Those of you downing the whole bonafide line up need to spend a couple days fishing out of the 127. Obviously I havn't fished out of them all but its hard to argue with its lay out and comfort. It just makes it easy to fish.

I dont think anyone is knocking the "fishabality" of the SS127. Im sure it's a great platform for fishing. Ive seen in it action. The thing paddles like a refrigerator.

I'm not downing the entire Bonafide line up the. The SS looks to be a solid, fishable, platform and the RS is pretty feature rich kayak for 1K. His current three designs fall in line with the market demands which every other kayak manufacturer is following as well; more emphasis on stability, less on efficiency, generally won't track too well, and highly designed cockpits which means heavy kayaks.

I wouldn't trade straight up my Commander120 for that kayak.
I've had it for several years and it does everything I need it to do.

I remember when the Bonafide yaks debuted, it was hard to find the weights hidden in their hype. I was surprised to find out the 127(I believe) weighed almost 100 pounds, with seat. Yikes! Not for me. I didn't watch the whole video on the SI, but, I'd suspect it's not an ultra-lite.
I used to race sailboats, and the northern Californians built lots of ultra-lite race boats. Santa Cruz Yachts'
motto was "Fast is Fun"! That's how I feel about kayaks. My 60-pound yak is a pleasure to paddle and fish from. I really don't want to stand in my yak. YMMV IslandJim

I agree that this boat isn't going to be for everyone. I do enjoy looking at what companies are producing for different aspects of our hobby.

Personally I fly fish 90% of the time or more and for me, standing up is a huge requirement. I much prefer a sit on top with self bailing features. Right now contemplating boats like the Jackson Coosa FD, vs the Jackson Mayfly (looks like easier fly line management instead of the pedal drive) and the new Hobie Outback / PA14.

If we all thought the same boat was the best for our applications, they would only need to make one boat. If you want a Thresher 140, that's cool, if you want to paddle a Big Rig, that's cool.

I'm just glad that we are in a time where we have so many quality choices to choose from. Life sure is good.

I totally agree, recently purchased a Flats Boat, but never going to get rid of my Commander 120.

I won't question any of the opinions made here, but simply offer mine. I am an SS127 owner and could not be happier. It is exactly the boat FOR ME. That is what it comes down to isn't it? I have paddled many kayaks of the years and the SS127 is the best mix of stability and efficiency FOR ME. I have kept pace and even out paddled Manta Rays, Rides, Radars, and even kept pretty close to a couple of peddle kayaks. I 6' 250lbs and have had no issue with tracking while paddling. However, I will confirm that the boat has an [censored]-end issue, in that the [censored]-end wants to swing around in wind or current. I am not sure if this is a design issue or how I have the boat loaded when fishing, but other owners report the same problem. For my height and weight the boat is rock solid, not flimsy at all. Very little flex when standing and moving around in the cockpit. As for river kayak camping, it is amazing. The in-hull storage of this boat offers, while still being able to support my large self is impressive. All that being said, I am not sure about the new SI model either, but I am not a fan of SI kayaks anyway. I can only imagine the hype and scrutiny when Bonafide eventually tackles a peddle design!

The SI looks like it is trying to compete with the Kilroy market in the Northeast. When I saw it at Paddle Sports Retailer I immediately was curious. I tried to demo it but there were too many talking heads videoing it and I wasn't going to wait two hours. In the booth, the floor concerns me (looked a lot like the Commander floor), the hull design is a strange shape that looks like it will track well but have issues turning (again no demo) and the seat is going to need to be higher up or it will be uncomfortable for any length of time because of knee angle with hip angle. It was a rough prototype so we will see but not thinking this one is going to sell well. I would expect the RS boat to eventually outpace the SS series.