Product Review: Delta 12.10 Kayak

Ok, so the question needs to be asked, is this going to be a fair review, seeing as I own this kayak? Well, the intention of this blog is to provide you with an opinion. In kayaking, no one boat is perfect for everyone, and a great boat for one person could be completely the wrong boat for someone else. For my purposes, the Delta 12.10 is a perfect boat. I wanted a shorter boat that had all the capabilities of a full sea kayak. I wanted to be able to camp from the boat for a long weekend, and I wanted a boat that tracked straight. As I began searching for the right boat, I added to my list. I also wanted a fast boat, a lightweight boat, and certainly a durable boat. It would help if it was fairly stable on the water too.

That's a pretty big list, and without going too in depth, I narrowed my boat choices down to two boats. Both boats were Canadian made, which didn't matter to me too much, but being Canadian, it's always nice to be able to buy a boat that was made in Canada. The first boat that I had my heart set on was the Swift Kiwassa boat. It's a 12'6" boat that I was convinced that I wanted to buy. It had two hatches, perimeter safety lines, easily adjustable foot peddles, lots of bungees to attach gear, and was made of the Swift brand of thermoformed plastic called Trylon.

Thermoformed plastic is a relatively new material for Kayaks, and in my opinion it is the best material for most users. It's one of the strongest, yet still lightweight materials, that you can get in a kayak hull, and it's also not nearly as expensive as other popular materials. Rotomolded plastic is fine, but it is heavy and it flexes quite a bit. Thermoformed plastic is much stiffer, and lighter. It allows the boat manufacturers to build the best hull design for moving through the water, and they don't have to add extra structural shapes or pieces as most good Rotomolded boats do. Thermoformed plastic gives the look of fiberglass, is almost as light, much more durable, less expensive, and is much less maintenance.

So, back to the boats. In the end I bought the Delta 12.10 kayak because of the details. The Swift Kiwassa was originally designed with women in mind. Although it became popular with lighter weight men, and being just under 160 lbs. it was designed for people weighing just around the same weight as I do. I didn't really want to buy a "girls boat" but in the end, if it was the right boat for me, that didn't bother me at all. A few other things bothered me about the marketing of the Swift. Every single picture of the boat was a picture taken on smooth as glass lakes. That's fine, but from my previous experience, kayaking on larger lakes with waves was some of the most fun I've had in a sea kayak, and living right near Lake Ontario, I wanted a boat that I could take to the real lake, with real waves, in addition to enjoying it on smooth water lakes.

As I began learning more about true sea kayaks, and various safety features, I realized that the Swift seemed to be designed for exactly the conditions that Swift showed in their marketing materials. Those conditions being calm water. If those were the only conditions that you find yourself using your boat, maybe the Swift is a perfect boat for you. Here's why it wasn't perfect for me, and why the Delta was.

The Delta boat has what they call a perimeter safety line. It's the rope around the perimeter of the boat, and the Swift sales person let me know that this was another way to attach gear to the boat, by strapping it to the ropes. On the Swift boat, the rope was fairly taught. The Delta has the same style of rope, but they call it a safety line. If you ever fall out of your boat, you can keep a hold of it no matter which side you are on. The Delta boat makes the rope loose, not great to tie down gear with, but perfect for what it is designed for. If you fall out of the boat, you can grab the loose rope even if you are wearing gloves. It's all in the details! Personally I don't like the look of a loose rope, so I just snug the end up underneath the edge of a bungie front and back, but if the water is ever a little bit dangerous, I loosen that safety line right off again. In addition, the Delta's safety line has several flecks throughout that are reflective. More details that matter.

Another safety related detail that I appreciate on the Delta boat is the straps that can be used for paddle float rescues. Without going into detail into how to use them, if you are looking at a boat, buy one with the straps just behind the cockpit, not simply bungees. The straps work when you need to get out of cold rough water, the bungees don't work as well. Think about it for a second. If you do get tossed from your boat, you're not likely to be boating in calm conditions under sunny skies in warm water. It's larger lakes, with bigger waves and colder waters that tend to put you at risk of falling out of your boat. In those conditions, you want the re-entry into your boat to be as positive, and efficient as possible. Straps instead of bungees, more details.

