Sea Eagle 473rl Inflatable Kayaks and Canoe Reviews

3 Discount Packages available. starting at $1,399

Paul Dice Verified Owner 3/19/2020 5.0 out of 5 stars.

This is a great boat. We have paddled hard shell sea kayaks for over 20 years. But lately we found a need for an alternative tandem/single conversion boat for calm to moderately choppy water that did not require car topping. I had never given inflatables any serious thought. But after learning about the 473rl's dimensions, design and rigidity, I decided to give it a try. So we bought one and recently took it to Southern Florida for a week of bay and river paddling. The boat performed marvelously. It's stable, nimble, tracks well and is fast enough that we could keep up with our friends in their hard shell. Does it perform as well as our hard shells? Of course not; It's a different boat for a different purpose. But it takes its rightful place as an easily transportable, high quality, solid performing boat that will get you where your're going, and get you there in style. I will now always have one in my fleet. Last, Sea Eagle's customer service is superb.
Richard Zellers Verified Owner 3/14/2020 5.0 out of 5 stars.

I like my kayak, but I would rather have the single instead of the double. I got a double for my girlfriend and I, but she prefers singles, so now I'm stuck with double. I got it in August as a Xmas present, so exchange policy expired by the show full review ▼ time she opened it.

time she opened it.
Markus Robinson Verified Owner 1/4/2020 3.0 out of 5 stars.

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.

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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.
Sea Eagle's reply:

I apologize if your previous suggestions was not properly addressed by a service representative. We are a customer service based driven company and our customer feedback on our products are invaluable. I have passed your suggestions onto our research and development team where our engineers will have further insight and knowledge on if this can be accomplished.

James Hiser Verified Owner 11/2/2019 4.0 out of 5 stars.

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

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Not so good:

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

- hard to get dried out

- folding to get back into bag takes some learning - had to get pictures from company

How we deal with the not so good:

- Rinse kit, synthetic chamois, and long skinny tarp strip. Lets us clean and dry the boat prior to folding after use

- Extra strap - once boat is folded, strap around prior to fighting into bag

- Live with dirt until end of trip, then thorough hose out and dry at home before storing