Had a Fire Cracker for a couple of months. SO much fun! SO comfortable. SO easy to tailie, spin, surf. SO easy to grade IV river run. I’m 6’2” and never had such a blast…
Just bought a firecracker for UK shallow paddling had an ozone that I used for practically everything but on grace 4s I felt it was sometimes just a little too much boat but a ripper would be too big. Took the firecracker on a grade 4 this week and loved it perfect for what I want!
@@WadeHarrison yeah as the antix is hard to come by in the Uk I see it being a really popular do it all boat as people struggle to use the ripper due to the length in the shallows
Looks like a good fun squirrel around boat. Reminds me of my old Wave Sport Sleek. But with the modern planning hull. More performance driven than the Sleek. But otherwise, what I saw you doing. Was all the old school stuff I used to do in my Sleek. Except for the loops. I couldn't do that back in the day. Well, not on purpose anyway.
Yeah spent more time putting it together and didn’t have the boat long but actually had also of different footage and was able to link up with my buddy Casey and he gave some additional footage to work with so got some different angles for the opening
Been waiting for this one, while not my style of kayaking, the design is interesting and wanted to see how design works when it meets water. C U on the river.
thicc ripper, lol!! So, in terms of it's usage, I'm still thinking it's like the Antix -- good for low water play or big water (Gauley boat) for those that don't want to be a full slice all day (?). And I think that's a good category. It still looks hilarious next to Chris's ripper though!
Love my ripper but beat the hell outta the tail on the bottom of some rivers so for that reason I wanna grab the stubby ripper version the firecracker 👍 Thanks for all the reviews Wade great job👌
You know it I got this during like the closest week ever in the south it got down to single digit’s was the worst time ever to be reviewing a downriver play boat ever stern stall was pain 🥶
Great review! I got to try one the the other day although the river was super low. But I really enjoyed it. Surfed and carved like crazy! I really liked the feel of it through general paddling, and even though I’m on the low end of weight for the medium I didn’t have any trouble getting the tail down. My only dilemma is whether I get the medium and use it as a general go to boat, or wait for the small and get it for summer messing around. I suspect that at my weight the small will be super spicy!
I definately want to give the Firecracker a try and see how it paddels, but I'm not sure what to think about it. I mean it seems to be a nice boat especially for sternquirt beginners as you said and its like a spicier and more extreme Ripper 2 but I don't really get the whole concept of it. I paddled the Ripper 2 and I'm also kinda sternsquirt beginner but it was fricking easy, if you can't do it in the Ripper 2 then you should definaltely work at your technique and not just buy a even easier boat to do it - in my opinion. The next thing I find a little weird about the Cracker is that its in such a weird spot between the Ripper 2 and the Ozone, I mean if you want to really play down the river with vertical stuff then go for the Ozone and if you want to play a little but still some safety then take the Ripper 2. For me the Cracker is just a weird but I guess still amazing boat I don't really know what my actual thpughts should and will be in the end. By the way sorry for my maybe a little bit hard to understand writting, I'm still learning english.
No i totally get what you’re saying I asked that same question when I first seen the prototype it’s in that small in between spot Pyranha did a write up on their site talking about why and what they wanted for this design. At first I was like what the hell where’s this fit then after actually paddling it over the time I had it I was sold on the design and why they did it. I absolutely love the ripper 2 and does everything a HalfSlice should for me. But after taking this one Down the low volume of the ocoee and able to splat in the smaller areas and like almost never hit bottom anywhere and the edges are more friendly then the rip on those sharp rocks I was like ok I can see a spot for this now. I feel this is one these some will love it and some will be a hard pass.
@@WadeHarrison Yes, I think for those who have the special area where its for it makes absolutely sense but for those who don't have this area they just think what is this for. Like me ;) But I get it now.
It's like an XXL ozone, which was already a short half slice. The hull looks good for boney runs, but I'm just kinda lost where you would need this boat vs loki, ozone, or ripper of desire(fast or playful).
It does fall in a interesting spot for most like if you have a ripper 2 and a full slice like the loki super nova ect would be a tough sell but if you just had a creeker and mostly paddled lower volume runs and want something fun down river this and the Antix 2 would be what i would suggest..
@Wade Harrison I love pyrahna, and I'm not bad mouthing the boat or the designer(s). It just seems like they were trying too hard to fill all the quiver with one boat.
