Dagger Kayaks Axis 10.5 Kayak Review

Should I buy?

10.5 obviously means that it’s the length of the kayak is 10 feet long. It incorporates a relatively narrow for recreational kayaks 27.5-inch beam and the boat craft itself weighs just under 50 pounds. The material is a mold of polyethylene they heat and tumble the mold for the boat the material is quite a robust material for a family craft. That’s really what we’re talking about this would fit a wide range of paddlers from 125 pounds up to about 230 pounds as always depending on how once carries their weight.

It is in the recreational category which means it will not have quite the length and performance or safety features of a touring boat or a sea kayak or performance boat which are the most efficient.

The craft itself has modest deck rigging in the back, soft touch carry handles, modest rigging near the back its really what you typically see in recreational kayaks.

After the cockpit we have a tamper proof locking point which is going to be handy if you’re worried about the craft or could be used as a tow point for the worst case scenario. The cockpit of the boat is a little more aggressive than a lot of the recreational boats in its category you can see that its fairly aggressive for a recreational boat with the thigh pads riding into the knees you can get a little bit more control then you can with a lot of other recreational craft.

It does have a higher back seat which you get with a lot of the recreational boat category. Again we prefer a lower back seat and that’s what you will see as you go to higher touring and performance kayaks. Lots of comfort as the seats move very well they are contour CFS seats with a pad that pulls up to your legs. It has a stiffener which is a plastic device that goes up partially through the bowel of the boat and it helps keeps the integrity of the craft long term. There are a couple of spots for water bottles and a bit of gear on the beam as well.

As for the craft itself it has a uniquely designed chime that’s the side of the boat with fairly hard edges which does a number of things which maximized initial stability but fairly defined so if unintentionally you bring the boat over or if you want to progress in skills a little bit it is going to be reasonably secure on its side.

You will see it has modest deck rigging after the cockpit it does has a stern hatch only and bulk heads so the back will be your dry storage area.

There are a few contradictions in the craft. Dagger markets the boat as a crossover boat as a multi-use boat that can handle whitewater conditions and with respect to dagger we are going to contradict that because it simply does not have the dry storage from in the bowel craft itself.

It is a 10-foot boat with is going to let in about 7 feet of water, doesn’t mean the boat wont handle those conditions it just means your compromising safety to do so.

Having said that we are excited with this craft since it complements the Pungo series.

The Pungo series is under the same umbrella it’s under the wilderness systems name the difference is this boat is a little bit narrower where the Pungo is about an inch and a half wide whereas this one is a bit narrower, it weighs a bit more than the Pungo 12-foot version but it also has the skeg which is kind of cool so just a rope release releases the skeg which the Pungo system doesn’t have. The skeg will have the craft track in more challenging conditions and should you want a little more maneuverability you can simply bring it up out of the way.

Features

Final Thoughts

What we envision for this kayak is that this is a perfect craft to compliment that family recreational system boat like the Pungo with a little more get up and go it’s got a few more features it’s a little narrower and we envision maybe some of the larger paddlers purchasing the Pungo series the 12 or 14-foot version and some of the smaller paddlers or paddlers who want to be a little more aggressive without jumping into the touring boat category preferring to go to this boat.

It does have a little bit higher side and that side means it increases the paddler load that it can carry so it also lifts the load on it about 10 pounds heavier than the Pungo 120 despite the fact that it is narrower.

This is a great craft and we highly recommend it for any paddler looking to take a small jump up in skill from your traditional kayaks while still having a craft that is diverse enough to handle a multiple range of different waters.

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