Reviews for Explorer 12 Kayak by Meriwether Kayaks

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05-24-2012
Submitted by: Mark S.

Rating: 10 of 10

     I have had a Meriweather kayak for 2 years now. Bought it from Sam's Club for $262. I absolutely love it. I really don't understand the low ratings others give. The thickness of the hull is very substantial. It has all the features of others that are over twice the money. I use it primarily on rivers in southern Minnesota. I just wish Sam's Club would carry them again. I have many friends and family members that would buy them. Great product!

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03-17-2012
Submitted by: Rick

Rating: 10 of 10

     I bought a pair of Meriwether Explorer 12 kayaks from a private party. They were in like new condition. I then went on-line here and read some of the negative reviews. I almost went back to the seller to get my money back, but then I actually used one. Do the people downgrading this kayak have the same one I bought? I don't think so. I weigh 235# and this kayak supports me and my fishing junk. It tracks where I want to go and doesn't leak. The bottoms have front and aft waves (oil canning), but I understand these to be from improper storage (stacking?). So why the 2/10 ratings? I honestly don't know. I do know that these are not top of the line like Ocean and some other high-end kayaks. But then I'm not crashing through the surf and fighting 4-foot waves. I fish in the Atlantic Intercoastal and its just fine for that. And it didn't cost me $1,000.

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12-14-2011
Submitted by: ttack

Rating: 8 of 10

     These may not be top of the line Kayaks but I found mine to be functional and stable etc. I purchased mine at a Sam's club for around $250.00 in Grand Junction, Co. while coming back from Tahoe. My first trip was 21 miles on the Buffalo in Arkansas. I will say I found the seat to be a little flimsy for my 6' 220 lbs. but it was still there at the end of the day. If anything, I found the kayak itself to be a little heavy built. I do not understand these other folks comments concerning flex etc.

All and all I feel basically satisfied with my purchase for the money I paid. It was on clearance at Sam's, by the way, for that price.

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04-18-2011
Submitted by: Laura And Ross

Rating: 3 of 10

     We were thrilled...at first....Our new kayak only took on a little water. But after less than a year of moderate use carry straps are flimsy and broken and the kayak takes on about 5 gallons of water per every 3 to 5 miles. Dry storage is impossible. We had hoped to take it for camping trips. But the only camping we will do with this boat is in our back yard. Lesson learned "you get what you pay for"

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02-11-2011
Submitted by: lamcbride

Rating: 3 of 10

     I bought two of these kayaks from Sam's Club and have used them on the Weeki Wachhi River and on St. Joseph's Sound in the Gulf of Mexico. I paddle and fish with my 10 and 12 year old children along with other mom's with tween and teen children.

Pros:
1. Very cheap. Got both for $500 at the end of the season as Sam's.
2. Comes with everything you could possibly want in a fishing kayak; 2 rod holders, a great paddle, a seat, adjustable foot pegs, nice big hatch for gear, scupper plugs, big area for cooler and fishing gear in rear of seat.
3. Light weight, easy to load.
4. Very dry interior. Drew no water into the interior of the boat.
5. Very stable
6. Loved the shape and function of the paddle

The cons:
1. Extremely flimsy material. The size and layout of the boat is set up for lots of fishing gear, but if you weigh more than 125 lb's, you can't load the gear in without making the boat sag. I weigh near the upper limit of the boat's stated campacity of 230 lbs. I can tell you that I weigh too much for these boats even without any gear. After paddling about an hour in this boat,the bottom began to indent and sink down, which was very scary out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico when you can see shark fins. I also had to have the scupper plugs in place in order to keep from drawing too much water.
2. Horrible tracking. Since this is a light weight boat, the kids where the ones who ended up paddling these. They would spin about on the water, crash into the mangroves along the sides and completely wear themselves out. Any little current or wind blew these boats all over. Once the kids paddled these boats, they fought over who would get to paddle the better Ocean and even Pelican kayaks. Nobody wanted to paddle these boats. They always ended up going to the "friends" who didn't have their own boats. The bottom is very flat with a shallow draw. It seems that it was designed more for shipping from China, than for boating. The boats fit on top of one another perfectly and can be made into tall stacks.
3. Less than quality accessories- the strap to one of the seats broke mid river when my 125 lb daughter was paddling the boat under very mild conditions. Also some of the bungee straps came loose and were lost.
4. Very uncomfortable seating. The seat area of the boat is flat instead of rounded to the contour of a normal person's bottom. This creates pressure points that leave your bottom and legs numb after paddling for more than an hour. Even the very light weight teens complained about butt numbness in this boat.

