually received the same observation on the cadence before. Back when this video was made though, it was just based on inspiration from these paddles, and clips chosen as nice-looking moments from the events - the technical part of things (such as showing good clips for comparative cadence) wasn't so much in mind! The longest trip is actually available in a series starting here. Happy paddles! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3FZo7iQHkYE.html

Check the second part of this video! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m6pYDR6x-LY.html

@@AirOnTheWater indeed, very nice! thanks for sharing!