Two more details that sold me on the Delta as opposed to the Swift, the bulkheads of the Delta are installed in a far superior way then in the Swift. The bulkheads are the little walls that separate the storage hatches from the main cockpit. In the Delta they are formed pieces that are glued in place with a very thick and even coat of glue. In the Swift, these beads of glue are finished off with someone's fingers. It's not even, and in my mind, there is a reason for this. Delta makes a big point about how they don't build sea kayaks without two hatches. Not simply for carrying cargo, but for safety. Two waterproof hatches create buoyancy if the boat ever takes on water. A single hatch in the back isn't enough, and hatches that don't offer a good amount of water resistance can also be dangerous in rough conditions. Speaking of waterproof hatches, the Delta has a thick flexible gasket all the way around the lid of the hatch. The Swift simply has a piece of rubber wrapped on the edge of the hatch and the edge of the boat. To make the Swift water resistant, they have two nylon straps per hatch that have to be clicked together and pulled VERY tight. The salespeople always point out that it's crucial to tighten these straps as they will only keep water out when they are tight. I noticed that the carbon kevlar version of the Swift Kiwassa has a small gasket instead of a thin rubber strap and when I asked the salesperson, he mentioned that the mold that they used to make the plastic boats didn't allow them to fit a gasket. Whatever the reason, it's not nearly as nice of a system as Delta's two simple bungees with a great gasket. Details!

There are so many nice features on the Delta, from the recessed bungee lines, the finger notches which allow you to open the hatches easier, but also double as drains to keep water from pooling around the edges of the hatches. The adjustable seat, the V shaped hull that not only keeps you very straight on the water, but also collects water that comes into the boat by pooling it in the center, away from your feet, and makes it very easy to pump out without getting a lot of water in the boat. The Delta also has proper thigh braces, and with a simple adjustment of the seat and the foot pedals, you can find a position that both gives you space, and allows you to brace. Another detail that I liked about the Delta boat is the way they fasten the foot pedals to the boat. The Swift drills two holes on each side right through the hull and attaches their foot pedals that way. The Delta glues them to a large round plate leaving your hull smooth and efficient through the water. Now those details on their own seem like minor things, but if you add them up, and consider that each boat is about the same price as the other, one is clearly a better buy. I also like that Delta is a thermoforming expert. They show how strong their hulls are in a YouTube video here, and they also give their boats a patented SolarKote which helps reduce fading of the beautiful finish.

So enough about the boat on paper, what's it like on the water? Well, it's light, at 43 lbs, which makes it very easy to get to the water. Once on the water, it's a lot of fun. It tracks very well, and I'm guessing that this is because of the V-hull and the hard chines (I'll explain hull design in a future post). It's also just about as stable as a recreation boat, which is outstanding considering that this boat also has a strong secondary stability point. You can lean it a good ways and still remain comfortable. I love trying using it in waves. I know that it will handle calm water, but being able to go out in waves as high as 3 and 4 feet high without feeling any danger is so much fun and a testament to how well this boat is designed and built.

I'll finish this post with a variety of pictures, but please feel free to ask questions in the comments section and I'd be glad to share my opinions.

Summary:

Pros:

-Immaculate attention to detail even compared to other boats costing twice as much

-Water tight hatches

-Very lightweight

Cons:

- Looks expensive, need to keep it locked up and put away

Safety lines shown with unique handle that can rest recessed, or pop up to use.

Solid and thick bead of glue holding in bulkheads

Thick gaskets hold water out of the hatches

Notice the small channel to allow you to get your fingers under the bungee. These channels, (two per hatch) also direct the water away from the seals which prevents water from pooling along the opening to the hatch.

The Delta 12.10.