Conclusion:
We sold these boats when the weather got cool and bought one good used Wilderness Tarpon for the money we got when we sold them. I could have dealt with the poor tracking by adding rudders, but the flimsiness of the boat is what caused me to get rid of them. This boat would be an ideal someone who didn't weigh much and didn't want to stray far from land. Additionally it performs best in flat water, which is really a bummer since it's size and layout are perfect for a ocean fishing kayak. For the price, it would be a good play boat form someone who lived on a small lake or pond, or it would be a good platform for kids to jump off of at the beach. Unfortunately, it's not a real fishing kayak even though it looks like one.

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07-15-2010
Submitted by: Melnlori

Rating: 3 of 10

     I was in the kayak market and was very pleased when I discovered this boat at Sams.

The Pros:
1. Great Price (price includes a decent high back seat, decent paddle and fishing rod holders).
2. Nice large hatches with lots of inside storage.
3. Plenty of topside storage.
4. Boat will not sink (daughter tipped and filled the top of boat with water, I was great-full to see her paddle to shore tip the boat to empty the water and get back to kayaking).
5. Good primary stability (I have stood up in this boat).

Cons:
1. Boat doesn't track well (the bottom of the hull is thin and flimsy, as soon as I unwrapped the boat I noticed the bottom of the hull had waves in it. You can easily push on any of the waves with one finger and the hull will push in).
2. On one of the boats the plastic snaps connected to the end of the bungee straps have already broken.
3. Foot braces worked great for a couple weeks-now you have to monkey with the adjustments to get them to lock in any position.

It's my opinion that this is a well priced boat for those looking for an inexpensive way to enjoy flat water kayaking or as an introduction into the sport of kayaking.

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06-23-2010
Submitted by: Anne

Rating: 1 of 10

     I likes the price of this kayak UNTIL I was out for about an hour and it got heavy. I paddled to shore and it was full of water, it was leaking bad from somewhere. I had to return it , I will buy something else.

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06-11-2010
Submitted by: SCE

Rating: 10 of 10

     I purchased the Meriwether Kayak from Sams Club and Love the Quality and durability. The thickness and design are perfect for kayaking in a lake or river. I am so impressed with the this Kayak. This is my 3rd kayak and now my favorite one. I HIGHLY recommend this Meriwether Kayak to anyone. Not sure who or why some of the other reviews above say what they do unless they are other kayak dealers trying to get people to come to their stores and spend more but this kayak is everything I need for kayaking. TOTALLY QUALITY AND IMPRESSIVE.

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06-03-2010
Submitted by: SLH

Rating: 10 of 10

     Just a word of caution on these Sam's club boats!!!!!!
The people and or person (I will not say any names and will remain vague due to i know how many hundreds of lawsuits they/he/she has been in) who sells these boats through Sams Club are complete posers. They don't care one tiny bit about providing a quality product or experience in the world of kayaking. They only care about getting the cheapest possible made product out the door for the absolute maximum dollar they can achieve. They have never actually done any kayaking themselves and the only thing they know about it is from listening to other people talk. Complete posers!!!!! That is also why you can never get in touch with the manufacturer...

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05-20-2010
Submitted by: Daryl P.

Rating: 2 of 10

     I bought this at Sam's thinking what a great deal, well I was with my friend who has a 12 foot Emotion kayak and my kayak is way thin and soft ... then on the second paddle, it filled up with water and almost sank. I hated it. I took it back for a refund and went to a real kayak dealer who showed me that you get what you pay for. Now I have a sweet Malibu stealth.

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05-07-2010
Submitted by: bbqman

Rating: 3 of 10

     A word of warning for potential buyers... I recently purchased this kayak at the local discount club and have used it now for about a month.. At first I was very pleased with it, taking short trips 10-30 mins. Recently I took a 3 1/2 hour run and it was a nightmare. As far as I know the hull has no leaks or holes, that being said, after about 2 hrs of paddling around in calm water I had 4-5 gallons of water in the hull and the center started to collapse. The sides where almost level with the water. The kayak started to bow in the center. To be fair I am 6' 4" 265 lbs. The sticker inside the unit states a max. of 230 lbs, however, their website states a max of 320 lbs so maybe it was overloaded. Anyways if your not petite this may not be the kayak for you.

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04-21-2010
Submitted by: robsmith

Rating: 10 of 10

     Verry nice boat. Tracks well with nice stability. Comes with a bunch of nice features including paddle, scupper plugs (a bit basic but nice to have) and roof top rack. I was surprised how good it was given I got it at SAMS club but the price was verry good... (about 450$)

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