For older people seeking a low-impact physical activity that allows them to spend time outdoors and on the water, kayaking is an excellent choice. Since having the appropriate gear is essential to having a good time kayaking, today we will examine the kayak that is best suited for older paddlers.
These days, kayaking and canoeing are two of the most popular water sports, and participants of all ages may be found enjoying them. If you are a senior adult and you have never gone kayaking before, you may have a lot of questions going through your head, including the following:
- Is kayaking a sport that’s suitable for older people?
- I have knee problems; is it possible for me to go canoeing or kayaking?
- How do you get back into a kayak if you fall out of it while you’re in the water?
- Which kind of kayak is most suited for those of retirement age?
- Can someone who can’t swim participate in kayaking?
etc.
Don’t worry, in just a moment I’ll respond to all of those questions and a few more. First things first, let’s take a look at what kayaking is and how it can be beneficial to your overall health.
Comparing Various Kayaks, Which One is The Most Suitable For Older Paddlers?
Kayaks are divisible into a few main types, depending on their design and use. The first type is a normal or sit-on-top model, while the second type is either solid or inflatable. Another factor to take into account is the application. Whether you plan to paddle on a river, lake, or ocean, you’ll need a kayak that meets some distinct length requirements.
Traditional kayaks have a chassis in the interior where the paddler sits. This gives them a highly sleek appearance, enables them to move quickly, and protects them from the elements.
To put it simply, sit-on-top kayaks are exactly what their name implies. You don’t actually sit inside the kayak; rather, you sit on top of it. Because of this, getting on and off of the kayak is a lot less difficult.
Sit-on-top kayaks are often wider than traditional kayaks, which contributes to their increased stability. They are unquestionably a wonderful option for people who are just starting out fishing, as well as for senior citizens. This is due to the fact that the two most challenging aspects for most senior citizens are balancing and getting in and out of the kayak. Sit-on-top kayaks make each of these activities much simpler to perform.
Inflatable kayaks are becoming increasingly prevalent as manufacturing techniques and quality increase. In the past, people thought of them as beach toys; however, you can now get inflatable kayaks that are of a very high quality and are very light. These kayaks may be used in the same manner as traditional kayaks.
Inflatable kayaks have the advantages of being lightweight and compact, but they lack the agility and durability of traditional kayaks. As a result of the inflatable design, they are typically a little bit thicker than solid sit-on-top kayaks (nearly all inflatable kayaks are sit-on-top kayaks), which causes them to move more slowly. Additionally, there is always the possibility that the kayak will rupture.
High-quality inflatable kayaks have safety precautions built into them, such as sections and emergency valves, in the event that they suffer a significant leak or failure. This allows them to remain reasonably risk-free.
Following that, we will examine the senior-friendly alternative that is superior than all others in each and every category. We will get started with a sit-on-top kayak since, in my opinion, these are the kayaks that are best suited for both experienced paddlers and novices.
The Most Suitable Sit-On-Top Kayak For Older Paddlers
Since sit-on-top kayaks don’t offer as much shelter from the water and wind as other types of kayaks do, they’re best suited for use when the weather is clear and calm. They do, however, offer higher stability and an easier to use interface. Both of which are things that the majority of senior citizens will value. The simplest kayaks to exit are sit-on-top kayaks because of their elevated seating positions.
The Lifetime Tamarack Angler(Affiliate Link) is the sit-on-top kayak that comes highly recommended kayaks for seniors by me.
The Lifetime Tamarack Angler is a UV-protected polyethylene fishing pole that measures a total of 120 inches in length. Because it has a carrying capacity of 275 pounds, it is able to readily accommodate the needs of the vast majority of users.
It weighs 52 pounds, so it’s not exactly featherweight, but it’s light enough that adults in good physical shape can carry it for short distances. Since the kayak was developed to provide an exceptionally high level of safety and stability, you will discover that using this kayak provides a high level of comfort.
The kayak comes equipped with a variety of footrest configurations, making it suitable for paddlers of varying heights. In order to provide an even higher level of convenience and comfort, the backrest and seat may both be adjusted independently.
There are two storage compartments that are watertight, as well as ropes, for carrying additional equipment. If you intend to use the kayak for fishing, there are two fishing rod holders that are flush attached and available for your usage.
This kayak is a steal for the price, and it has received five out of five stars from customers who have reviewed it on Amazon. You won’t be let down by it. Unquestionably, the industry standard for sit-on-top kayaks priced at less than $700.
Senior-Friendly Inflatable Kayak For Seniors
The Intex Challenger K1 Kayak(Affiliate Link) is the product that I would suggest purchasing if you are searching for an inflatable kayak that can be stored in the trunk of your vehicle and taken with you everywhere you go.