Hello, I would like to ask you about the stability of the Firecracker tail... It is very unstable compared to Ripper, the videos I have seen I can see several times that the tail sinks involuntarily, similar to Ozone. The behavior of the queue is more similar to Ripper 2 or Firecreacker
@@WadeHarrison Thanks..... I weigh 80 kg or 176 lbs... maybe I should wait for the Firecacker 252 to have a more predictable flattail kayak? I have an Ozone M, but it limits me a lot to enter larger class 4 waters. I don't like the Ripper, I find it very long
HI Wade, i'm 280 pounds... i 've ozone L and it's too little for me, very instable for my weight... I wold like to buy a new halfslice boat, what about the firecracker big (252) vs liquidlogic hot whip? I would like to replace my SUPERFUN JK, because i've cracked it.... Tnx
At that weight I think it will be too much for the LL hot whip in my opinion its more of a big medium I recommend the firecracker 252 or the Ripper 2 L and CKS has both in stock right now I was just looking last night here is a link if you're interested. 👇👇 coloradokayak.com/products/pyranha-firecracker-whitewater-kayak?ref=wade
yes, I was over In ID for a few weeks when wasn't Really doing videos at that time so no real content from my stay out there I was staying at Kelly Whitewater Park parking area, and I managed to knock out The North Fork and the East Fork into the Middle Fork so have been on those.
Looks like a blast! Would love to try one out. How’s your Acr holding up? I’ve only had mine a few months and the rear rand seam cover strip has already torn. It’s getting pretty leaky when doing tailies. Personally, I think I probably should have probably spent the money on an iR.
Mine busted too. They fixed it. Took a little over a month and all they did was glue a little river strip in there. Wasn’t evena soft glue. It cracks when you squeeze it. A little disappointing.
Do you think the 242 is going to be a little bit small for a 200 lb guy? I have a supernova, a large ripper 2, and a scorch x. Looking for something in between the supernova and the large ripper 2
For sure wait for the Large me at 185 was right on the upper end 200 with gear you would not like the 242 I’m very curious what that L will be like when those hit the states
I actually did a side by side of the Antix 2 so they are similar in length but really that’s it’s. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--iwbbhdSNDo.html
No it’s definitely slower then the axiom that boat pretty quick and feel it’s on par with the Antix 2 would have to do a head to head to see exactly which is faster with those Antix is slightly more narrow in the bow with less rocker so possibly slightly faster
Full on surfing personally I think the Antix 2 is better that boat has a great rail for carving and really flat center for spins. But straight on surfing pretty even and down river and off the tail moves I liked the Firecracker
How would you rate its safety aspects? I’m in Idaho Montana and Washington, could this be a safety boat for rafts on the lochsa or the middle fork salmon at high water? And still allow a lot of play, but also functional downriver?
Safe as far as for the paddler step out pillar and big open cockpit yes feel Pyranhas are some the safest out there. As far a full on safety boat small stern not much room inside or much volume and speed to rescue swimmers i would go scorch or even a ripper 2 large
Hey Wade, nice review. Quick question, would you recommend a firecracker, ripper, or rewind for fast shallow rocky rivers like we have in Ireland and the UK. Having a hard time deciding which one to purchase
For sure the firecracker I love that boat for shallow mank rivers and a close second is the LL hot whip I do really like the rewind and Rip2 but on shallower rivers the length is just to much
Well surprisingly they feel l similar but the glide was much more loose on a wave and had very aggressive edges compared to this. But was lower volume in the bow and didn’t blast over things as well as the wide bow on the firecracker. So really glide was more big water river running playful side and firecracker is more Creeky river running playful I would like to revisit that glide at some point
Firecracker 242 has a lot more room than Glide if that matters. Glide was fun boat and like Wade says loose (which I love), but it's not made for tall folks. Firecracker 242 fts almost like large Ozone. I can't wait to paddle one!
Hey thanks for the feedback you guys. I picked up a glide about 3 months ago and I would say it's fantastic (5'11"@200). Just seeing the firecracker come out It looks super similar. What a cool thing that we have So many boats to choose from.
@@T.AndrewDowney Absolutely agree! I loved the Glide, but I couldn't fit comfortably enough. 6'2" 185lbs 34" inseam... The Firecracker does look similiar, but way more comfortable. I haven't paddled it yet. My only concern is it's not going to be loose enough for what I want, but most boats aren't as loose at Corran's boats! I just don't fit in most Corrans boats well.
