I ordered the Colorado for recreational paddling and fishing. I read other reviews and there seemed to a be consistent positive feedback. The price seemed right, so I ordered it. Right away after receiving the item, there were 2 things that disappointed me about the Kayak/Canoe. First, it was advertised that it came with a repair kit. If you consider 2 pieces of rubber without, even a tube of glue, an adequate repair kit then this is a non-issue. The second issue, which might be a deal killer for some of you, was that this model no longer came with "Boston Valves". After Sevylor was purchased by Coleman, they replaced the Boston valves with Double Lock/Mini Double Lock valves, "a proprietary valve used in the Coleman's Airbed line, purported to be easier to inflate and deflate. The "mini" replaces the pinch valve. Coleman claims this give a 14% better retention than the Boston valve." If you buy what Coleman has to say, then again, this is a non-issue. As for the rest of the boat, it seemed to be a quality product. Keep in mind, I've owned Avons and Zodiacs so I do have a grasp as to what quality is when it comes to inflatable boats. For the price, this boat was not bad!!! The seats that came with it seem to be well made. One thing, if you don't want to support Chinese industry, bad news... This Model is made in the land of the sleeping dragon. Yes, the double lock valves bugged me, but I thought I give it a chance on the local lake.
Took my Colorado out for the first time and even did a little fishing on it. The new Coleman valves had me rubbing my face, Curly (3 Stooges) style, when my Sevylor Double pump's nozzle kept on popping out. I put a bit of electrical tape on the pump nozzle to thicken it and it solved the problem. After taking it out on the lake, I found that the cheesy Coleman airbed valves did okay. There didn't seem to be any noticeable air loss at all. Tracking was okay... didn't expect it to be great to begin with, being that it is an inflatable... It tracked better than I expected. When the wind hit, it blew me all over the place... again, something I expected from an inflatable. A bit of advice, if you want to stay in one place to soak up some sun or to fish, get yourself a 2 to 5 pound anchor and it will do fine... I'll be getting one. Another bit of advise, one trick I've learned and tested out was that if you are going to use this solo and are of hefty size like me, put the front seat in backwards and use the Colorado back end as the front. This puts you more in the center and it actually works better when paddling solo. One important thing to remember is that after you play, you have to clean up and this by far, is the worse part of this canoe. After my idiot buddy tipped my Colorado, messing around, the canoe seemed to have very if little water in it. To my surprise, there was quite a bit of water flowing out of the drainage hole after we stood it up on end. There is no way to completely dry it with towels. Be prepared to leave it out for a day to completely dry. I would advise you to bring a nylon tarp with you so that you can wrap it up, haul it home, clean and dry it there, then put it back in it's bag when it is completely dry. If you're thinking of drying it right out of the lake, get out your camping gear cause it's gonna take about a day to completely dry.
AND THE VERDICT... LOVED IT (for what it was)!!! If you can, buy a hard shell Kayak or Canoe, they perform better and are easier to clean up after using. On the other hand, if you want an inflatable for portability purposes, This is the one to get. Hardcore Yakers might boast of how much better the hard shell is but try sticking a traditional kayak in the trunk of your Honda Civic on a long road trip because you "MIGHT" run into a lake you "MAYBE" would like to explore. Not to mension finding a place to store a 10 foot plus Yak or Canoe in your apartment or in the hotel room because your paranoid that someone might steal it off the roof of your car... (GET THE PICTURE?) As for the product itself, Yes, I was a bit annoyed at the Boston Valve Issue, but given the price and quality, this inflatable hit the spot. Why pay more for the alternatives, like Advance Elements, Aire, Bic, Sea Eagle... They all will be just as much of a pain to clean and dry out after playing with. Bang for the buck, I would say, the Colorado is my choice. I paid a couple of bucks short of $300 for my boat so do your shopping!!! Also, consider the season you buy these types of products. Summer will influence supply and demand, thus causing prices to vary, so you might pay a bit more than me who purchased my canoe at the dawn of spring. Good Luck and Happy shopping!!! Hey, I just realized I have a cargo van... Now, I'm off to get me a hard-shell Kayak next :oD Sevylor Inflatable Colorado Hunting and Fishing Canoe, 2-Person
I bought two of these boats (Rio and Colorado) for moderate whitewater. They are the same boat and only differ in length to accommodate the number of paddlers. I have now ran 20 miles of mild rivers (Class I and II) with them without any issues. My wife paddles the Rio solo and I paddle the Colorado with my daughter in the front. I am very pleased with both the engineering and material of the boats but need to use them more to see how durable they are. I chose these over the Aire Tomcats because of price and so far I think I made the right choice. I expect the Aires to be better boats but for family use these should work great. If it is needed we will upgrade later on but based on reviews with some reasonable care we should be able to use these for many years. These are very stable but I suspect their limit to be rapids III+ or IV. We will do our first III run this weekend!
So far we have got these stuck in rocks several times (low water levels) with no visible sign of wear. The bottom of the boats is a very tough plastic and seems to be doing its job. As some other reviewers commented these are not really designed for flat water so paddling in flat water or slow moving rivers is manageable but tedious. They track reasonably well in flat water for an inflatable but if you expect hardshell kayak tracking you will be disappointed. The paddle choices depends on the number of paddlers. Two paddlers could handle the Colorado with canoe paddles but I would not want to paddle the Colorado solo or the Rio with a canoe paddle. If paddling the Colorado solo or with a child (my daughter weight 50lbs) you want to invert the seats and paddle backwards as this helps balance the boat lengthwise. It tracks much better this way. If you will only inflate one of these boat you can do with a manual pump but if you have two you definitely want to use an electric pump initially and finish the inflation with a manual pump. Inflating these to the correct pressure without a pressure gauge is extremely difficult so I recommend to invest in a pressure gauge. I bought a "Bravo" and rigged it to my Coleman dual action pump which is a great combo.
The correct kayak paddle length for paddlers irrespective of height is 240cms because of the fat and high side tubes. The problem with this was that paddles this long could not be found locally so we had to order online and wait for the delivery. If you insist in buying shorter paddles locally definitely don't go shorter than 230cms or you will not reach the water comfortably.
My operating procedure for these boats is the following: 1) unfold, 2) inflate main chambers for volume with a 12v pump quickpump, 3) inflate main chambers for pressure with a manual pump with pressure gauge , 4) Inflate seats with the manual pump, 5) tie seats, 6) launch.
After kayaking: 1) take out of water, 2) unplug drainage valve, 3) lift kayak to drain water, 4) dry with camp towel, 5) deflate manually, 6) deflate with pump, 7) dry again with camp towel, 8) unfasten seats, 9) fold, 10) drive home, 11) inflate for volume main chambers, 12) let dry for a day, 13) deflate with pump, 14) fold.'
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