The K1 is a quick and maneuverable tiny inflatable kayak that is available at a very reasonable price. However, don’t be deceived by the low cost! It is able to handle day outings with ease and can also be used as a portable kayak when you are on the road.
It is made of an inflatable vinyl material and has separate inflatable pieces for the floor and the backrest, which contributes to the chair’s increased stability and comfort.
The kayak only weighs 27.2 pounds despite its portability being greatly enhanced by its inflatability and the fact that it is only a moderately modest vessel. The K1, despite its small weight, has the capacity to carry loads of up to 220 pounds, making it an excellent choice for the vast majority of grownups.
Along with an aluminum paddle, a high-output manual pump, and a repair kit in the event of a puncture, the kayak comes standardly equipped. It is vital to keep in mind that although while contemporary inflatable kayaks are relatively durable, they can still be punctured. So take care not to trip over any jagged rocks or sticks!
When taking into account the cost, the rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars that the K1 has got on Amazon is very remarkable. In most cases, low-cost products receive only average ratings since their low cost necessitates a sacrifice in terms of quality and functionality. However, this kayak does not fall into this category.
The K1 is, in my opinion, find the best lightweight kayak available for older paddlers (Affiliate Link) and I don’t believe there is another model that comes close.
The Ocean Kayak That Is Ideal For Older Paddlers
The ocean kayak comes in last place as my advice. When paddling on the ocean, it is essential to select a kayak that is both stable and able to deal with the powerful waves you may encounter.
Even if you only intend to go kayaking on calm days, the weather may always take a turn for the unexpected, and the last thing you want is to be caught in a downpour on the ocean while you’re paddling an unstable kayak.
The Pakayak Bluefin 14-Foot Hardshell High Performance Sea Kayak (Affiliate Link) comes highly recommended as an ocean kayak by yours truly.
The clever Pakayak is a sea kayak that folds up into a much smaller package. It is possible to disassemble it so that it can be transported and stored more easily, which is a significant advantage if you do not have a vast garage that can accommodate a full-size 14-foot ocean kayak.
Pakayaks are manufactured in the United States, and a portion of the proceeds go toward the preservation of marine life that is in danger. The unique and trademarked design of the Bluefin gives it a high level of stability while also increasing its speed. In most cases, increasing breadth will improve stability but will decrease speed; nevertheless, they have identified the ideal middle ground.
The Pakayak Bluefin is one of those products in which you do indeed get what you paid for. A full-sized ocean kayak that is not only sturdy but also quick to paddle and is incredibly portable. Ideal for usage by elderly people in the ocean!
Kayaking Accessories for Senior
When going kayaking, you should take into consideration a few different items. The vast majority of them are not required, but having them will make kayaking a lot more fun. Some are designed more for protection in specific environments, and it is strongly recommended that you think about purchasing them.
1. Kayak Cart
Pulling the kayak behind you with the help of a kayak cart is much easier than carrying it. Carrying things around is going to demand a lot more strength and this is going to be much easier.
The majority of kayak carts are designed to be relatively lightweight and easy to operate. They are essentially a pair of wheels that are attached to the back of the kayak, and you are responsible for transporting the front of the kayak.
2. Wearing a Life Jacket
A life jacket is an essential piece of safety equipment, particularly while traveling in open water or the ocean. Even if you don’t have great swimming skills, you may still have a fun and safe time kayaking if you wear a life jacket.
Even if you are an excellent swimmer, it is still important to wear a life jacket in the event that you become injured or ill while you are on the water. There are specialized life jackets that are made for kayaks and do not interfere with your ability to paddle.
3. Wetsuit
If you plan on kayaking in cold water or temperature, you might consider purchasing a wetsuit to keep you warm. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to be totally dry while using a sit-on-top kayak, particularly in ocean use.
If the water and air around you are chilly, you don’t want to be wearing wet clothes since it increases the risk of catching a cold or perhaps getting hypothermia. Even when it’s wet, a wetsuit will keep you warm.
4. Activity Monitor or Fitness Tracker
While kayaking, you may prevent yourself from overexerting yourself by using a fitness tracker to measure your levels of activity as well as your heart rate. Some fitness trackers also include GPS functionality, allowing you to trace your path on your smartphone after the fact using the device. I believe that Fitbit makes the best fitness trackers, and the Fitbit Charge 3 is the model that is best suited for older people.
How Does Kayaking Work?
Kayaking is a type of water sport in which participants navigate the water in a vessel called a kayak. The kayak is a type of lightweight watercraft that propels itself with the use of a paddle rather than rows or an engine. There are also kayaks that include pedals for propulsion.
Canoes are a type of boat that kayaks are similar to but with a covered top. Native Americans would travel great distances on the water in canoes and kayaks, using them both for fishing and transportation. The initial use of kayaks was for hunting seals in the frigid waters of the Arctic. They had a frame made of wood or whalebone and were covered with skin from seals or other animals.
