# Need Tips!! IK Kayaker



## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

I got into white water kayaking by renting duckies. Loved every minute on the water very stable IK didn’t flip not once my 1st time. After renting a few times I decided to buy my own. I ended up purchasing Lynx 1 after thorough research and the 10 year warranty you can’t beat! My 1st time on the lynx 1 IK did not go so smooth as expected!! I flipped so many times !! It was embarrassing flipping in front my my buddies on easy class 3 rapids. I hit bulls sluice (Class 4+) and it completely wiped me out !! What happend?? I did so good on a duckie. Please provide me feedback. I don’t want to feel discouraged about my purchase.


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## flipper42 (Apr 8, 2011)

well in a nut shell 4+ is alot for an ik to handle heck class 4 in general and if your first trip in a new boat is class 3 and above you might want some practice time on something easier. do you have leg straps? foot pegs? if you're flipping alot maybe you need to let alittle air out of the bottom so u sink down further lots of things to consider.


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

Good advice, and definitely take it mellower at first.
Sounds like you may need to learn to read water a bit more, as well. One thing about a duckie, or really any smaller boat, is if you hit an opposing current i any direction other than head on, it will tend to flip you. The same goes for eddie lines, the strong ones love to flip duckies, big ones can flip large rafts. 
Foot pegs and thigh straps can give ya lots more control, specially when you hit something a little crooked, since you can "EDGE" your boat, to some degree, just like a kayaker would.

Taking a swift water rescue course is a really good idea as a new boater, even for experienced boater, really.


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## slickhorn (Dec 15, 2005)

What kind of duckie did you rent before you bought? 

Many "livery" iks are high floatation, large tube diameter, low rocker boats and they are quite a bit more stable than the sportier IKs. 

The Lynx is a great boat, and one of my 2 go-to IKs. If I am running big water or IV+ though I like some overnight gear in the boat to settle it down and give it some mass. Low volume IV is where I think the Lynx is really at its best without gear, but frankly, I like a flat hulled foam floor boat like a Stiletto for that use. 

One thing I hear a lot about the Lynx is people feeling like they are sitting too high. This is something you can get used to, and frankly, it works to your advantage giving you more leverage on your strokes. I really like how the Lynx lets you move the seating position a little forward of most other IKs. 

For boat rigging, def you want thigh straps for IV water. Foam instead of footpegs keeps the bow light by displacing water, and can't break or hurt you, unlike pegs. 

But mostly, you just stepped up your boating in a new boat! No worries that you had some swims. It's part of IKing. 

But to make good friends with your boat, get it out on runs you know, at a variety of flows. Dial in your eddy turns and your surfing on small friendly features. You'll have that Lynx feeling like home in no time. 

Every boat is different and the same moves that worked in one maybe wont in another. There is no replacement for time in the boat and learning its behavior. 

That's what yer counting on when you step it up! 

If you still feel its unstable, I'd find an AIRE Outfitter 1 to try. Many gnar IKers are switching liking the extra stability of the bigger tubes. 

Cheers!


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

Great idea about using foam instead of foot pegs!


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## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

Have you tried T-ing up to the waves?


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## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

first of all, do not kick your self.

I had several years of pretty good experience in canoes and kayak and Bull Sluice kicked my butt a couple times.
I lived in North Georgia. Went to NOC for some clinics, then spent a lot of time on both banks watching who had good and bad runs. I saw the line most successful boaters went and how they paddled that line.
finally had a good run followed by more good runs. Then I did section 4 which is another story.

Some one once told me "any rapid is easy once you understand how to run it"

Be safe and have fun.

Dave "over the hill beat up creek boater" Reid


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

I rented the Star IK


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Similar advice to hardshell kayakers:

Don't just jump from Class III to Class IV. If you can run III pretty well, start playing it harder. Stuff yourself into holes and surf everything you can. Then you should have decent skills to run IV. 

If you want to move up to IV+...start playing the holes in IV- first.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

Yes I did use thigh straps.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

I’m new so sorry for asking dumb questions ahead of time. What do you mean play in holes?


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

Explain the foam for feet pegs please. I am aware that Aire sells a inflatable foot peg. Should I buy that?


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

https://www.aire.com/accessories/inflatable-foot-brace-seat.html

Any comments on buying that style of foot peg??


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## slickhorn (Dec 15, 2005)

Anton8100 said:


> https://www.aire.com/accessories/inflatable-foot-brace-seat.html
> 
> Any comments on buying that style of foot peg??


The inflatable thwart is a good option, and should work with no modifications on the Lynx. Will pack up smaller than the foam block, if that matters.

