Wilderness Systems Aspire 105

Ordered two, one came in fine, the other had several manufacturing blemishes/shipping?

Wilderness Systems Kayak I love this kayak. It's the fourth kayak I've owned and I love the 10.5 foot length, the ease of handling in and out of the water, the easy foot pedal arms, the easy use of the skeg,and the easy entry into the storage areas. The boat tracts straight even with rogher conditions. Okay with wind and white caps. Would buy it again.

My only complaint, actually a whish. I whish they made a twelve footer with a bow hatch like the stern. Just had my aspire 105 up on the lake section of the Allagash Wilderness waterway in Maine, in the first two weeks of June 2016. Had a least one storm every 24 hours wind and waves on the lakes was choppy to say the least, a 12 footer would have been a bit smoother ride. Having said that the 105 preformed very well, much faster than one would expect, with skeg down straight as an arrow and does well even when skeg gets stuck. Yes a gravel beach will jam it. Run a knife along the sides and it cleans right out. The seat, five star no problems, and you would not believe how much gear you can fit in this kayak. I had originally planned a 14 day trip allowing for some down time and fishing and was carrying more gear than needed because the weather forecast was shaky at best, cut the trip short after 8 days at Churchill Dam weather forecast was heading down hill for the next week, more rain and lower temps. Plan on returning in mid September to finish the trip. the only failure on the aspire was a loose screw on the rear handle, easy fix. As for stability impressive to say the least.

Absolutely love the Aspire 10.5 kayaks we purchased.

If you are looking to buy your 1st kayak like I did last year good luck searching it's confusing . I didn't want at cheap plastic kayak, I bought this one last fall and I am happy I made this choice , I am 6' and 240lbs and I wanted something stable and comfortable and this is great. I was looking for one to use on rivers and wanted a flat bottom and a easy access watertight hatch , this hatch I can reach behind and unlock it to get at my cooler it is perfect and watertight. I have been out 8 times so far and dumped it once that's how I know ( I thought I could get by a fallen tree - wrong ) when in doubt get out , very stable and easy in and out even when you are upside down. never a worry I was out of it fast. the skeg i leave out most of the time because with it up the kayak is all over the place (to maneuverable). the one thing I wish it had is a small watertight hatch where the console is to put your cellphone or camera otherwise the console hold a water bottle ok . make sure when the kayak arrives at your house you have a sharp knife because you will need it to unwrap it and inspect it, the thing it's wrapped up good and tight . mine was truck shipped they were great too. you can't beat wilderness systems kayaks . very happy

I can not thank you enough for this beautifully designed kayak! My other kayak sank so I bought this one --it had more features than I expected! Best one is extra room inside and sidewalls higher so less splash into boat and best of all, I can hang onto side walls and stand right up to get up---no stress on knees at all! Its because of higher side walls. Also--love the storage right behind the seat ! There is also the sealed storage container--didn't expect the boat to be so stable that I can turn around on my knees on the seat an access it while paddling! Another unexpected blessing is styrafoam piece between the foot pedals--it stops my fish and other gear from flopping down into nose of kayak! In my old kayak I had a 26" walleye escape down into the nose and had a hard time retrieving it to put on my stringer! Also, thank you ACK for the as usual, awesome customer service, prompt shipping, and extreme packaging!

These kayaks are AWESOME! Im a 300 pound person so weight was critical in my decision. By far best bang for the buck. I use them to get from my boat to shore. Very stable and easy to use for a first timer like me. To top it off I put my 70 pound dog in tje kayak to ride with me and didnt feel any stability issues at all. I highly recommend these to anyone. A huge shout out to ACK to for there wonderful service. Thank you

New to me, been out twice, both times on a lake so I don't have much river experience with it yet. Both days were very windy. The boat handles so incredibly well. The skeg is simply amazing. As a previous Perception beginner rec kayak owner, this kayak is such an incredible upgrade to me and love the stability. I'm still getting used to the slidetrax footage system, the 2015 105's hatch is entirely waterproofed though I haven't flipped it yet to try it. I love the cargo space and dashboard. Lastly, I absolutely love the seat design! It handles moving water well and feel very safe on a lake in very windy conditions... Even after speed boaters fly by me. At this time, the Aspire 105 is a great choice for me.

We just took our new Aspire 105's out for a paddle in Ventura harbor and are extremely pleased with thier performance. With the skeg up, these turn on a dime - extremely responsive just like the video but perjhaps even more so. I did a 360 in the same spot - wow!. With teh skeg down, the tracking and speed are very impressive (read: fast) for these sorter length kayaks. The seating system is wonderful - after 3 hours onthe water we were not uncomfortable in the least. We've rented many other types of kayaks on the California coast and own two Ride 115's (for ocean and fishing). We really like the relatively lighter weight of the Aspire's - we plan to use these on rivers, but for lakes they'd work just fine. We are also very happy with the customer service and orientation of ACK - the kayaks arrived on time and in perfect condition - brand new and in great shape (even a new smell!) - packaging is very impressive - not a scratch from shipping across country. Would definitely order from ACK again - they are excellent communicators via email and phone.

After trying several different types of kayaks I purchased two Aspire105's for my wife and I who are both in our mid 60's and we are new at kayaking. We both needed a kayak with a good adjustable seat which only Wilderness kayaks had. The 105 has everything that we wanted and with the drop down skeg made it a real plus. The Aspire 105 handles and tracks very well. On our second time out on the lake we paddled for four straight hours. ACK handled our purchase and their customer service is great.