Razor Kayaks Edge Pro 1 Kayak
Summary
Price At Time Of Writing | $1,595.00
Our Overall Rating | 97 out of 100
Pros - Excellent paddling efficiency, tracking, and rigidity, comfortable, high-quality
Cons - On the expensive side, heavier
Overall - The undisputed leader of inflatable kayaks
Technical Specifications
Open Size - 398x83cm
Weight - 15.8kg
Load Capacity - 170kg
Packed Size - 84x50x33cm
Our Analysis & Ratings
The Edge Pro 1 is our top pick of the inflatable kayaks we’ve tested, for a few reasons: it excels in on-water performance, is a thoughtfully designed and constructed kayak, and is comfortable and versatile. We found it very hard to fault, and thoroughly enjoyed paddling it.
Performance (speed, tracking, manoeuvrability, stability, load handling): 10 /10
Speed: Higher speed translates to better paddling efficiency. In our 100m speed test, the Edge Pro 1 was easily the fastest kayak we tested. This is due to its hydrodynamic hull design, smoothness of the PVC surface and sharp bow shape.
Tracking: In our straight line tracking test, it performed well, the skeg doing a good job of keeping it on course. When we tested it without the skeg the hull shape also naturally guided it reasonably straight.
Manoeuvrability: We found it to be surprisingly easy to turn for a kayak of this length, again owing to a curved diamond hull shape that’s been designed with both tracking and manoeuvrability in mind.
Stability: The rigid full drop-stitch of the hull as well as the curved base makes this kayak extremely stable. When rocking deliberately, we found it moved with our body exactly as a curved hard-shell kayak would, which is not something we’ve experienced in any other inflatable.
Load Handling: If anything, we found the Edge Pro 1 surprisingly performed better under both 50% and 80% load. When fully loaded, the hull sat lower in the water so put more of the lateral curves of the hull in the water, improving handling.
We found the performance of this kayak extremely impressive, the best performer against all criteria.
Construction (materials, seams, valve quality, durability and fittings): 10 /10
The Edge Pro 1 is a full drop-stitch kayak that uses Razor Kayaks' Tech-Stitch material on the outer for additional durability, and uses innovative techniques like incorporating a bend into the drop-stitch itself to create its hull shape.
Seams and valves were neat and clearly high-quality, and held pressure during our three-day inflation tests.
It performed well in our abrasion tests, and D-rings and other attachments were also of a high grade.
Razor Kayaks has also chosen to go with a 5cm thick drop-stitch, rather than the more standard 8-10cm, however because of its angles the hull shape has the compression needed to stay rigid while being lighter than a thicker drop-stitch. Thinner drop-stitch also allows for additional room in the cockpit.
Setup/Pack Down (inflation time, valves, folding, and drying): 9/10
The Edge Pro 1 has only three valves of a matching type, and a fully-PVC outer which makes it very simple to set up and easy to dry. It also has a solid foam seat that just needs to be clipped in rather than inflated, and a footrest that's also simple to clip in and easy to adjust by re-clipping.
You have to reach slightly under the hull to attach the pump to the valves, which is the only downside we could find here - but it’s a small downside that’s significantly outweighed by the benefits of the enclosed hull shape and simple three-valve setup.
The bag it comes with fully unzips and has enough room to easily pack the kayak and accessories back in.
Portability (weight, packed size, ease of carrying): 8/10
At 15.8kg, it’s not the lightest inflatable kayak on the market, but that’s also to be expected in an enclosed sit-in hull design that naturally includes more material. The bag is a backpack style bag which we found comfortable and easy to carry, and the packed size to be very manageable. Overall we feel the benefits of the kayak in the water outweigh it being slightly heavier.
Comfort (seat support, legroom, fatigue over distance): 10/10
Razor Kayaks has updated its seat across its latest models with a thicker foam bottom, which provided a good amount of comfort on longer paddles. The footrest was also perfectly placed for paddling ergonomics, and there’s a huge amount of legroom.
They've clearly designed this kayak for use in all conditions with the optional spray skirt, which we tested and found to be comfortable and effective at keeping us dry.
Value for money:
Priced between $1595 - $1845, this kayak is firmly in the premium tier. It's unquestionably an extremely well-performing kayak with excellent build quality and lots of well thought out features, so we rated its value for money as good, given it’s the best kayak we’ve tested.
Best for:
A huge range of water and weather conditions (rivers, lakes, coastal)
Paddlers looking for high performance across all areas
Long day trips or multi-day expeditions
All body types including larger and heavier paddlers
Committed paddlers looking to invest in the best-quality option
Overall:
The Edge Pro 1 is an extremely high-performing, high-quality kayak. It rated highly across all of our categories and was an absolute pleasure to paddle. If we could only pick one kayak, this would be it.
