Sebastian

The Sevylor Adventure Plus is the big brother of the popular Sevylor Adventure and offers space for up to 3 people. We have reviewed this inflatable canoe and would like to share our impression with you. At the end we also give a recommendation for whom the boat is especially suitable.

Technical Specs

Which model has been reviewed?

Alpacka Expedition with removable whitewater deck from 2020

How did we organize the review?

We have purchased the Sevylor Adventure Plus ourselves.

How intensively has the product been tested?

First impressions and assembly

The Sevylor Adventure Plus has a nylon cover that protects the inner tubes from damage. This is a good idea, because the nylon cover is definitely more robust than the PVC material. In addition, the nylon cover gives the boat the impression of a real canoe. The disadvantage of this nylon cover is that it is more susceptible to dirt, dries more slowly and makes the boat heavier.

Don’t forget: Plug in the fin before inflating. This is to support the straight run stability of the boat. The fin is already included in the delivery. The boat was in a thin fabric bag. This is mainly for storage and short transport.The inflatable boat makes a very valuable impression when unpacked. The air tubes are already inside the nylon cover. All in all, the assembly is quick and easy. The only requirement: The air tubes must be placed correctly.

There are two zippers in the nylon cover at the front of the interior. These allow access to the inner tubes in order to position them correctly before assembly or to replace them in the event of damage. The seats can also be removed from their nylon covers. This is handy if you want to wash the nylon cover of the seats.

All three air chambers are equipped with Boston valves. The Boston valve is a 2-way screw valve, which allows a safely and quick in- and deflating. The handling of the valves was very simple as well.

The included manometer is particularly practical for determining the air pressure in air chambers. The side chambers may be inflated with 0.1 bar or 1.5 PSI and have a good stiffness due to the nylon cover. The bottom chamber, on the other hand, may only be inflated to 0.06 bar or 0.88 PSI and feels rather soft. It’s a pity that the chamber in the floor doesn’t have a higher air pressure to achieve a higher overall stiffness and better driving characteristics.

The seats are also in a nylon cover and make a high-quality impression. These are equipped with two plug valves, one for the backrest and one for the seat cushion. However, the inflating of the seats is negative. The air escaped again and again, if you take away the pump or the mouth in order to close the valve. So, the seats are never really inflated and are therefore very soft. When the valve is closed, the air is held.

The seats can be attached to the floor with Velcro strips and the backrest with straps to the side chambers. This allows the position of the backrest to be varied. The position of the seats in the boat can only be changed very slightly. Here it would be good if the Velcro strips on the floor were slightly longer to position the seats according to the space required in the boat.

The Sevylor Adventure Plus is a very versatile inflatable kayak. It can be converted quickly as a 1, 2 or 3 canoe. As a 3er canoe the Adventure has an optimal weight distribution, but the paddler in the middle has no legroom, unless it is a child. As a 2er canoe the space for paddlers and luggage is good. The person in the back has a lot of legroom, the legroom for the person in the front man is unchanged. As a 1er canoe only the middle seat is used.

Tall people can’t stretch their legs completely. Especially with shoes it is quite tight for the feet. It is more comfortable to paddle without shoes.

The Sevylor Adventure Plus is equipped with small spray decks at the bow and stern. The carrying handles are practical, which makes carrying the boat much easier. There are also small luggage nets to attach a backpack, dry bag or other items (e.g. water bottle, pair of shoes, …).

The Sevylor Adventure Plus is equipped with small spray decks at the bow and stern. The carrying handles are practical, which makes carrying the boat much easier. There are also small luggage nets to attach a backpack, dry bag or other items (e.g. water bottle, pair of shoes, …).

The luggage nets are quite small compared to other inflatable kayaks. Only a small light rucksack or packsack finds place here. Nevertheless, sufficient for small paddle tours. The bungees can be tightened so that the luggage is secured.

There are fixing rings on the boat walls. Unfortunately, these are too small to fasten e.g. a dry bag. Otherwise it would have been a nice feature.

The Sevylor Adventure Plus has a strap with a clip fastener that holds the boat walls together. Using this feature, the boat is a little narrower and runs slightly easier through the water. If you leave the strap open, the interior is a bit wider and offers more space for paddlers and luggage.

Review of the Sevylor Adventure Plus on the water

We have paddled the Adventure Plus with a paddle from Bravo, which can be used as a single- or double-blade paddle. If you paddle in pairs you use the paddle as a single-blade paddle. Paddling with a single-blade paddle had worked surprisingly well. The side chambers of the boat are not too high and wide, so you could easily make paddle strokes. The Adventure Plus has also made reasonable progress in terms of speed. The directional stability was also good, we only had to correct rarely. In terms of maneuverability we had expected a bit more. The boat is easy to navigate, but it doesn’t react so quickly to a change of direction. A longer paddle would help. Nevertheless, we liked the driving characteristics altogether well.

The single paddling was done with a double paddle. We recommend using a longer double paddle (at least 230 cm / 7’5” ). The directional stability during solo paddling was not as good as paddling with another person together. Paddling with a paddle for two was more fun than paddling alone with a double paddle, because of the driving characteristics.

The seats have proven to be a major weakness of the Sevylor Adventure Plus when paddling. The problem is that the seats don’t provide any support when paddling. The backrest is very low and bends away quickly. A backpack behind the rear seat can help for the person in the back.

Strengths and weaknesses

Final notes on the Sevylor Adventure Plus

The Sevylor Adventure Plus is definitely not a bathing boat (like the Sevylor Riviera). Due to its nylon cover it is more robust than inflatable canoes or kayaks in the entry-level segment, which are only made of PVC. We liked the driving characteristics considering the price. The Sevylor Adventure Plus is the ideal boat for occasional paddlers who want to undertake short tours of several hours with breaks. The Sevylor Adventure Plus is not designed for ambitious paddlers, as the seats do not provide sufficient support when paddling, the floor chamber is too soft and if the nylon cover were damaged it would be very difficult to repair the boat.

Alternatives to the Sevylor Adventure Plus

Sevylor isn’t the only brand for inflatable kayak for beginners but there are also Intex and Itiwit, which offer also some good kayaks at the entry-level. The Excursion Pro is the best kayak from Intex in terms of quality and material. It doesn’t have a nylon cover and that makes the drying after the paddling tour much easier. 

Another popular brand for inflatable kayaks is Itiwit from the sport goods retailer Decathlon. They have kayaks with nylon covers as well and these are pretty cheaper if you compare it to what you get for this price. They also have kayaks without a nylon cover but with a thicker boat skin and drop-stitch floor. They are a bit more expensive but compared to other inflatables it’s still a very competing price.