First off let me preface this with I work at the Charleston Angler and do sell FH12 kayaks, but I have no affiliation with Freedom Hawk. There now this will keep some peoples panties from wadding up. But to be honest, I will not hold back negative aspects of ANYTHING I review. Period. Dot. End of sentence. I always have and will give you my honest opinion on ANY gear I use/review. Of course I urge you to conduct your own tests and make up your own mind.
I got my paws on a Freedom Hawk 12 (FH12) kayak to play with. Got a buddy in it Monday night and he will post his own review but I think overall he liked it. I took the FH12 out in the pond behind the house and began putting it through itâs paces**. First off I rate this Kayak an: A- or on a scale of 1-10 about a. 9
** Now let me also preface this with this.
A. the kayak is rated for 250lbs and I weigh, well letâs say itâs a little more than that.
B. I was getting nasty on this kayak. I was doing things that if you are doing when you are fishing you are way too drunk to be anywhere near a body of water and
C. This was a controlled environment and I was pushing all the limits of this kayak trying to make it do bad things.
Ok now that you know I was doing everything a manufacturer tells you NOT to do, youâll understand why it did some bad things. I did this so you wonât have to
Ok dry kayak paddled out to deep water. Tracking was very nice. This kayak tracks very well for a 12 footer. Most of them do but we have all seen the âBox Storeâ kayaks in this length that track like a Saturday night Sailor on liberty. With the outriggers in this kayak feels like a sit inside yak. It is a little pitchy and again this was amplified by my overweighting the kayak. Not enough to make is unsafe, it just took a little getting used to. Very smooth and the wind did not seem to bother it too much. I put the outriggers out to paddle and whammo. The pitchyness disappeared and it was solid. Still smooth due
Wow. Sounds like a blast. Youâll have to bring one along next time. We can see who will flip 1st btw. Forget fishing the creek next time, letâs just bring our nets and do shrimp for dinner. That was crazy that not a one of those shrimp was small. Had a blast today brother.
âThe fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad.â </font id=âsize2â> Hobie Adventure Kayak </font id=âsize2â> Hobie Pro Angler Kayak </font id=âsize2â> SC Chapter- Heroes on the Water http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org </font id=âsize2â> www.kayakfishsc.com </font id=âsize2â>
I didnât either thats why I got so stupid with it⌠I was amazed on how much I had to do to it for it to finally get wobbly and tippy⌠I am pretty impressed with themâŚ
Thanks for the report Ken, and the disclosure (I hate getting my panties in a wad!)
Question. One thing Tommy usually reports on is speed. How would it compare to the competition in speed?
BTW, the 12 has its pontoons come out either parallel or at an angle, right? Which way did you test it?
Thanks again, very informative!
The speed was pretty good. For a 12ft yak it was better then most. It is the closest I have seen on a SOT to come close in speed to a SINK. As for the outriggers, the 12 will let you keep them at a 45ish angle or come in line with the hull, the 14 only goes out 45ish. I tested them both ways, but the 12 seemed to be more stable inline. Out at 45ish they were still very stable but the yak handled better inline
the first time i saw one of these kayaks was at the charleston angler spring fling thing which freedom hawk had some kayaks showingâŚone of my friends and i had been looking for kayaks almost everywhere to try and find one that was stable enough to fly fish and be able to sight cast easilyâŚwhen i saw this kayak i was very interested so i went down to beaufort (bcuz at the time charleston angler did not sell them) and went to a shop called east bay outfittersâŚit wasnt a kayak shop but mostly fly stuffâŚwe took it for a test drive in rough conditions and were shocked at how well it paddled and how stable it wasâŚa big boat goes by while we were standing and we culdnt beleive that we didnt feel unstabble at allâŚwe ended up purchasing the freedom hawk kayak 12âŚit is a great kayak for standing up and sightcastingâŚhave caughten many reds in this kayakâŚand hope to catch many moreâŚi would highly reccomend this kayakâŚbut not so much for paddling but for fishing!