When I make foam foot blocks, I shape a 4x12x24 block of minicell. 4x12x24 closed cell foam - $22.00 : Kayak Outfitting, Kayak foam and outfitting accessories

I prefer foam mostly just because I can completely fill the bow, keeping it dry and light. 

I have never paddled the Star IK, so can't comment on it vs other boats. 

Lots of good advice so far about surfing, running hard lines in known rapids, and working on running larger holes.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Anton8100 said:


> I’m new so sorry for asking dumb questions ahead of time. What do you mean play in holes?


No offense, but you are probably not ready for class IV if you don't understand holes or playing in them!!!

This book is a fantastic resource, not only for kayaking, but for reading water and understanding why and how whitewater behaves the way it does:
https://www.amazon.com/Kayak-Animated-Intermediate-Whitewater-Technique/dp/B002FL5EG2

No two holes are alike. You don't have to avoid all of them. Some are ugly and to be avoided at all cost. Some will eat your lunch, give you back change, but let you live. Some are actually quite friendly. 

Some of the best surfing is in smallish holes that are not quite a fully developed hole, yet no longer a wave. There's a small foam pile on top, they're slightly retentive, but they will let you out if you start having a bad time.

Being able to read holes, waves, eddies, etc...on Class III will be a huge asset when you move up to Class IV.


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## slickhorn (Dec 15, 2005)

^ great post MT4R. 

there's also the classic https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Inflatable-Kayaker-Jeff-Bennett/dp/0070054282/


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

I’ve heard of playing don’t get me wrong and seen much videos but don’t see people doing it in IK. Thank go advice guys


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

MT4Runner said:


> Anton8100 said:
> 
> 
> > I’m new so sorry for asking dumb questions ahead of time. What do you mean play in holes?
> ...





I bought both books that were recommended thank you for your help


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## newpc (Aug 3, 2009)

I prefer thigh straps to foot pegs or a block in a ducky. You get a lot more side to side control and better bracing imho.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Anton8100 said:


> I bought both books that were recommended thank you for your help



That's awesome.




If you can find some locals to run III with you, that would also help.


If you ever find yourself in NW Montana, look me up.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

Yes. I typically do section 3 on the chattooga. Section 3 has a lot of class 3 and the end has a class 4. I will take out earlier or avoid the huge hole on the section 4 and run the Virginia line. I think that what’s it’s called. It is just hard to stay in line to hit it. The hole sucks you in and throws you out of the Virginia line. Any points on staying on correct line??


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## Dr.AndyDVM (Jul 28, 2014)

Buy twice, cry twice. I’m like you, my first IK was a Lynx too. I bought it even though Sarah at Aire tried to steer me into an Outfitter. She said she had an Outfitter and loved it. I was worried the Lynx would be sportier and maneuver better. She said there was no difference in her experience. I should have listened to her. 

After paddling the Lynx one season and tipping a lot, I went and bought an Outfitter. The Outfitter has wider tubes and the floor sits lower than the Lynx. It’s definitely more stable. A lot of time we’ll bring both IK’s along for people to use while rafting. People definitely swim more in the Lynx. 

I wouldn’t buy the foot pegs or alter your boat. Aire sells a foot rest thwart that is about the size of a football. It works really well when used with the leg straps.

Also, I prefer is to use an inflatable thwart instead of the seat that comes with the IK. It was impossible to brace against it. It would recline all the time. I tried the Cheetah seat and it wasn’t much better. Aire’s inflatable IK thwart let’s you sit on the floor of the boat, lowering your center of gravity an inch or two. That will help with stability. Best of all it blows up hard and lets you brace against it really well. On flat water I like to sit on top of it too. 

Lessons can probably help too. 

Congratulations on buying the Aire.


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## bystander (Jul 3, 2014)

newpc said:


> I prefer thigh straps to foot pegs or a block in a ducky. You get a lot more side to side control and better bracing imho.


Thigh straps and foot pegs/block is not an "or" thing. Get both. You want your feet to be solid in front, and thigh straps to give you the ability to lift on your edges. I would also say that thigh straps are more important, but you really want both.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

No shame swimming a Class IV+ out of a ducky....with your level of experience that borders on foolhardy to even attempt...Stars are no beefier than a Lynx ( as far as I know) so it must be more increased difficulty that tripped you up.....excellent advice here ,find a nearby playspot that has good eddy service to practice in ....ideally it has semi retentive shoulders to toy around on as you get acclimated and a slightly intimidating 'meat' center that you can work up the nerve to jump in...staying up right will make you much more comfortable in rapids- getting spanked will give you practice self rescuing in turbulent water-initiating moves and doing what you want will radically increase confidence.....play small features through new runs...progress from easy to hard..play and work the he'll out of easy runs....

