First things first. There is the obvious factor to consider when pondering what sort of water-going small vessel one might want to purchase. The initial factor is, surprisingly, going to be weight. A traditional kayak will be quite heavy. A newer one is going to be lighter-weight but could still be a huge pain to get down from on top of a vehicle. However, there is luckily a third option: the inflatable kayak.

Inflatable kayaks are victim to the same range in price that a traditional small paddled boat falls under. Averaging from the low end of a low three hundred dollar price tag to a cost well over one thousand dollars, for both tandem and one person, a person looking to either upgrade or buy a kayak for the first time is in for a treat at the level of research he or she needs to do.

Traditional kayaks come in a wide variety of design, with many options to choose from in regards to shape and size. At a basic level, there is a 1 person kayak as well as a 2 person. Those definitely appear self-explanatory, but you might be surprised. A kayak that seats 1 person may be lighter, but there are also other things to worry about.

One needs to consider length, of course. Can one person managing this kayak by him or herself really negotiate an unwieldy, longer kayak? Here, one might consider an inflatable kayak to help with that problem. However, if one person gets him or herself onto trouble in the water, he or she will have no one to bail out him or her, both metaphorically and quite literally. Some traditional kayaks have a self-bailing system in order to get rid of extra water to avoid tipping over and/or possibly drowning. On the other hand, many do not have those self-bailing tools and systems and a lone kayaker may find him or herself in a bit of a lurch.

This is not to say, of course, that there are not risks to a 2 person or a "tandem". If you gets a lower priced,inflatable model, it might be more dangerous to have two people in it, being rough on a river or tributary. However, a higher end model would certainly benefit from having two people inside it for safety and speed. What it essentially boils down to is determining how much money to spend, where one will be on the water the most and under what type of conditions, as well as with whom, before making any purchase.