At Outdoor Retailer I had the pleasure of meeting Dagger's designer,
Mark "Snowy" Robertson. Why is the Nomad is so heavy? I had to
ask. While (for me) the Nomad lifespan averages four times the length
of some other kayaks, it's also apparent that a lot of the weight is in
the outfitting. This is a big deal for hiking out here in California,
where an empty Nomad 8.5 may weigh as much as other boats while loaded
for a summer overnight. The rotomolded seat and front pillar are a big
part of the weight. Rotomolding makes them heavy. Are they really
necessary? Several manufacturers save weight by using thermoformed
seats and pillars (lighter but not as strong).
Nice rotomolding summary here.
Snowy explained to me that they have chosen to stick with rotomolded
outfitting because the interaction of the seat and pillar are key to
maintaining not only longitudinal integrity but torsional integrity. In
real world use I've seen several brands of kayak fold just behind
the seat; just from running waterfalls. Never enough to hurt anyone,
but a visible marks have been present.
Then I thought back to the end of the California season. The Devil's
Postpile section of the Middle Fork San Joaquin is an incredible
wilderness run with challenging whitewater. The rapids are not nice,
friendly or forgiving. Two of us were lucky enough to be here for our
fifth time. Our group was five and the two of us had been tag-team
leading the whole way down, enjoying what had so far been our first
problem free trip. Past the infamous Crucible my friend hopped out to
scout a rapid that was not so nice at low water. We had plenty of water
(at least 1,500cfs) and decided to run it on verbal from his scout. I
followed him into the drop, where he got slowed by a small hole that
put us side by side. We bumped kayaks and laughed. Then he was gone. A
complete underwater pin. The three other team members came though, one
thought he saw the stern of his kayak. Too much time passed before he
came out swimming. It was a terrible scenario pin, the force of water
pushed him forward as he tried to escape. It took dislocating both
knees and breaking a leg to escape. As close a call as they come.
At minimum flow I backpacked in to see what happened and hopefully find
his kayak. Six months later and the kayak was in the same spot. He
pinned bow down where the arrow is pointing. The kayak remained stable
for over a minute while his skirt was pulled but he was unable to exit
the boat. Eventually he escaped while the kayak's integrity prevented
it from folding/twisting and going into the siphon. Looking back at
this I won't be complaining about the extra
weight of the rotomolded outfitting. The structural integrity is worth
it, as one can imagine what would happen if the boat had folded quickly
and slid in.
Now take this with a grain of salt. These are the manufacturers stated
specifications. In my experience all are 10% accurate at best. Except
Fluid, I've seen them off by over 15lbs. I'm curious to see what they
weigh in the real world, if you own one and are willing to measure it
empty and report back it would be appreciated. Feel free to drop the specs
in an email if you'd be so kind.
| Make & Model |
Mfg Spec Weight |
Real World Samples |
| Dagger Nomad 8.5 |
50 lbs |
50.2, 48, 48, 48 |
| Dagger Mamba |
47 |
48 |
| Waka Tuna |
46 |
|
| Fluid Bazooka S |
43 |
41 |
| Fluid Bazooka M |
45 |
52 |
| Fluid Bazooka L |
47 |
51 |
| Jackson Karma M |
45 |
|
| Jackson Superhero Gen 2 |
? |
46 |
| Liquidlogic Flying Squirrel 85 |
49 |
|
| Liquidlogic Flying Squirrel 95 |
51 |
55 |
| Prijon Pure M |
46 |
|
| Pyranha Shiva M |
48.5 |
|
| Waka Tuna |
46
|
|
| Wavesport Diesel LG Gen 1 |
? |
43 |
| Jackson Superhero Gen 2 |
? |
46 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