Still the two best books after decades..had both since the 90's....love the sections on understanding what the river is doing and why...


don't know about the foot thwart but prefer the adjustable foot pegs to foam blocks ....The pegs increase control because they are solid.Foam is too squishy and gives way too much.I get the desirability of displacement in the bow,use a small drybag,kayak floatbag,or foam in front of the pegs.For travel compactness you can remove the pegs tracks,kind of a pain.An old post talked about cutting them down so you can roll up the boat tighter.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

Yes I actually purchased the small 7” thwrat and gonna use it as a foot peg. I read great reviews about using that as foot peg. I use the 12” thwrat as back rest and it’s very comfortable. I think I wiped out so bad Bc I did not lean back while I was dropping in the huge hole. I see allot of videos of people leaning back as they drop 5ft+. I leaned foward if remember correctly. It’s ok. And I’m grateful for having active feedback. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings I just want to learn so I will take any advice !! I love white water kayaking. I was loaded too in the back.Mayb 50lbs of camping gear. also i had beer in the front of the boat. I hear the outfitter has bigger tubes and a little bit more wider so I might buy that if I keep wiping out. 

I will try with the 7” thwrat as foot peg in the spring. I will see how I do. Class 4+ don’t scare me ! I just don’t want to flip in one again. The swim was not fun. I drank a crap load of water while I surfaced up 20ft down the river. Just a scary moment. I remember while I was underwater That my face was like 5” away from a huge boulder !!! I mean huge !! I def do not want to to flip at bulls again. But if I do I’ll keep trying to master the hole. 

Bulls on sections 3 class 4+ rapid seems easier with higher water lvls Bc the drop isn’t so bad.


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## mkashzg (Aug 9, 2006)

Not sure what a thwrat is but hopefully it works as good as thwart!


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## bystander (Jul 3, 2014)

Anton8100 said:


> I think I wiped out so bad Bc I did not lean back while I was dropping in the huge hole. I see allot of videos of people leaning back as they drop 5ft+. I leaned foward if remember correctly. It’s ok. And I’m grateful for having active feedback. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings I just want to learn so I will take any advice !!


You did the right thing, which is very rare for a new kayaker.

As a general rule, leaning forward is what you want to do, especially when going in a hole (you'll get stern squirted if you lean back) or going off a ledge (it keeps the bow up and protects your back). Just be careful not to land flat off a drop over 5 feet. If you are about to, stomp your feet down to drop the bow.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

I watch the video as a motivator and I notice they all lean back on big drops. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZvjZAe0czk&feature=youtu.be

Correct if I’m wrong


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## bystander (Jul 3, 2014)

Their form is not one to mimic. Actually, that is the old school way, way back when people first started doing waterfalls. Technique has advanced since then, and people lean forward now.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

I don’t see how leaning toward helps. But I will try I guess. ??


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## Dr.AndyDVM (Jul 28, 2014)

This is a picture of what I have. It sounds like you are going to run the same setup. 

I wanted to put the foot pegs in my boat. I even took the boat to Aire. I live right next to their factory. The manager of their repair shop steered me into the 7 inch thwart instead. 

It’s really solid. It’s so solid, escaping in a flip seemed like it was going to be really hard. Until I flipped. Then you just straighten your legs and out you go. If you don’t straighten them, there you stay.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

Dr.AndyDVM said:


> This is a picture of what I have. It sounds like you are going to run the same setup.
> 
> I wanted to put the foot pegs in my boat. I even took the boat to Aire. I live right next to their factory. The manager of their repair shop steered me into the 7 inch thwart instead.
> 
> ...



Yes same setup. Is that a Lynx or outfitter ??


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## mkashzg (Aug 9, 2006)

Anton8100 said:


> I don’t see how leaning toward helps. But I will try I guess. ??



If you lean forward it will often times help the boat to punch through the wave or hole and not surf you in the direction that you do not want to go.


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## slickhorn (Dec 15, 2005)

Haven't seen that video in a long while. It looks so fun with all our swims edited out. Thanks for the trip down the memory rabbit hole. 

I don't think anyone is intentionally leaning back. The move you are talking about is a boof, and it is harder to boof an IK than a kayak. 

The idea is to carry momentum past the lip of the drop, and keep your bow up. At the lip, this can look like leaning back, but that's just because you are at the end of your boof stroke and using your abs to lift your bow. 

If you do it right, you do indeed want to get weight forward again -- big crunch. Land with an active blade if you can, you almost always need it. 

The idea is to avoid penciling in, where the boat goes vertical or past vertical. And then get downstream of the impact of the falling water into soft but flushing water. 

