The 473rl is a wonderful inflatable kayak. We've white water kayaked on the finger lakes in New York and down the Snake River in Grand Tetons NP. The 473rl is superbly rigid, fast, and easy to paddle. The thin rigid walls of this inflatable have everything to do with its superb performance.

But it has a major design flaw. The problem is how the bottom inflatable section connects to both side inflatable sections. Since each is about two inches thick, they are connected together with rubber sheets glued to each side of the bottom and side being connected together. This creates a tube the length of the seam running ALMOST the full the length of the kayak. When inflated the tube is MOSTLY squeezed together. But not enough to keep out river gravel. When that gravel gets in there it is EXTREMELY difficult to remove. The engineering fix is to insert some 1" diameter foam into each tube-end as a plug. When brought to their attention, Sea Eagle refused to acknowledge the necessity of blocking the ends.

Good:

- Lightweight

- easy to transport when folded

- fast paddling

- every time we use, have admirers that want to know where to get one

- lives in bed of pickup during extended camping trips

Not so good:

- hard to get sand, etc,. cleaned out of interior, esp where sides meet floor

- hard to get dried out

We purchased our 473rl for our trip into Northwest Canadian provinces and Alaska. We are avid kayakers and couldn't travel into such beautiful country unless we could get onto the water! We were pleased that it packed very compactly into a StowAway2 box mounted to our small RV. We are amazed how solid it is when it inflates and how nicely it handles on the water. The 473rl allowed us some special sights show full review ▼ off road!

Love our 473 Razor Light. We've taken it out on river and lake and are impressed with how quickly it inflates and is ready to rock. Easily ready to get on the water in 8-10 minutes. Tracks very well and is super rigid, with comfortable seats. The only thing is that it doesn't take much of a wave for you to take on a little water, as the RL cuts through the water so well. Can't wait to take it show full review ▼ out again.

I love the boat. Paddles very fast and easy, Great quality. Great customer service even if you have problems. This is the 5th SeaEagle boat I own. The oldest is 18 yrs old and still a good boat. Highly recommend the boats and the company.

Love it! Love it! Love it!!!

Simply incredible! I started with a sport which was a great boat. Then upgraded to a Razorlite and Wow addicted to a whole new level. The 2 stage pump came next and all I can say is I Love It.

Just to add the hull developed an issue after two seasons of countless trips. The customer service team responded with great care and we resolved the cause and they shipped me a new hull. I wish all customer service was as good.

All’s well !! We really like it, all around great boat! Just wish it came with a plan for making more time to use it...

It is exciting to have an inflatable kayak that handles like a hard shell and it is as fast and lighter than a hard shell. One concern is the lack of a bow cover as small waves come into the boat easily. A small deck with combing with a lip that deflects small waves that break on the bow would be much safer especially since I am using it in cold waters of Alaska.

We own a 473rl and a 385ft. The 385ft is 4 years old and the 473rl is 1 year old. The 385ft is more stable and a better choice for novice kayakers. The 473rl is faster. Both boats are easy to inflate and durable. The seats in the 385ft are more comfortable. We tried the seats from the ft in the rl, but the higher seat profile made the boat less stable. Both our son and daughter bought sea eagle boats after using our boats. We highly recommend Sea Eagle boats.