Any Native Ultimate Kayak Owners Here?

[Forsythian]

Just picked up a 12 foot Native Ultimate kayak last week. I was really drawn to the canoe/kayak hybrid style of it. I've paddled it a bit on flat water, seems to be stable and it tracks very well for a 12 foot boat. Looking forward to a bunch of day trips with it. The seating is extremely nice. Any other owners out there?

[rps]

I have one. I love it but do not use it enough. Stable, but still able to navigate turns with dead falls. Easy in and out.

[timsfly]

I like mine, easy in and easy out, lots of room for stuff.

[Rick Baker]

I just picked up a wilderness ride 115 and I'm pretty happy with it. The Jackson's looked overpriced. But I overlooked the natives and I shouldn't have. I'm intrigued by their forward tank well. Which would be perfect for a live well. Heavy beer cooler, or camping gear. A guy like me 6'5 310ish pounds would benefit from having the extra weight up front. If I ever upgrade it will probably be to a native. Or some sort of kayak canoe crossover like that.

[woodman]

Sit -on-top kayaks! In Wood!

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3789&start=50

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/products.php?cat=10

[Bill B.]

I'm leaning toward getting an Ultimate 12 FX this fall. The hi-lo seat sounds useful to me. Glad to hear that you like the 12.

[Richard Brown]

Picked up the new Native Ultimate FX 12 in April. Purchased it in Austin and had it shipped to Springfield. Austin Canoe and Kayak Co.

Great company and website. I had originally stopped by Ozark Mountain Trading Co. to make my purchase but the salesman was unaware if they offered any type of military discount and wasn't to motivated to find out. Needless to say I saved $130 purchasing it at ACK.

As for the kayak. I LOVE it! Highly recommend it. Not a single regret. The openness it has is was sold me. I was leaning towards the Jackson Kilroy but ultimately went with the Native. I like the seat being able to slide forward or back. Although I have no regrets I do wish a couple of things were tweaked. For the price of the kayak the bow hatch cover should be included. I had to drop another $90 for that. And although the seat system rocks I'm wondering why they chose to do two things. One are the knobs your turn to loosen the seat mechanism so it can slide. Instead of taking the time to do that they should be spring loaded. just pull them up, slide and release them back down. As it is now it's too much of a headache loosening and tightening just to move. The second is the height of the seat position. I actually took the seat base out of the kayak to see how much lower the seat would sit. Wow, what a difference. It's unfortunate the awesome seat system can't be dropped down even lower.

These are minor gripes. I love my Ultimate. Have turned many friends onto one. I'm always looking for new floating buddies. Recently was on the Buffalo River and am always doing short floats on the James. Feel free to message me if anyone would like to get together!

[Bill B.]

Thanks for the review! I've been wanting to look at one in person, but with KC Paddler closed, I'm not sure who else might carry them within reasonable driving distance. If the Trading Company has them in Ozark, I could justify that drive easily enough.

[ness]

Hmmmm. Didn't realize KC paddler closed. They were a lot more accessible when they were downtown. I guess we're stuck with the big box guys.

[ness]

Well...not closed closed -- just a significantly reduce open schedule.