BOTE

LONO APEX AERO Inflatable Kayak

Great Kayak

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] It is a great kayak, I love being able to see through the kayak bottom and hook up a motor or a paddle gear system. Cool kayak, it is a lot heavier than I thought if you need to carry it a distance as FYI. Might want a wheel for it but I need to carry it over uneven grounds wish it would have just had a shoulder strap or something included

Excellent for Fishing

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

THIS IS NOT A FAST, DISTANCE KAYAK! This is meant for fishing, casual paddling, and navigating calmer waters. Everything is well thought out for being productive on fishy waters and the SUP option is really fun for a casual paddle. The accessories really let you dial in a lethal fishing craft. I have a few Bote products and love them all - including this one.

Not easy to use

We also wanted to love this “kayak” but it’s more like a paddle board. It floats above the water making it difficult in several ways - - hard to maneuver - Doesn’t track well - Is too easily blown around by even the smallest amount of wind. - The seat us so high that it’s hard to reach the water with the paddle. - Extendable paddle is long enough but heavy and awkward to use. - Aero doesn’t move throygh the water quickly. Slow as molasses. - Really heavy in general We haven’t tried the pedal drive but don’t really want to. We expected a kayak to respond like a kayak. Didn’t realize it’s just a paddle board with higher sides. Very disappointed in the design and ease of use. The company’s 30 day return policy should be more flexible or they should be more clear on the actual intended use of their products and try harder to work with customers towards resolutions of design flaws and issues like these.

Amazing purchase!

Excellent kayaks. They work amazingly well. We were even able to go up stream with the pedals against a pretty heavy current. The set-up and tear-down of them doesn’t take long at all. Max 10-15 minutes to fully set-up and 10 to put away. I’ve recommended these to everyone I know that are looking for kayaks.

Heavy and impossible to fold properly

It's just ok. Feels awkward on the water with the pedal drive -- difficult to adjust the seat to reach the pedals. The straps make it impossible to maneuver. It is also quite heavy - which is OK, and expected for the lono. My biggest complaint is that is not easy to fold the lono. I'd like to see a video with a real person folding this - or learn some tricks. The nose is difficult to fold, not allowing it to be as compact as I would have expected.

Satisfied

This is awesome. Makes me look forward till tomorrow's paddle. I'm also an artist and included a recent design from this outing. Have a great day.

Easy set up!

Was able to assemble entire boat and accessories in backyard. Easy to put together for a dry run and understanding everything. BOTE is durable and luxurious. Looking forward to getting out on the water. Guessing complete assembly at that time will be 20 minutes from extraction to full assembly. More importantly, Matt with customer service was EXCELLENT in helping me make my decision on product and choosing the right accessories. Thanks again

Beautiful and Functional

It's beautiful, functional, and fits in my little Ford! The quality of the material is obvious, and I can't wait for a little warm weather to go fishing!