Opinions

On the Perception Pescador Pilot Pedal Drive 12 Angler Kayak. It's nearly $1000 cheaper than any other peddle Kayak. Bang for your buck this seems like something you can't pass up if you're wanting a peddle kayak.

don't know if there's one near you but Dicks/Field&Stream had them on sale for $1500

A Dicks is but still shows them $1799 on their website.

i was in a new one in Austin area Saturday and they were on sale. may be over already........sorry

NP, Thanks for heads up anyways. And BTW what was your opinion of it in person?

Have u gone 2 Mariner sails in Dallas yet? Uh, they offer TFF members discounts on kayaks. Tell them El Zombo sent cha. They will either take off running n call the police or high five ya! But, chances of them having exactly what u need at the right price is high my man.

While u r there u can see, touch n feel the largest selection of rigging, accessories n yak gear in our solar system. They won't give prices over the phone but will certainly let u know if they have your Pescador 12 in stock. They also have a big demo day coming up this month. I'll b the best way to make that final decision.
u must always rEMBer, VIDeo killed the radio staR. Thanx a lot Aris

i liked it for the price. i demo one last month and it was nice. of course i tried out the Old Town Predator PDL and it was awesome but cost twice as much.

What made the PDL more awesome?

Buyer beware!
They are probably $1000 cheaper for a reason.
Number one is they haven't been around that long so how good is the pedal drive?...Plastic gears maybe?
Just something to think about! I not a fan of these mechanical devices on a kayak, just because of the price, and just because they are kind of new and not time tested.
Just something else to wear out and break down at the wrong time, and more expense to repair.

the Old Town Predator was very solid. heavy but i felt comfortable standing in it and it handled very well

I have seen one of the Pilot 12s hanging on a wall down at Austin Kayak in the Houston store.

It actually has very nice lines, a good looking kayak.

Be sure to review the various YouTube reviews: most have reported drive-related and a few other issues. After its release, it required an almost immediate factory adjustment, a recall of sorts I guess over one issue. This simply means that Pescador either pushed it out too fast, or . . . the company knowingly put out a defective product.

Hey! At its price point, if the drive doesn't work out, you might still have a decent paddler. It looks very streamlined.

Predator PDL's drive is likely safer since the parent company also owns Minn Kota, experts in the general area of trolling motors and things with gears. So, I'd give them a pass. But, for so many pedal kayaks, modifications are made after the first year roll-out. Even, Native had issues that had to be modified.

Be careful buying first year pedal models, that'd be my general advice.

Brad

Check Academy

I watched a lot of videos on most of the peddle kayaks. One thing I really liked about the Pilot 12 was the way the drive pushed up out of the way.

Manta Ray Propel is close in price with a proven drive system.

It only has a 325lbs limit. I'm 270lbs so that rules out a lot of kayaks.

Had mine for about 4 months and it does ok with "research" and a few tweeks
Pedal drive is smooth and the boat tracks pretty good under full power.
The rudder pretty much sucks if you dont lean into your harder turns
Assault Hand Paddle is a blessing in any pedal drive yak.
Takes all of 30min to assemble(drive,seat,rudder stab)
There are NO DISCOUNTS on these boats,$1,799.00($1,900.00 taxed) no matter where you buy one.
I bought mine from Academy and had it shipped to the store 10 min from my house.
5 trips out to date and dont regret my purchase abit
Weather is getting better so we are looking for more weekends on the blue boats

Not even close bud. . . . . . .