About myself

I'm a pretty solid boater that has been paddling a Riot Magnum for the past 2 seasons. I've owned quite a few creek boats and have demo'd quite a few. In my opinion the riot Magnum is by far my favorite boat. Its very stable, resurfaces well, has pretty good speed, and turns on a dime. I always get to where I need to be. The only weakness I have experienced is the lack of volume (72 gallons). When running bigger water or carrying weight in the stern it does have a tendancy to stern squirt some.

About the test environment

On wednesday I picked up a Prijon Hercules from CKS to demo on the Pine Creek rapid and Numbers run on the Arkansas. The flow was 230 CFS and, believe it or not, still a very fun run.

Review

I put in about 50' above Pine Creek Rapid in the largest boat I've ever paddled, 83 gallons and 8'-8". I immediately felt as if I'd been paddling this Boat regularly. It felt stable, tracked and boofed great, and most important to me, the maneuverability was impressive. I caught one tight eddie after another, zig-zagged through slots and S-turns, launched over boulder after boulder (with barely a scratch), and never really noticed the extra length. There are no pillars front or back. The stern is large enough to probably camp out of for a week. The outfitting may be the best I've seen-check it out.

Conclusion

Although I've yet to test it on bigger water, I was so impressed that I pick up my new Hercules on Monday. Prijons are hard to find in the USA. CKS has several and a Demo. If you're looking for a larger volume boat that is stable and maneuvers well demo this boat and check out the outfitting.