I prefer running ledges and falls in boats with smaller tube diameter in the bow. A Stiletto resurfaces in a more balanced way than a Lynx, mostly because the Lynx quickly engages maximum flotation. Smaller tapered bow and stern tubes put less flotation out there and so there's less force coming from the extremities of the boat when resurfacing. You lose some agility in tight techy water though.

As I think that video of mine shows, ledges in the 10-foot range are relatively friendly. Over 20-25', though, it 's very difficult to land a falls in an IK unless it has some positive angle or autoboof flake or other feature to help you out.


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## jaffy (Feb 4, 2004)

You're getting a lot of good advice, but it sounds to me like you need to focus on the basics. Most notably this:



carvedog said:


> Have you tried T-ing up to the waves?


Try and hit the waves at a 90 degree angle. IKs are super survivable if you hit everything straight on, but if you get turned sideways they'll flip pretty easily. Also, you will generally want to be actively paddling. That will give you some downstream momentum, and each paddle stroke will act as a mini-brace. As you get better you won't need this so much, but it helps when you're a beginner.

A wider boat with bigger tubes will let you get away with sloppier lines and technique, but there's no reason you can't do class IV in the boat you bought. A different boat might make it less frustrating to learn though.

I don't know Bull's sluice, but I just watched a couple videos. It looks like it's basically one drop? The left line looks pretty straightforward - just hit it straight. The right line looks a little trickier, but I'd probably try and hit the drop with a bit of right angle and momentum and be ready with either a paddle stroke on the left to counter the water pushing you to the left or with a brace on the right and let it turn you. If it's really kicking your ass, I'd just walk it until you get better. Someone suggested watching other people's lines and mimicking the best ones. That's good advice.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

jaffy said:


> You're getting a lot of good advice, but it sounds to me like you need to focus on the basics. Most notably this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Great advice everyone. Yes bigger tubes were much easier. The star Ik I did not flip once. I kinda just bounced around lol. Lynx is harder I’m guessing Bc it’s much smaller tubes. I guess lynx comes close to a Hardhell the way it acts so it actually requires skill. The Star IK is very forgivable. It takes allot to flip it! 
The lynx is very rocky. Can I use that to my advantage??


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## slickhorn (Dec 15, 2005)

Anton8100 said:


> The lynx is very rocky. Can I use that to my advantage??


The Lynx definitely has some advantages. It's shorter than many boats, making it more agile. I think it is a superb low water boat because it does not sit very deep in the water. It's a pretty good high water boat too, with high volume bow/stern. It is a great self-support gear hauling boat. 

The lynx is kinda of a tweener boat IMO though. Something like a Sotar, with its flat hull and highly rockered tubes is going to pivot, surf, and eddy turn quicker. Something like an Outfitter with bigger tubes will feel more stable. 

The Lynx is fairly middle of the road in terms of both rocker and tube size. It's a traditional river-running boat, not a creek boat or a play boat. 

You just need time in the boat to know how it likes you to use your body and blade to control it. There's no shortcut to that. And swimming is just part of the deal so it's important to keep that skill sharp.


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## ColoradoDave (Jun 3, 2010)

The smaller tubed Lynx is probably just less forgiving of being off-balance. Make sure you are balanced front to rear in flat water. Maybe just a little down in front.


If you are too far back, the waves will smack you around. Too far forward and you will be swamped too much of the time and lose maneuverability.


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

Thanks again for all advice. 

My buddies that went with me did tell me that it seemed like I was to close to the front of my boat. So I did move my seat one loop back. 

Like I stated previously the lynx actually requires skill or you will be in the water. I tried big tube IK and they are super forgiving trust me 🙂. I like the challenge.


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## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

I am a many decades long hard shell kayaker. Due to a accident Doctors advise no more hard shell kayaks. So I got some IK's.

Closest thing I have found to a hardshell is the Thrillseeker. Paddles a lot like a hard shell and surfs really well. Glad I got mine.

I also have a Aire Outfitter. Nice and comfy with the big tubes. Not as nimble as the Thrillseeker but just floats over most of the gnar.


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## el-duderino (Jul 20, 2011)

*The Air Outfitter in action*

https://youtu.be/1KPN3Su3Ga4

The loaded mesh bow bag and thigh straps are nice for bracing.

Yippie-IK!


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

Sweet! My only question, how do you get 30 days worth of personal poop in an IK?


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## Anton8100 (Nov 14, 2018)

We shove it in the air valve and fill our tubes up 
Jk.


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## formerflatlander (Aug 8, 2013)

shappattack said:


> Sweet! My only question, how do you get 30 days worth of personal poop in an IK?


Like all other days, give him a paddle. Lol


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