Hey JediâŚyou said you filled the boat with waterâŚI thought these kayaks self-bail? If you fill with water, why didnât the water just run out? I found a good deal on one and am thinking about getting one, but I want a self bailerâŚhelp
As for filing it wiht water I left the scupper plugs in just to fill it. If you pull them out it is a self bailer⌠Sorry to confuse you. I really had to do stupid stuff to make that kayak do bad things, again if you left the scupper plugsout the water will not build up in it and there fore you should never be inthe situation I put it inâŚ
Mr. Gator⌠oh no⌠no,no,no,no,no⌠that seat pad sucksverymuchbad. The stock seat that it come with is barely a pad. I would invest in a surf to summit or some other better aftermarket seat or at the least get a good foam pad to sit on. Now as far as back support goes itâs not bad. Good support and good wrap but the sit on pad is barely that⌠not bad if you are going to be standing most of the time but if you plan on sitting for a long time get a better seat.
Now, if they could just make them more affordable they would have a perfect fishing platform:wink:
Far better it is to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs even though checkered with failure, than to take ranks with those poor spirits who never enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Yeah⌠I know the price is a little high BUT⌠and this is not a sales pitch, Youu really get what you pay for. I have paddled past people in thier $300 dicks kayaks struggling wih tit weathercocking on a calm day and tiring out thier owners before they get a chance to fish. Yes, the price of the FH12 is a little up there but not that bad when you consider the prices of the Hobies and they are comprable to a brand new WS ride/w rudder, Tarpon 160 or a Native yak⌠I made the mistake of buyng a cheap kayak. Yes is floated and got me fishing but after 2 trips I was REALLY ready to upgrade and it took me longer to because I wasted my money on a cheap kayak. Keep your eyes peeled, there are some really good deals to be had instead of buying a new kayak but what ever you do, buy a good brand that is made for fishing and leave the swifty 9.5âs for those paddlers who want to watch dolphins and sunsetsâŚ
Ken, did you get a chance to test it in âreal worldâ conditions? I know you put it through the wringer on the lake, but did you get a chance to put it through some chop, or paddle against wind and side swells? Let me know if you do, Iâd like to know how dry this boat is and how it handles the nasty stuff.
BTW, I can do all of that on my Ride 135! (So can a big guy)
Dave, I paddled the FH14 in some pretty nasty wind and chop. Not very dry because the hull is the same height all the way out, the 12âs however have a much higher bow onthem and Trent in the 12 was much drier in the 12. The side swells did crash over on the 14 but not as much on the 12, so the basic answer is the 12 is a drier boat. As for the wind, it did weathercock a little in a cross wind, it was about 10-15 gusting to 20 that day, but into or with the wind it was straight as an arrow. The stability is just as good as the ride but there is not initial and secondary stability really⌠the FH is pretty much stable the same when you first stand up and are already up, but they are both the most stable stand up yaks I know of, with keeping the Hobie PA out of the mix
Finnaddict⌠itâs really a personal choice⌠both are good deals. if you are going to be stand up fly fishing a lot Iâd go the FH route but the kayak is really designed for that purpose⌠the manta is a little more easy to rig out and is a little more multi-purpose. You can still use the FH for multi-purpose but it really shines as a fly fishing platform. There is NO âperfectâ kayak for everyone⌠itâs is a very personal choice. Take the reviews and advice but I HIGHLY encourage you to paddle both and see which one is really the best fit for you and your fishin style.
Nope⌠I really enjy paddling to my spots, besides them motors are a little pricey for me
yea well since the kayak is stableâŚi mean i can fit 2 people in mineâŚbut its a pain to paddle 2 people long distancesâŚso was lookin at trolling motors.
btw. Forget fishing the creek next time, letâs just bring our nets and do shrimp for dinner. That was crazy that not a one of those shrimp was small. Had a blast today brother.