Not only did they offer the wearer increased protection from the elements, but they also made it possible for them to “roll” in the event that they became upside down. If you could paddle back to safety instead of freezing to death in the water, it would boost your chances of survival, even though it would require getting wet in the process.
Even indigenous North Americans used clothes that covered the cockpit of the kayak and kept water from entering the vessel in the event that the kayak rolled over. A system very similar to this can be seen on current kayaks, and it is called the spray deck and it stretches over the cockpit cover.
Even while some indigenous communities still use kayaks for hunting and fishing, kayaking is typically done for leisure and exercise purposes in modern times.
The sensation of being on the water can be experienced more intimately in a kayak than it is in any other type of boat. Because of the kayak’s extremely shallow structure, paddling one requires little more than sitting on the surface of the water.
Kayaks have the ability to navigate areas that are inaccessible to other types of watercraft. They are able to navigate in seas that are incredibly shallow, and due to the fact that they are constructed so that they are lightweight, it is possible to transport them over short distances if the water becomes too shallow to navigate with them.
For this reason, they are ideal for exploring marshes, rivers, ponds, canals, and any other bodies of water that contain shallow areas that are inaccessible to larger vessels because to their shallow depth. Rafting utilizes a specialized version of kayaks that are also commonly utilized.
Unsurprisingly, kayaks are also a viable option for use in open water. Ocean kayaks are often larger and heavier than kayaks designed for use in shallower waters because of their length and width dimensions. This is due to the fact that kayaking requires quite a bit of balance from the user, and the fact that strong ocean waves naturally make it more difficult to maintain balance.
A larger kayak is simply more stable than a smaller one, but it is also less agile and swims a bit deeper, which necessitates a higher water clearance when paddling in shallow water.
Why is Kayaking a Suitable Activity For Seniors?
As I always try to tell my readers, being active as you get older, and particularly focusing on strength training, is highly crucial for maintaining your overall health.
Keeping your balance and working to improve it are of even greater importance. It is essential to one’s ability to keep their balance to have enough amounts of both strength and agility.
Find some physical activities that you take pleasure in doing so that you may maintain a high level of overall activity even as you become older. This is vital for your overall health. This helps to prevent the harmful consequences of aging and maintains your overall health and well-being.
Kayaking is an activity that can assist you in achieving all of those aims. Even while it is primarily a sport that involves stamina and endurance, kayaking also requires a fair amount of upper-body strength as well as balance.
When you want to move the kayak forward, you need to engage the major muscles in your torso and back. This not only speeds up your heart rate but also helps you build and maintain strength in your upper body and arms, providing you with all of the advantages that come with endurance exercise.
When you get in a kayak for the very first time, you’ll have the unmistakable sensation that you’re going to capsize right away. This is perfectly normal because your body is adjusting to its new surroundings and trying to find its center of balance.
Kayaks are vessels on the water that are not very sturdy because they can quickly be tipped over on their sides if the paddler is not careful. However, you will quickly realize that maintaining balance in the kayak will become automatic, and you won’t need to pay any attention to it at all. That is, until you find yourself on the verge of falling over.
It’s not too different from standing still or pedaling a bicycle, really. You believe that you are entirely stable until something throws off your equilibrium. This fresh approach to balancing is fantastic practice for your existing balance abilities, and it will also assist improve your general balance.
To conclude, being able to sit in a kayak demands quite a bit of movement in the hips, thighs, and lower back areas. You may have some soreness in your hamstrings and lower back when you initially sit in a kayak, but after a while, you will forget about the discomfort.
Simply sitting in the kayak and moving with your upper body will simultaneously improve your lower body’s range of motion. This will happen even if you don’t do anything else.
What Things That Should be Considered by for Seniors in a Kayak?
Are you unsure about the type of kayak you should purchase, or what characteristics you should search for in a kayak? When selecting a kayak, the following are some common considerations for older paddlers:
Comfort And Back Support
When it comes to kayaking, senior citizens frequently experience issues with pain. There is no getting around the fact that kayaks are cramped and require their users to sit in confined spaces for extended periods of time.
To be able to execute this activity comfortably for a number of hours, you need to have sufficient mobility in your knees, hips, and back. It’s a good thing that not all kayaks are constructed the same, and that there are extras available to make your life easier on the water.
Back support and the capacity to customize the position of your feet should be your top priorities when shopping for a new chair. The seats on most kayaks are either made of basic plastic or padded with foam; however, some of the more expensive versions come equipped with adjustable back angles and seats made of high-quality cushioning material.
Stability
There are two meanings to the term “stability” when referring to a kayak. First, how stable it is on the water, which refers to how simple it is to capsize, and second, how steady it is in direction while you are paddling.
Longer kayaks, in general, are more stable when it comes to steering since the longer hull essentially functions as a rudder, fighting against any tiny turns generated by unequal paddling.
