{"id":1,"date":"2009-04-26T23:35:15","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T06:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/?p=1"},"modified":"2021-07-12T00:52:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T07:52:15","slug":"review-jackson-2fun-too-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/gear\/review-jackson-2fun-too-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"My Review of the Jackson 2Fun – TOO Fun!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I demo’d the Jackson 2Fun the other day and it was so great I don’t even think I need to demo another boat.\u00a0\u00a0(OK, update as of August 2009 – read my review of the Wavesport Fuse 48<\/a>.)<\/em>\u00a0 I’ve been paddling a Necky Jive ever since I started kayaking, which was pretty much a year ago except for\u00a03 or 4 river trips.<\/p>\n

The Jive is a much longer, heavier type of river runner boat that’s a great beginner boat and supposed to be excellent for ocean surfing, but on shorter river waves I was always getting the nose whipped around.\u00a0 From the photo below comparing the two you can easily see why:<\/p>\n

\"jivevsjackson\"<\/p>\n

I took the Jackson 2Fun on the Lower Gorge and the Headworks sections of the Green River – here’s my take on it:<\/p>\n

Forgiveness<\/h3>\n

From what I heard about moving from the Necky Jive to more of a playboat style like the 2Fun I expected to be getting flipped over every time a wave hit me sideways.\u00a0 (I’ve\u00a0got a really good roll but am more or less not so great at bracing.)<\/p>\n

Instead, I could not believe how forgiving this boat was.\u00a0 The stern is a litle bit more grabby, but overall once I got used to the edges I was able to get away with pretty much what I can do easily in the Jive.\u00a0 This was totally not what I expected (and a huge relief.)<\/p>\n

I also sit a bit lower in this boat, which made river reading a bit more difficult, but bracing easier.<\/p>\n

Comfort<\/h3>\n

I didn’t use the optional soft seat because I wanted to not sit too high – it would probably be fine, but I was comfortable without it.\u00a0 I know I\u00a0didn’t adjust the inflatable footbags as carefully as the Jackson people explain how to<\/a>, but I felt like I had decent foot support without it.<\/p>\n

The back band is really adjustable and I felt like between that and the shape of the boat I was able to use a much more forward stance than in the Jive.<\/p>\n

\"headworks030\"
Photo by Chris Peele<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Surfing<\/h3>\n

The 2Fun was a blast to surf in – in fact, after paddling like crazy to surf with the Necky Jive (and burying the nose and getting whipped around constantly), it was amazing to actually get onto a wave and, well, just surf!\u00a0 The edges were easy to use once I started trying.<\/p>\n

Tricks<\/h3>\n

Let’s just say I was able to do 2 or 3 actual vertical stern squirts, my first ever.\u00a0 I only got one out of every 10 or 15 attempts, but that’s not the boat’s fault.<\/p>\n

Rollability<\/h3>\n

The Jackson is super easy to roll, so much so that I actually flipped all the way over coming up from a roll.<\/p>\n

Carryability<\/h3>\n

After lugging around my 40 lb Necky Jive for a year, the Jackson 2Fun is like picking up a purse\u00a0– amazingly light.<\/p>\n

Maneuverability<\/h3>\n

I felt like it was easier to get a good line with the 2Fun because it’s lighter and easier for me to move sideways across the water, plus it’s a bit slower than the Jive so I had more time.<\/p>\n

Libby’s Review of the 2Fun<\/h2>\n

Now down to the important stuff.\u00a0\u00a0Libby’s not wild about kayaks in general (because\u00a0a paddle usually means she has to stay home) but she\u00a0gives\u00a0the 2Fun two paws up due to it taking up much less room in the back of the car:<\/p>\n

\"libbyand2Fun\"<\/p>\n

It also fits her pretty well, although I can definitely see she’s going to have trouble getting the skirt over that tail.<\/p>\n

\"libbyand2fun2\"<\/p>\n

(Yes, I have a very patient dog.)<\/p>\n

Overall…<\/h2>\n

I was seriously shocked at how easy and versatile the Jackson 2Fun was.\u00a0 It’s so forgiving that I think it would be a fine boat for a beginner, although I should mention that I really haven’t tried many of different boats.\u00a0 I do know that I didn’t notice a huge difference in stability between the\u00a02Fun and the Necky Jive, which is supposed to be a very good beginner’s boat.<\/p>\n

So overall, two thumbs up for the Jackson 2Fun – I can’t wait to get one!\u00a0:)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I demo’d the Jackson 2Fun the other day and it was so great I don’t even think I need to demo another boat.\u00a0\u00a0(OK, update as of August 2009 – read my review of the Wavesport Fuse 48.)\u00a0 I’ve been paddling a Necky Jive ever since I started kayaking, which was pretty much a year ago […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,360,7,44,5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}