# Creek boat vs River Running Boat?



## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

its all about the hull. displacement(creek boat) vs. planning(river runner). it all preference.


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## IkayakNboard (May 12, 2005)

caspermike said:


> its all about the hull. displacement(creek boat) vs. planning(river runner). it all preference.


There are a lot of differences outside the hull, and several creek boats have planing hulls...CKS did a good job here: How to Purchase a Kayak


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## acetomato (May 6, 2006)

Hull and edges. A true creeker is less likely to hang up on rocks because of the lack of any edges. 


-And casper meant to say planing not planning. You should be planning in either boat.


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## Ken Vanatta (May 29, 2004)

*what do you do most?*

Bottom line is: If only owning a quiver of one, the answer depends on what do you plan to do most, river running or creeking? If mostly river running, then a Diesel, Hero, or Burn would be spectacular for that and some creeking. If mostly creeking, then get a creek boat (Habitat or Rocker as examples). Since you're just transitioning towards either for teh first time, I would encourage you to the river running design first. Not many people are skilled enough to jump into the consequences of creek boating without having run a lot of IV and V rivers first. As you probably are aware, creeking is extremely dangerous. Additionally, I think the Diesel, Hero, or Burn are some of the most excellent boats ever. You would likely be having great fun in one for a long time.
Cheers!
Ken


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## etnguppys (Nov 11, 2005)

Would you say river running boats are more forgiving? I paddled a creek boat last year down lower clear creek and it was like paddling a hotdog. It did everything fine, very forgiving on edge control, tough to get it where you wanted it to go.


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## acetomato (May 6, 2006)

A river runner is going to be closer to what you're used to. The planing hull and edges will have a similar feel to a playboat. The boats recommended by Ken would be great to try out. There are a lot of people that use heros as their main creekboat (i think the same goes for the burn to- not sure about the diesel). Like i said the big thing will probably be if you do a lot of creeking (especially in shallow, rocky CO creeks) then the edges on the boat will hang up more. And with a planing hull boat higher boofs will start to hurt more.
If you'll be mainly river running, go that direction. As you advance into more creeking you can always pick up a creekboat later.


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## Sleepy (May 11, 2009)

*Mamba baby Mamba*



etnguppys said:


> I,ve been playboating mostly for the past couple of years and feel that my skills have progressed to the point where running rivers and creeks might be fun(as opposed to swimming them). I've been looking at river running and creeking boats. I cant decide between the two. People rave about both. If a creek boat can run everything, why would someone want a river runner? Some people say a river runner can do just about everthing a creeker can do. Is their something I'm missing?


I have several boats and one of my favs is, you guessed it the mamba


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## acetomato (May 6, 2006)

Which one?


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## snowmelt (May 14, 2009)

As they evolved and became super popular, I got into paddling playboats but I never really felt confident in them in bigger water. It seemed like they were holding me back, so I went to the Burn and the difference is huge. In places where I was white-knuckling in my playboat, now I'm charging in my Burn. Last summer though, as the flows mellowed out, my Burn started to feel like a tank and I wanted something more nimble. Not a dedicated play boat, but something with at least some surf capabilities. I like the feel of the Jackson Fun, but I don't like fussing with all those strings and inflatable bladders in the outfitting, so I'm still looking. For straight river running the Burn is crazy good.


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## etnguppys (Nov 11, 2005)

Good info here. I'm now thinking of a river runner. I weigh about 190, it seems like I'm almost to big for the medium sized boats and almost to small for the big boats. Is it better to size to big or to small?


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## billbob (Aug 11, 2005)

The Super Hero is a great boat at your size. I am the same weight and this boat does it all. Not to edgy but they are there if you want them. Does not get messed with by the funky currents- tons of volume. The boat is really easy to paddle and does everything I want it to.

I use this boat on everything from low volume OBJ to the North Fork Payette.


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## acetomato (May 6, 2006)

I'd say for the heroes you want to be in the Super. You'd be at the very top of the regular hero and you're better off falling in the middle.
The nice thing about the super hero at your size is that you could carry a lot of gear for overnighters if you want.

As far as the jacksons having to much to mess with, I'm not sure I really agree with that. You've got two ropes for the backband just as you'd have two ratchets for it in almost any other boat made. And if you're using the sweetcheeks and happyfeet correctly then you're not messing with those much at all once you set them up for your body. And you end up with a custom molded fit. The heroes and the rockers don't use the happyfeet so you wouldn't have to deal with that in the boats you're looking at. And the uni-shock bulkhead/footbrace system they use in there is awesome. It's adjustable on the fly and provides great protection.


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## snowmelt (May 14, 2009)

Probably you're right about the Jackson outfitting. My friends who paddle them all like them, but I see them popping their skirts and making quick adjustments alot when we eddy out. I paddled a Fun for a few days in Costa Rica and it seemed that when I leaned forward, taking pressure off of the back brace, that it dropped down or otherwise came out of position. If I made it tight enough so that this was not an issue, it seemed like it was too tight to permit reasonable exit and I didn't feel confident about being able to find those little strings to release the brace in a critical event. Maybe I just did'nt have it set up correctly.


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## Cheyenne (Oct 14, 2003)

Put a creek boat in big water and you will probably find yourself getting tossed around. You might have problems holding a line and a possibility of getting caught in bigger holes where having a some edges on the boat might help.

Put a river runner in a creek and you will probably find yourself not being able to maneuver quick enough. River runners usually are a bit longer and have some edges making them a little tougher to turn on a time and catch small eddies.

Not saying that you can't take a creeker into bigger water, nor a river runner into a creek, but just make sure you know what the characteristics of each boat is.


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## shortbus (Jun 22, 2006)

*River runner*

The LL Remix 69 is a good fit for you. An excellent river runner, but with soft enough chines it can still be forgiving on creeks. Incredible secondary stability and bad ass outfitting. Paddles like a shorter boat, but has the speed of long boat


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## acetomato (May 6, 2006)

Don't know for sure on other companies but Jackson's river runners (heroes & funs) are shorter than the equivalent creeker. Not longer.

Remix would also be a good boat to try. Demo as much as you can before buying. See what you like.


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