Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

We just bought our 2nd Pamlico 100. The new models now have a great, easy to use hinged cargo access door instead of a stretchy cover/lid. They also put a divider wall in to keep your cargo area dry. The lid is not completely waterproof if you flip the Kayak. But, it will keep water out from normal splashing. This fixed the 2 biggest complaints I had about the old model. Great job Wilderness Systems! The only problem that I can now find is that the hull drain plug is still in the aft end of the boat where the sealed storage area is located. Meaning that if you want to drain the water out of the passenger area, you have to flip it upside down and rock it, or bilge pump or towel it out. This is no big deal but I would have liked to see them add an additional drain to the front end of the boat.

These are great boats for taking out to paddle on the lake, river, or even taking on some level I and II rapids. The huge opening makes entry and exit easy and there is even enough room for my wife's dog to sit between her legs. It's a 1 man kayak, but we have also had small kids ride along too. The boat is 30" wide which makes it stable and 10 ft long which makes it a good balance between maneuverability and speed. The boat can hold large adults and is good for kids to play in too. The hull is made of a durable polyethylene and holds up well to rough handling and scraping on rocky creeks. The padded seat has decent back support and is comfortable for hours. The cup holder and adjustable foot rests seem to be the same as the older models, simple but functional. This is the cheapest boat that I could find that was at this level of quality. There are better boats out there but you have to pay much more for them.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

My wife and I each bought one of these. We enjoy how easy it is to get in and out of. The kayak is very stable. We would prefer to have the storage area to be water tight, but that is minor. If you are looking for a comfortable recreational kayak, this is the one.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

This was the first kayak I bought. I'm pretty new to the whole thing but I'm totally hooked.

I wanted a kayak with "dry" storage because I tend to want to carry items with me that I'd like to keep dry such as my phone (which I store in a water tight pack as well). I wanted a relatively inexpensive starter boat but also didn't want to sacrifice quality. This is what I ended up buying and I am very pleased with it. I am, however, already considering an upgrade to the 12' Tsunami for a few reasons.

This Kayak is very comfortable. The Phase 3 Lite seat outfitting is some of the most comfortable outfitting I found when trying out different boats. The only other outfitting I found that was more comfortable was "Bad *** Outfitting" and the full Phase 3 outfitting. But for a beginners boat, this seating is substantially comfortable. What I generally found was either a molded plastic seat with a very thin and unsupportive back or a very thin and seat with the same thin and unsupportive back.. So, big thumbs up for comfort when sitting! My wife has a Perception Prodigy and the seating in it is very thin and her butt goes numb within an hour of being out on the water. She'll start to notice it and complain a bit and I'll be like "Really? I'm good to go another hour..."

Second in the realm of comfort is the foot pegs and knee/thigh "braces". Every modern kayak seems to have foot pegs. However, Wilderness Systems makes their foot pegs very easily adjustable. It comes with a long handle that runs along the inside that is easy to lean forward and grab... pushing up on the handle and pulling towards you will bring the foot pegs toward you and lifting up and pushing back will do the opposite. Big plus, considering a lot of the kayaks I tried had sort of cumbersome foot pegs. Combine this with the padding on the cockpit which allows you to rest your knees and thighs comfortably against them and allows you to control the boat with your hips (somewhat... it's a very wide cockpit) you'll feel very stable and comfy in your new boat. There were many cheaper kayaks I found that did not include this padding and your knees were left sitting against some uncomfortable and somewhat sharp plastic sides. Not ideal for hours on the water...

The dry storage area is awesome. There is a bulkhead behind the seat that keeps any water from getting into the back storage area. That area is accessible by a hatch. Usually these hatches are covered by a flexible polyurethane like cover that requires A LOT of effort to stretch over the opening and also to pull it off. Wilderness Systems did a great job with their hatch, however... It is a hard plastic hatch that opens on a hinge and when closed, is locked down tight with two levers that are easily operated. There were many times when I wanted something out of my pack that I stored in the hatch and I was easily able to turn around while in the water and undo the latches and get my pack with no problem. Keep in mind, however, that this area is not *true* dry storage. It will absolutely keep your stuff dry if the boat is upright. I have found that it may even keep your stuff dry if you accidentally flip the boat in flat water. However, if there is any sort of current in the water and you flip the boat, water may get into this storage area. It will not come pouring in, but it will leak and start to fill up with water depending on how long it is capsized and how strong the current is. Store anything that can't take on water and that is important in a dry bag if you're on a fast moving river and you'll be good to go.

Storage inside the the dry storage area is ample. I can easily pack for an overnight trip with it. There is also ample room between the sides of the seat to store some dry bags or other items and a small bit of room behind the seat as well. The bow of the boat provides plenty of space to throw any other large items as well as long as they're in a dry bag.

There are two small bungee cords connected to the bow of the boat, but in all honesty, these are worthless on this boat depending on what you are using them for... They're too small to really hold much under there. I've noticed a lot of kayakers will store maps in a dry bag or other items that need to be easily accessible to them during their trip, but that just isn't going to happen on this boat. The reason for this is because you won't be able to access them while on the water unless you have a very long torso! The cockpit is so large that even someone that is very flexible (I am) can barely touch the front of the cockpit, much less reach another 6 inches to get to the first bungee cord. You have to literally get out of your seat and move to the front of the cockpit to reach them which at times isn't the easiest thing to do unless you want to become unstable. So if you plan on using these for anything, put stuff up there that you won't need until you can get out of the boat. Or, what I found may work well is to get a couple of carabiners and tie them together, attach one to the bungee and the other one to a dry bag and have it dangle inside the front of your cockpit...

