Are you thinking about buying a Razor Kayaks X1 High-Pressure? I recently purchased the X1 (well, my wife did for me) and felt compelled to share my experience. I’ve been using it for about 3 months now and absolutely love it. This isn’t a review, I’m just documenting my experience to help anyone out there who wants to see what it’s actually like to use.
Razor Kayaks X1 – Buying decision
To be honest I was a little sceptical about inflatable kayaks at first and how well they’d actually  work. It’s a big investment and I was on the fence about it for a long time. I’ve had kayaks before but never an inflatable. On my checklist was something robust, quick in the water, suitable for adventuring and didn’t require a roof rack. All things considered I really liked the look of the X1 High-Pressure and Carol (my wife) got sick of hearing me talk about it so ordered it for me.
Since I got it I’ve been really impressed with how solid the kayak itself is and my concerns about punctures etc turned out to be misguided. It moves through the water really well – actually better than some of the hard-shell kayaks I used to own – and overall the engineering is quite incredible.
Razor Kayaks X1: What it’s like to set up
It comes in an oversized backpack that has wheels in the bottom so I can hike with it or just wheel it down to the water depending on what I’m doing. The bag easily fits my pump, paddle and life jacket so I don’t have to carry them separately. It’s got so much extra space I could probably fit the camping gear as well if I wanted to.
Today I decided to set my kayak up next to the car but it’s an easy carry down to the water.
The kayak comes out of the bag easily and unrolls. To open the three valves for inflation I twist off the screw cap and push a button on each. The pumping itself takes about 4 minutes and isn’t overly strenuous. It can go to 10psi but I find I only need to inflate it to about 7psi before it gets really solid. I then attach the other bits like the seat, fin (if needed) and footrest. The collapsible paddle clips together … I put my lifejacket on and I’m set to go!
Razor Kayak X1: Performance
This was what I was most impressed with about the X1. Not only is it fast but I find it just glides through the water. I only have to do one or two strokes to go about 5-10 metres which at my age is pretty good. I’m not sure how the tech-stich they’ve used works exactly but with the high-pressure it produces an incredibly rigid and streamlined hull. Today I paddled for about 45 minutes and got quite a way down stream. I saw some incredible landscape and part of the countryside I never had before.
I find the seated position really comfortable and a good platform from which to propel the kayak forward. I can paddle for quite a while before I need a rest because of that. It’s easy to turn in the water as well.
There is a peace that comes with kayaking and there are so many rivers and lakes out there and with this being so portable I can now explore those I haven’t been able to access previously (I’m making a list).
I did bang the kayak up on the rocks a couple of times today but it didn’t even scratch it really. The first time was just getting it into the water and the second was as I was paddling. The hull is really strong and with the 3 chambers I think even if I did get a puncture I still wouldn’t have any issues getting back to shore to fix it.
Even though I’ve owned fairly expensive hard shell kayaks in the past I actually find this handles better and out-performs them. Because it’s also transportable that really takes it to the next level and with the advances in technology Razor Kayaks have made with the X1 High-Pressure I’ll never go back to the roof racks. The amount of time it takes to set them up isn’t that much more than a hard shell and it doesn’t take up anywhere near as much space at home.
Final Thoughts
With the technologies used in the Razor Kayaks X1 High-Pressure and how well it performs on the water compared to some of my old hard-shell kayaks it just makes sense that inflatable kayaks like this are the way of the future. It’s great how durable and easy to use it is and I can’t emphasise enough how much I love it.
If you’re looking for more information on the X1 or other Razor Kayaks their website is a really great place to start. You can also see a short video of my experience from today below or on Youtube here: X1 High-Pressure Video. I hope it’s helpful!