The NEW Sea Eagle 385 FastTrack - The Best Inflatable Kayak I've Tested!

Ken Whiting with PaddleTV with yet another in-depth kayak review. In this video, I am reviewing the Sea Eagle 385 Fast Track inflatable kayak. It seems like the perfect time to do it because it has been newly designed and updated for this year. Now, I've reviewed a lot of Sea Eagle inflatable kayaks over the past four years and truthfully, they've never disappointed. I've become a real fan of Sea Eagle kayaks. The biggest question I'm really going to be answering or questions I'm going to be answering are who is this kayak ideally suited for and is it a kayak that provides good value that you should really be considering. Let's dive right into it and let me start by telling you a bit more about the boat. The 385 Fast Track has a retail price starting at $1,300 US dollars. And that comes with two seats, two paddles, a pump, a carry bag, and a repair kit. It's 12 feet 5 inches long. It's 36 inches wide. It weighs 32 pounds or under 15 kilos. And it has a capacity of 635 pounds or 288 kilos. Its primary use is for flat water and moderately rough conditions. Now, the new Fast Track has a whole new color scheme. It has two drain valves. The floor of the Fast Track is a drop stitch floor, which has a protective layer on the outside and it's now a V-bottom. It has a removable skeg, 18 D-rings for securing seats and gear. It has four grab handles, two on each end and two on each side. It has three air chambers for safety. It has daisy chain tie downs, both in the bow and stern for tying down gear. And it has a tapered bow designed to cut through the water more efficiently. It comes with a carry bag, repair kit, and whatever paddles and seats you get with your package. Well, I have to say, I really do like the changes they've made to the Fast Track. And I like the new color style too, but the big outstanding question is how does this thing perform? And therefore, who is it designed for? And so I'm going to take this thing on the water, give it a good test, and then give you my full review. Well, what a gorgeous day for paddling. Every day is a good day for paddling, right? Some days are better than others, and this is a perfect day, a perfect day to test this boat. And I just did quite thoroughly. This is one of the best inflatable kayaks that I've ever tested. And I don't say that lately. I've tested a lot of inflatable kayaks and portable kayaks, and this one really does, it stands out. I'm not saying it's the best, and I'm certainly not saying that it's the best for everyone. But it is a really impressive kayak, and let me dive into why I feel that way. And I'm going to start like I always do with portability. This boat is 32 pounds. That's nice and light. It's not super light. Well, it is super light for a 12 and a half foot kayak compared to a hard shell kayak. It is super light, but it's not super light for an inflatable. You can find inflatables that are lighter, but the trade-off, durability. You get more durability with this boat, but 32 pounds is very portable. The downside of portability with this boat is the bag it comes in. It's not a great carrying bag. It doesn't have backpack straps. It's not a roller bag and nothing like that. And so 32 pounds in a normal like duffel style bag is a little awkward to carry any long distance. So it doesn't get top marks for portability, but pretty darn good. Moving right along. Let's talk about stability and performance because those two things often go hand in hand. The more stable a kayak is, typically the less well it performs. And what I mean by that is the slower it will be. Now, this boat strikes a beautiful balance between stability and performance. And starting with stability, this is a 36 inch wide boat. That's a wide boat. Most inflatable kayaks are wide, in particular because they've got these big tubes on the side that just give it more width. And for that reason, it is inherently going to be stable. But this isn't the most stable 36 inch wide boat or inflatable kayak by any means. It's stable, but not crazy stable. Why? One big reason. It's the hull. The V-hull. The hull of this thing, and this is what's one of the most unique things about this boat and one of the biggest updates, is that it's no longer a flat hull like most inflatable kayaks. The vast majority of inflatable kayaks are just flat hulls. And so they just love being flat. They sit there flat. This one has got a V-hull like a hardshell kayak does. And there's a couple of great things about that. For one, that V-hull acts like a keel, it helps the boat track, keep a straight line when you're paddling. It definitely does it. It still comes with a removable skeg, but it's a much smaller, shallower removable skeg than the original fast track because it doesn't need it as much. The V-hull does a better job of tracking. But the other neat thing about this V-hull, what I learned, is that it allows you to actually edge this boat a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit. Where does that make a difference? Well, that makes a difference when you're paddling in current, when you're going into current or coming out of current, just paddling in current in general. It's really nice to be able to tilt the boat on edge. Now, with a flat inflatable kayak, you're really not tilting the boat. You're just leaning your body out to the side. The boat does not want to tilt. And so the V-hull is a wonderful update for both those reasons. Better tracking, better speed, gives you the ability to tilt the boat to deal with current. The cost is a little bit of that initial stability. And so, you know, maybe to go into a little more depth there, what it means is, this isn't a boat that you can comfortably stand in. So if you're someone who wants a boat that you can stand and fish in, it's not the right boat. If you want a boat that you can stand and use as a paddleboard as well, not the right boat. You can do it, but there's better boats. Like the Sea Eagles Explorer boat is much better for that purpose. But as a paddling boat, love the compromise of stability and performance here. The other thing that makes this thing perform really well is the tapered bow. Now the widest point of this boat is behind me. And then it tapers. And that tapering, that long taper, makes it more hydrodynamic. It cuts through the water a lot better. So it cuts through the water better. Plus it has that V-hull. It actually travels very well for a 36-inch wide inflatable kayak. Now let's talk comfort. Not a whole lot to say about comfort. Seat to start off. This is Sea Eagle's standard deluxe seat, I believe it's called. Or the pro deluxe. I've forgotten what it's called. But they have a couple different