I'm thinking about buying an Advanced Elements inflatable kayak, are these kayaks worth the money?

Or should I just buy a regular kayak. The inflatable would be nice for storing though.|||The AE boats are marginally better than, say, the Coleman or Sevylor inflatables, but they are still fairly slow and difficult to turn. They are fairly well-designed and not likely to rupture -- plus they have multiple chambers so you are not likely to be stranded or sink. But they do have limited use. In some coastal areas, inflatables are banned by the authorities due to their tendency to get swept out to sea on currents, waves and wind. They are tiring to paddle in a straight direction and they have limited cargo space. For what you pay for them you could get a better-performing hard boat. The portability and storage advantages are pretty good, though so only you can determine if that overcomes the limited performance issues. Some people find they love their AE kayaks, others quickly upgrade to hard boats that are easier to paddle or to higher grade inflatables like PakBoats and Feathercrafts (which can cost thousands of dollars but can be paddled anywhere, even in the open ocean, performing as well or better than hard boats.)





I always thought the AE's were nice looking little boats, but the one time I tried one out on the water I have to admit I was too spoiled by the speed and handling of my own rigid plastic and high-end folding kayaks to like it that much. They do seem to have decent re-sale value on the used market so you could always trade up if you did not like it.





I'll refer you to two sites to read up on folding and inflatable kayaks. One is





http://www.foldingkayaks.org





and the other is a general site, the best I know of, that covers all aspects of kayak selection and has reviews of most models by users of them:





http://www,paddling.net|||i honestly woudn't get it i have two solid ones and had one inflatable one, we sold the inflatable one because we found it a hassle to have to carry around a pump etc. i think solid one are better and more comfortable.|||anything inflatable is eventually gonna pop. Whatcha gonna do when yur in the middle of the water?|||buy a normal kay. they have a better control