Speaking of the cockpit, this thing is just huge... One of my biggest gripes about this boat. I get that it's a recreational boat and that all recreational boats have large cockpits that make it easy to get in and out of... but this thing is beyond that size. The only bigger cockpit I have seen is on my wifes boat. It is extremely wide making it hard for narrow people to brace their knees against the side cushioning at times. It is extremely long as well making A LOT of open space that is completely unneeded and in my experience has not added to the ability to get in and out of any easier than one that is somewhat more enclosed. A more enclosed cockpit not only allows for easier control of the boat due to easy bracing, but also, in my opinion, keeps water out of the boat, allows for use of a spray skirt and just generally makes me feel more "one" with the boat.

Paddling this boat is simple. It tracks somewhat ok while you are paddling... Stop paddling and the boat is not going to stay straight. It takes some effort (not a lot, though) to get the boat started on a good path and get up to speed. However, once you are there, the paddling is nice and easy and keeping it on track and at speed requires very little effort. Turning the boat requires very little effort. I went down a very thin creek off of one of the rivers I travel down frequently and was able to turn on a dime and head back when it started getting too small. This boat can easily handle flat water, slow moving rivers, class 1 and easy class 2 rapids. I would be weary of taking this thing on anything above that... Harder class 2 and class 3 rapids combined with the huge cockpit and lack of ability to actually control the boat very well may cause issues... However, for some more experienced paddlers, maybe not...

Overall, this is a great little inexpensive boat and has a lot of features. While it may be more expensive than other beginner kayaks, the features you get for the price make it much less expensive in my opinion. For instance, if you buy a cheaper boat, then add better seating, knee/thigh braces and add a bulkhead and storage area (which would requires some fabricating since most inexpensive boats have neither!), you'd easily spend a lot more and waste a lot of time and possibly ruin the boat with the fabricating if you're not experienced. Why, when you can get this boat?

Like I said, I'm thinking of upgrading to the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 12.5. This seems like a perfect boat to me. The cockpit is enclosed and has true thigh braces, the storage is truly water tight, it's a thinner, longer boat which will aid in easy paddling, great tracking and speed.

However, for the price, this boat can't be beat. Give it a shot.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

Very happy with this purchase. My boyfriend and I are both beginners. I bought this one and a Perception. This one blows the Perception out of the water. Easy to get into, very comfortable even after all day of paddling, glides nicely on water. We used these on Lakes, Rivers and ocean inlet with a very strong current, very stable. Too heavy for me alone to carry or to put up on the car racks. Nice size, fits a small cooler and also has a dry bin for extra storage. Hard to drain boat once finished for day.
Highly recommend this kayak.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

My hubby and I purchased our kayaks [...] and had them delivered to our local REI store. [...] We took them out today for the first time to a local river in central NC (mostly very calm water - currents were rough in a few spots because of some pretty bad storms that rolled through the night before). We are both fairly new to paddling, but found the boats to be very stable and easy to enter and exit. We rented the Pungo 120s a year ago and really liked them, but didn't want to spend the money on them due to not knowing how much we would use them since the sport is new to us. We are super happy with our purchase, and look forward to a summer packed with paddling trips on local lakes, rivers, and salt marshes!

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

This is my first kayak and I LOVE it!! It's easy to paddle and it is very stable in the water. It's a great starter boat.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

This is my first kayak and I love it. It has a huge cockpit which makes it very easy to get in and out of. It has a lot of room for gear which makes it good for camping. I've done several camping trips with this and I've been able to get all my gear (tent, clothes, sleeping bag, etc) and myself in the boat.

It is very stable on the water - I never feel like I'm going to tip (unless i take on a lot of water through rapids - but i bought the Seals SNEAK 5.5 sprayskirt which solved that problem).

It is also a very durable kayak. I don't take it easy on this thing. I run it over rocky rapids and drag it through rocks - and aside minor from scrapes on the bottom of the hull, it is still very solid.

All in all this is a great recreational kayak.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

This is our first kayak and it is primarily used on rivers. My family and I have been very happy with our first season using it. The Pros are that it is light, which makes it very easy to put in the water and transport in the back of our compact truck. Because it is very stable it is a great Kayak for a beginner to us. It has allowed us confidence in handling the smaller rapids and rough water we have been through. The locking dry storage is much better than the other beginning kayaks and keeps the area basically dry in the event of a flip. (You will want to keep any electronics etc in a dry lock container). Based on other reviews and my experience this Kayak is comfortable with very good seat and back support.

The cons are the cockpit is very large and does allow more spray and splash to get into Kayak. Which can be an issue when paddling in colder weather. Because it does not have a drain plug you will need to rock & roll or wipe to get all of the water out. The other Con which is more of a point to consider when buying any kayak, is if you are doing a lot of flat water kayaking this kayaking will be slower and require more effort paddling than others.

Comments about Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 Kayak:

I really enjoy kayaking with my small dog (20lbs) and know you will too.