When it comes to lateral stability, a kayak’s width directly correlates to how difficult it is to capsize. For this reason, sit-on-top kayaks are an excellent choice for those in their later years. Just keep in mind that a wider kayak will produce more drag and will go at a lesser speed as a result.
Weight
The kayak’s weight is an important factor for the vast majority of elderly paddlers because getting it to the water requires a fair amount of effort. It will be considerably simpler to hoist a lightweight kayak on and off the water as well as transport it if you choose that option.
There are some kayaks that are simply too heavy for elderly people to lift and carry safely and comfortably because they are larger and therefore heavier. Choose the lightest model possible that nevertheless fulfills all of your requirements in every other manner.
Having said that, heavier and larger kayaks are more stable in open water and they do have they’re used, so it really comes down to the requirements that you have for yourself as an individual.
What Is Kayaking or Canoeing More Suitable With The Bad Knees?
Is it possible to kayak if you have knee problems? It is difficult to say without knowing the specifics of your knee problem and the sort of kayak you use. If you experience knee pain primarily as a result of impact or movement, kayaking is probably not going to be a problem for you because your lower body will be in a stationary posture the entire time.
The majority of kayaks will allow you to change your seating position as well as the length of the foot supports, giving you the ability to experiment with different knee angles to find the one that is most comfortable for you.
If you have knee problems and are wondering how to get out of a kayak, the easiest way is to use a special kayaking dock that allows you to lower yourself into the kayak by utilizing your upper body. This is the greatest option for people who have knee problems. Getting up shouldn’t place too much strain on your knees, as you’ll be putting very little weight on them during the process.
If you are concerned that kayaking could make your knee discomfort or condition worse, you should always get the OK from your primary care physician before getting started.
Check out my no-cost strength training program if you are concerned that you will not be able to get in and out of a kayak because you will not be able to hold your body weight while lowering yourself down into the vessel. If you give it a shot for a few of weeks, you’ll find that kayaking is a piece of cake.
Can Use Kayaking For Non-Swimmer
However, that is debatable. When it comes to kayaking, honesty requires that you have at least a passing knowledge of how to swim. Having said that, you don’t necessarily need to be a particularly strong swimmer provided you have the appropriate safety gear with you.
A life jacket is required for anyone going kayaking, but it is especially important for individuals who are unable to swim well. Even if you only go kayaking on lakes and stay relatively near to the shore, it is still a good idea to wear a life jacket at all times just in case something goes wrong.
Even if you are a good swimmer, there is still a chance that you could get hurt or swallow water while you are close to the coast. This could lead to a state of panic that would prohibit you from swimming to shore safely. When you’re in a precarious scenario like this, wearing a life jacket can help you stay on the surface, where you’ll be safe and able to collect your thoughts.
On the other hand, if you are unable to swim at all and the very idea of being in water causes you to feel sick to your stomach, you cannot merely rely on a life jacket to keep you safe in the event of an accident.
If you are unable to swim at all, you should definitely get some swimming lessons before you even think about going kayaking. Swimming is not just a great form of exercise but also a skill that could save your life in an emergency situation. Kayaking will be lot less stressful as a result of this.
Never let someone discourage you from learning how to swim because of your age; you can start at any point in your life. Even for older people, there are swimming classes available that begin at the very beginning.
Consider enrolling in a kayaking class if you are someone who can swim a little bit but aren’t fully confident in your ability to swim in the event of an unexpected circumstance.
It is not a good idea to go kayaking by yourself if you have poor swimming skills, but the activity is entirely safe when it is done under the supervision of an experienced instructor and with the appropriate safety equipment. Do not let unjustified worries prevent you from experiencing new things; instead, face them front on.
The Final Word
I really hope that you found my suggestions for the best kayak for seniors to be helpful and that you wind up trying one of them out for yourself. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me in the comments area below if you have any inquiries regarding the kayaks or kayaking in general.
Kayaking is a fun activity that allows people of a more senior age to get some exercise, enhance their health, and enjoy the outdoors. Kayaking is an excellent activity for enhancing one’s general strength and endurance levels as it is by its very nature a relatively low-impact kind of training.
Exercising indoors been proved to be less effective at lowering one’s stress levels than going for a kayaking trip or participating in another activity that takes place outside in nature. It’s hard for me to put into words the basic calming impact that comes from floating over water; you just have to do it for yourself to understand what I mean.
Being outside also gives you the opportunity to catch some sunshine, which will boost the production of vitamin D in your body. Vitamin D is a crucial component in the fight against osteoporosis, so getting enough of it is essential. Be careful not to overexpose yourself to the sun at any given time because doing so can raise your risk of developing skin cancer. If you plan on being outside for the entirety of the day, make sure to apply sunscreen and wear covering garments.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and I’ll see you again soon!