Soul Kayaks || Bigfoot Walkthrough and Impressions

Just a Quick Look at the Soul Kayaks Bigfoot. My brother Rob give some impressions on the paddling of the boat.
Get your Bigfoot here:
festivewater.com/collections/...
Specs on the Bigfoot:
Length 8'| 243cm
Width 29”| 74cm
Volume 87 Gal | 331ltr
Height (front) 14.3” | 36cm
Height (Back) 11.5” | 29cm
Nose Rocker 13” | 32cm
Tail Rocker 9” | 23cm
Cockpit Length (Outside) 36”| 290cm
Cockpit Width (Outside) 22.5”| 56cm
General Use Paddler Weight 200bs -280lbs | 90kg-125kg
Playboating Paddler Weight 240lbs - 300lbs | 110kg-135kg
Description from Soul:
We all know size matters, right? And the biggest and boldest of paddlers have been neglected for too long. So with a big heart, we are entering the big boat market, big time!
We are not talking about a medium design scaled up proportionately. Simply put, that doesn't work. A tall heavy person might be only 10% taller, but 40% heavier than the guys the M boats are designed for. So to make the XL kayak deliver the same performance as a M boat, you have to redesign it from scratch with the end goal in mind. Simply taking an existing design and scaling it up X percentage just doesn't work.
The BigFoot is not a classic half slice. It's shorter, making it more nimble and playfull, especially in smaller river features. The tail is small enough to pivot, but it's not going to be squirly small in challenging water. It'll surf up a storm on the smallest to bigest waves, and the bow is just small enough to allow you to throw down when you really want to.
Despite the playfull pedigree, major attention was payed to downriver paddling. The generous rocker and ample bow volume provides a dry, secure ride, while radically tucked rails keep the boat supremely forgiving in the most squirly of conditions. It's fast enough for those must make moves, while keeping an exciting sporty feel on the water.
Fit and comfort are key, and is the biggest complaint of stocky folks cramming into kayaks. Hip and thigh room is of paramount importance, as well as ample footroom for those giants out there.
The boat will come with its own specifically designed outfitting, made for large paddlers. That's right, we're not going to just drop in the outfitting we have: we're building the right fittings for you.
The BigFoot comes with the transport wheel.
The BigFoot is made to two weight specifications: SuperTough and Superlight constructions, depending on your paddling needs. Both will handle the forces and impacts big guys put into their boats. Shown weights are pre production estimates and could vary.
#whitewaterkayaking #Soulkayaks #Festivewater #Soulbigfoot #Bigfoot

[@steveb8178]

I watched Rob paddle this last week, surfing little holes on the James, and besides the fact he is an artistic paddler, the boat is smooth. I loved watching how the wave just glided over the bow when Rob would dip the nose down.

[@danenewman800]

Super cool, Love the big guy boat reviews!

[@DownstreamV]

Thanks bud see you out there soon !

[@scrutton66]

Nice review. Look forward to outfitting mine and get it on the water.

[@DownstreamV]

Thanks share your opinion when you’re done !

[@FeWolf]

always interesting designs

[@DownstreamV]

For sure different!

[@jaydavis2679]

Love this boat

[@DownstreamV]

What’s your favorite thing about it so people watching this can read your opinion?

[@jaydavis2679]

@@DownstreamV The main thing is that it exists. At 285, not a lot of real options for playful boats. I had a Large Antix, and I was just too big for it, I would get munched just trying to run the Ocoee. The Bigfoot gets me down the river reasonably well, and I can get vertical and surf all day. It's really the first boat I've had that made want to be vertical and really play around a lot. I think the design strikes a good balance between play and downriver. The boat is well made with good plastic, IMO. The outfitting has some pluses and minuses, but I'm at the point in my boating where I expect to do some tinkering and customizing to outfitting anyway, so it's no big deal.

[@DownstreamV]

@@jaydavis2679 thanks for the info I’m sure others will benefit !

[@oscoastierob]

@@jaydavis2679 for sure… I think this boat really shines for people in that 265-300lb range. if you haven’t already you should look into beefing up your seat. It’ll make a pretty significant difference for you.

[@oscoastierob]

If anyone is wondering what the little imperfection is on the seat, it’s where I had originally cut a hole to stick the sweet cheeks tube into, but then I didn’t like the location so I welded it back up and cut the other hole further to the right.

[@irishlostboy]

One of my paddle buddies has been paddling this for a while now. He is over 190cm, size 46 feet. about 100kg (americanize the numbers if you want to) The food-room is not awesome for such a wide boat, but this is typical Corran style. So if you are used to cushy Jackson feeling boats, you will maybe not like it. The food peg system was giving him all kinds of problems, so he ripped the entire thing out and built a custom bulkhead system. The seat is dire, and might as well be ignored as a seat. It's just a slab of plastic with the cheapest foam pad popped on top. The straps for the backrest are 2mm thick, making them feed really badly through the cam and making them slip when under pressure. Actually replacing the 2mm thick strap with a 1mm thick strap makes it feed and grip far better. Just be ready to replace the strap more frequently. The hull surfs really well, like most of Corran's boats. It is quite wide, so it isn't the easiest roll you will have, but it is a bit more forgiving than it looks. The fish-eye of this guy's camera kind of really distorts the look of the boat, making it look smaller than it really is. I feel it is really worth seeing it right next to other boats to really get a good feel for what you are looking at. It is quite big. Bottom line: it is a nice shell with less than ideal internals.

[@DownstreamV]

Good explanation . Don’t disagree at all with the outfitting statements.

[@oscoastierob]

The cam strap system hasn’t given me any issues, and holds quite well and I can throw the boat around pretty good. I honestly think it works just as effectively as most ratchet backband systems, and is leaps and bounds better than a cleat backband system. As for the bulkhead, I’m not a fan of the cleat system there either but for me it’s all the way forward so it really doesn’t matter. The locking pins that fit into the bulkhead might have been a viable option versus pulling the system out and foaming it but depending on how it holds up over time (specifically the 2 anchor points on each side of the rails) I may end up foaming out a bulkhead in my spare Bigfoot that is still in the wrapper…

[@oscoastierob]

For reference my size is: height 6’2” (187.96cm), inseam 32” (81.28cm), shoe size: 15 (49 eur), weight: 290lbs (131KG)

[@mikecatura6210]

One of you was switched at birth!

[@DownstreamV]

haha maybe so!

[@oscoastierob]

He takes after my mom’s side of the family, they’re all smaller and I’m the same as our dad.