seats. I've always liked this seat. It provides great support to lounge in, great support to sit upright in. When you want to actively paddle. That's awesome. It's got an EVA pad here, which adds a little bit more comfort. It's just inherently comfortable because of the open space here and that you can sit cross-legged like I am right now. One thing that it lacks for comfort and for performance a little bit is a solid foot peg system like the Sea Eagle's Razor Light system boat has. One of the big reasons it doesn't have a foot peg, a solid foot peg or brace system, is because this boat is designed to be used as both a solo, like I'm using it, or as a tandem. And so where do you put the foot pegs if you're going to have one person in here or two people in here? You'd have to have three hard, firm foot pegs or foot braces setups in here. And that's too much. It'd make it harder to transport. It would add more weight. It would be even uncomfortable. So I get why they don't have that. But they do have these daisy chains here for attaching gear down. But the other thing you can do with this, and what I will do next time, is use those daisy chains to tie a strap in for foot support. Very simple solution. You could even just do it with a rope or cam strap, something really simple. You could get more elaborate too. Now let's talk durability. Once again, this thing gets top marks for durability for an inflatable kayak. Why? Well, for one thing, Sea Eagle has been making boats for over 50 years. They know how to do it, and they know how to do it well. And so there's a reason that all Sea Eagle kayaks have a three-year warranty. They believe in their manufacturing process. But it goes beyond that. On the bottom of the kayak, it has an outer protective layer to protect the drop-stitched floor in this thing. And so you have an inherently protective layer built into this kayak, so you don't need to worry about running up against rocks or anything. You don't need to worry about running over things. Of course you're not going to want to drive into sharp rocks, anything sharp. It's an inflatable kayak still. But compared to other inflatables, this is definitely what I'd call a durable inflatable kayak. And that lends itself to the idea that this boat can be used in more than just flat water. And let's talk about that. What is this boat designed for? Who is it designed for? This is a boat that is great in flat water because it tracks so well. It is stable on top of that. It paddles well. It's stable. It's great just to cruise around in. But when things get a little rough, it does have two drain valves in the boat. So if you did take a wave over top and fill up with water, or just capsize in the middle of a lake or something and somehow got back in and needed to get the water out, well it's got drain valves. That's awesome. That makes it a much more versatile boat than a bucket boat, a boat without drain valves. The other thing it lets this thing do is enter class 1 and 2 whitewater very competently and safely. I wouldn't take it in anything more than class 2. And class 1 and 2 is basically fast moving water with some waves, but not a whole lot of maneuvering to do. Once this boat, say you do go through a good size wave and it fills up with water, this thing is not going to drain quickly. Those drain valves will drain it, but it's going to take plenty of time to drain. And until it's drained, it's going to act like a barge. It's going to be very heavy and not very maneuverable. And so you need to stay in water that doesn't require, isn't very technical, doesn't require a lot of maneuvering. And that's class 1 and 2 whitewater. But it would handle class 1 and 2 whitewater very well, and partly because of that b-hull that lets you lean into your turns in and out of current. So it's good on flat water, it's good for whitewater up to class 2, but there's a whole lot more this boat can do. This boat has a capacity of almost 700 pounds, and so you can take a lot of gear in here. Definitely great for a kayak camping trip. Absolutely wonderful for a kayak camping trip. Great for kayak fishing, although it's not for people who want to stand up and kayak fish. This is just an all-round, very versatile kayak. So now let's talk value. $1,300 USD, at least that's what it starts at for a package with two seats, two paddles. You can get bigger packages with, you know, there's a couple different ways you can integrate motors into this, a motor, a Bixby motor that goes on the removable skeg, or actually add an outboard motor, and Seagulls offers those options for people who are into that type of thing. But $1,300 USD for an inflatable kayak that has a drop-stitch floor that is as versatile as this. Not only a drop-stitch floor, but a v-hull drop-stitch floor that comes with everything you need. Two paddles, the seats, the pump, the carrying bag, everything you need except life jackets. That's something you have to get on your own. And with as many features as this thing has. Even little things, these little daisy chain tie-downs for gear, the four carry handles, the carry handles at the side of the boat. Simple thing, but that is a great feature for moving this thing around, it makes it much more portable. I'm just a big fan of this boat. Is it a boat that I'm going to use very often? Truthfully, no. I probably won't use this very often at all. Because it's not specifically designed for me, someone who likes high performance paddling. When I go paddling for myself, I usually am going on a significant paddling adventure. I want a very fast boat that can cover hard miles and deal with as rough conditions as I might see. Or a whitewater boat. Point is, I'm looking for a kayak that is designed for a specific purpose. But for someone who is looking for an all round kayak that's great for flat water, great for whitewater up to class 2, they can do almost anything in and is willing to give up maybe a little bit of stability for a better paddling experience, this is a great option. So there you go. My full review of the new 385 Fast Track. And when I say new, it really is new. This is a very different boat from the Fast Track that I tested or tried a couple of years ago. As you can tell, I'm a fan. So I hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did, give it a thumbs up. Subscribe to PaddleTV if you haven't already. And stay tuned, lots more paddling tips, gear reviews, and paddling adventures coming your way. And don't forget to check out my new YouTube channel, Ken Whiting Adventures, which is just about to get a whole lot more content because I have been diving into a whole bunch of multi-day paddling adventures that, well, I hope you enjoy watching. So we'll see you again soon.