About the reviewer

Used to be affiliated with Riot. Spend most of my time on class IV creeks and rivers.

Test environment

Plenty of different III-IV+ runs, including a few creeks.

Review

This is by far my favorite kayak I've ever owned. It really does combine what is great about a creeker with what's great about a river runner. I have size 14 feet and this is a very roomy boat. In the last couple of years, I have gotten tired of doing long runs in my playboat with my legs falling asleep. The thunder is a very zippy boat- easy to turn, accelerate, and catch an eddy or wave on the far side of the river. It surfs very well for a large boat. It can even squirt on a very strong eddy line.

It is very stable, but even more easy to roll/brace. It doesn't resurface quite as great as a creeker would, but does very well. It doesn't stay on the surface quite like a magnum does, but still punches holes very predictably without stalling out.

On low-volume technical stuff, it does very well. Because it has an edge up front, shallow rock boofing on slanted launch pads isn't as controllable as a displacement hulled boat would be. But everything else is great on creeks.

All in all, it is my go-to boat nowadays. I am more confident in in in easy V than my creeker due to its maneuverability and ease of rolling. For really big rapids, (V+), I would like the extra volume and distribution of a creeker, but for 95% of the runs I do, the thunder is fantastic.

It is the perfect boat for those 20-mile class IV runs that might have a couple of nice surf waves, when it's a long day in a playboat, but there is no reason to have a creeker. It has enough volume to overnight out of easily.

I was sponsored by Riot when I got this boat. Riot is no longer, and I'm selling all of my Riot boats except this one. The astro and magnum are great boats, but the thunder is my favorite.

Conclusion

It's a "do-it-all" boat that no only *can* do it all, but does it well and is secure and fun at the same time. I have no problem leaving on a road trip with this as my only boat. It is basically 95% of the creeker that a creekboat is while being 10X the playboat.