Driftsun Rover 120 Review
Rating
Performance: 4
Size/Weight: 7
Durability: 7
Setup: 8
Value: 7
OVERALL: 6.6
The obvious choice for whitewater addicts.
The Dirftsun Rover 120 shines on rapids up to class IV, with a drop-stitch floor providing the requisite firmness and nice touches like a GoPro mounting strap rounding out the package. For a smaller kayak, it also has a fairly generous weight rating of up to 300lbs/136kg, so with some skill, you should be able to get a picnic lunch down those gnarly drops.
Comparison
Rank: #7
Open Size: Big (thicker tubes)
Packed Size: Small
Weight: Fairly heavy
Capacity: High
Best For: Rapids baby!
Pros: Firm drop-stitch floor, removable tracking fin, self-bailing drainage ports.
Cons: Not great speed and tracking in flat water, and Driftsun doesn’t make or include a repair kit.
Verdict: Can’t go past it if rapids are your thing.
Skip ahead to First Impressions, Setup/Packdown, Paddling Experience, or the Final Verdict, check out how the Driftsun Rover 120 compares to others in our list of the Top Ten Inflatable Kayaks, or see how we choose the best inflatable kayak.
Specs:
Open Size: 290cm x 91cm
Packed Size: 71cm x 53cm x 23cm
Weight: 9.9kg
Capacity: 136kg
Approx Price: £948.16
First Impressions
From the outset, it’s clear this is a kayak built for durability. Its 1000 denier reinforced PVC body and drop-stitch floor feel comfortingly thick and are clearly made to withstand all sorts of bumps and scrapes, as well as provide a pleasingly firm surface to paddle against.
There are also a bunch of features that are clearly going to be useful even before inflating, like the splash guard, handles, and GoPro mount (because if nobody’s seen you crush those sick drops, have you really done them, bro?). There are a couple of considerations here that we wouldn’t usually set too much stock by on smoother water but for white water are essential, like the five self-baling ports on the floor of the kayak (these can slow you down on smooth water, but are necessary if a lot of water’s going to be entering the kayak). There’s also a pleasingly long removable skeg that must be removed for rocky water, but means that the kayak won’t be a nightmare to paddle on calm water.
From a practical point of view, we liked that the bag is big enough to fit the kayak and its included paddle and pump, as this is not always the case. At 22lbs/9.9kg, it’s a very achievable carry to the water.
Setup/Packdown
Inflating the Driftsun Rover is nice and simple - there are three inflation points with Halkey-Roberts style valves (these are the types that have a push button in the middle for quick deflation, definitely preferred over a style that you need to manually de-inflate), all placed in close proximity to one another. We inflated the two sides then the floor, but as far as we could tell through all our testing, it doesn’t really matter what order you do it in.
The key accessories are a firm foam-padded seat that’s simply clipped in, and a footrest that adjusts along lines of velcro - both easily installed.
In terms of packing it away, being full PVC it’s easy to dry off before deflating and storing back in the bag. We had to try folding it again to get it back in the bag with pump, paddle and seat as the first time we hadn’t folded it down small enough, but with practice that wouldn’t be an issue.
Paddling Experience
We first tested the Driftsun Rover out on calm water. For a kayak mainly geared towards whitewater, we were pleasantly surprised. With the skeg in, it tracked ok in a straight line, unlike some other kayaks more suited to whitewater (looking at you, Airhead Montana). There are definitely other kayaks that would track much better on calm water, but for a whitewater-geared kayak it did pretty well.
The drop-stitch floor provided a really nice firm feeling underneath, while the footrest, though the velcro attachments couldn’t take too much pushing, gave something to work against.
We also liked the firm foam seat, as a firmer feel is our preference - if you prefer the softer feel of an inflatable seat though, you may find you start to get uncomfortable if you’re going to be in the kayak for a long period of time.
The only other thing we’d add is that owing to the generous width of the side tubes, and the thinness of the seat, reaching the paddle into the water took some effort and getting used to, especially if you’re more used to paddling hard shell kayaks with thinner sides.
We also took the kayak out on a choppy lake to test how it went with waves - the water came in and was quickly dispatched by the self-baling ports. The profile does rock up slightly at the bow and stern of the kayak, making it that little bit more efficient at getting over waves and avoiding the nose plowing into the oncoming wave when you’re on the down slope.
Me and my usual testing buddy love whitewater rafting but we’re not super confident on whitewater on our own, so we asked a friend to test it out on class III rapids. His report was that it handled excellently and did a great job of letting water drain out of it. His one gripe was more about inflatable kayaks on the whole, in that there was a bouncy feel against the rocks that he wasn’t used to (as opposed to the feel of a hard-shell kayak). However, he had a great time with it.
Final Verdict
The Driftsun Rover 120 is a well designed, durable kayak perfectly suited to whitewater, with the ability to actually paddle it on calm water without wanting to get out immediately. We’d love to see a repair kit included given its whitewater usage, but really, this is an excellent option if you’re after an inflatable whitewater kayak.
Looking for something more suited to calm water? Have a peek through our list of the Top Ten Inflatable Kayaks of 2024.
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