The Native Watercraft “Slayer Propel 13” took many of the successful features from the original Slayer line and made them better with the addition of an updated Propel drive system. Superb handling and forward and reverse set the Slayer Propel 13 apart from the competition. With an open bow hatch, center electronics console with thumb screws, new Super Seal scupper plugs, and a large open cockpit this will sure to be the leader in pedal powered kayaks.
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If you’ve tried out a Propel kayak recently and it wasn’t the new Slayer Propel 13 you owe it to yourself to give it a second try. I was able to give this kayak a 10 minute test run at this year’s Outdoor Retailer and it did not disappoint.
The seat has been set at the perfect height allowing your hips to stay in line with the drive system. Hearing Woody Callaway explain the scientific process of how they found the perfect level for the kayaker’s hips was very interesting. Woody said (and I’m paraphrasing) “I stuck a bunch of foam under my ass until it felt right”. Pedaling the Slayer felt very natural, I didn’t feel like I was pedaling up an incline like previous Propel models. It was also very easy to adjust the seat which has been mounted on rails. A quick turn of the knob and I was able to loosen, slide the seat into position, and tighten back down. While on the water one of the Hobie Pro Team members was in a Revo 11. I was able to easily keep up with and even outpace the Revo 11 at a comfortable cruise. Pedaling the kayaks all out, the Slayer Propel was faster than the Hobie Revolution 11. A better comparison would have been racing a Hobie Revolution 13 but that kayak wasn’t on the water at the time of my demo. One con about the seat on the Slayer Propel is that it no longer has a high and low position. The Slayer Propels seat feels like it is right in between the high and low position of the original Slayers.
Deck layout was similar to the original Slayers but you lose the side Plano storage areas and gain one behind the seat. They have also switched the screws on the electronics console with thumb screws so you can easily access it without tools. I’m not sure how much use the center electronics console will get in the Slayer Propels because when the drive is down it covers the console. Native does add 2 extra rails on either side that will allow you to mount accessories and electronics and still clear the Propel.
Hopefully I’ll get one in October so I can do a more detailed review. This kayak was my top pick for best kayak at Outdoor Retailer 2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Update (2/24/14) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve now owned my Slayer Propel for 3 months. I’ve used it in lakes, ponds, rivers, saltwater flats and bays. The Slayer Propel is still one of my “Go To” kayaks in many situations and will be my “Go To” kayak whenever covering any distance.
I was initially worried about the higher seat position making the boat less stable but I’ve had it in 3ft rollers so far and the kayak did fine. You just have to be mindful of your center of gravity just like standing.
Many “fishing” kayaks now days are coming pre-rigged with a ton of rod holders and accessories. I appreciate that Native Watercraft hasn’t done this with the Slayer Propel. I’ve been able to add exactly what I need and am not left with a bunch of crap I don’t.
The Propel drive is great a covering distance and quickly with minimal fatigue. You might notice you back getting stiff after a few hours of use. This is easily solved by reclining the seat back to a 45-60 degree angle. This takes a ton of pressure off you lower back. My only issues with the Propel drive is its horrible performance in grass and its loud vibrations while peddling.
At the Adventure Fishing World Championship in the Florida Everglades we had to travel for several miles across grass flats. If the drive comes in contact with sea grass it will quickly wrap around the prop and cause noticeable issues in performance. I had to constantly pull up and clear the prop of debris. Sometimes I was able to pedal in reverse quickly to remove any unwanted vegetation but more often than not I had to pick up the drive to manually clear it.
The drive while being pedaled is also very loud. The vibrations are amplified by the hull which quickly spooked any fish on the flats. A possible solution would be to add some thin moleskin where the drive rests on the kayak to prevent the kayak amplifying the drives vibrations.
Would I still recommend this kayak? Yes… Would I recommend it to someone who fishes grass flats frequently? No…
Have had the Slayer 13 for about 3 months now with about 25ish trips on it. I love the ability to peddle and if for some reason I cannot peddle, it paddles very well also. It is heavy...get a good cart. I have the C Tug and it works like a champ. For me loading and unloading is a bit trying with the design of the rudder. As for the rudder do yourself a favor and get a BooneDox rudder (or some other rudder extension) as the standard rudder leaves a bit to be desired in my opinion. I just did not find it responsive enough (especially at slow speeds).
This thing is stable. I thought my Slayer 14.5 was stable, but this thing blows the 14.5 out of the water. I am a big guy and I have no problem standing and fishing.
Tracks galore to mount just about anything you need to mount. No drilling for the most part.
The Native first class seat is a dream to sit and peddle in. My longest trip so far has been about 6 hours and I got out and felt just fine.
It is a bit pricey but if you demo one you will buy one. Well worth the extra money for me.
I have been a Slayer Propel owner for around 3 months and have enough time in it to write an informative review. The reason I went with this boat was for the pedal drive. Before the Slayer Propel came out I demoed a Mariner and an Outback on the same day. I liked the bicycle motion of the propel drive more than the stairmaster style of the mirage drive. When the Slayer Propel was introduced, I knew it would suit my needs.
The Good: This thing is fast and it takes very little effort to maintain a good clip. I'm talking 4 mph on the GPS no problem. And the best thing is that the wind hardly affects it. Stability is way up there. Day one I was standing in some pretty decent chop. Sitting down I am very confident in the boats limits, not even crazy wakeboard boats kicking up wake has made me uncomfortable. The seat is as good as my Jackson Cuda, 5 hour days with no pain whatsoever. There are rails everywhere, which is perfect for me. No drilling necessary.
The Bad: This is a heavy girl, invest in a good cart. I use a c-tug and it is top notch. The boat is a challenge to load and launch. This us due to the weight as well as the rudder design. The rudder is unprotected and is essentially part of the keel line. It can easily get banged up if you treat it like your old paddle kayak. I load it stern first into my truck bed as well as stern first into the water. The rudder is also too small in my opinion. The responsiveness is poor with the stock rudder and the turning radius too wide. I modified my rudder by adding 7" of length to it with some aluminum diamond plate that I fabricated. The modification made a huge difference, it does stick out past the stern of the boat and it makes loading a bit more difficult. To solve that, I just push the rudder full left or right and it is near even with the stern.
Overall this is one fine fishing machine. The Propel drive is a dream, keeping your hands on the rod and the boat on position. It is expensive, but in my brief experience it has changed the way I fish and I am catching a lot more.
First trip out had to carry up and down a muddy hillside, not an experience I want to repeat. It was faster than I expected and steering took some getting use to, but when I bought it was told to take it out and play with it to get used to controls(Wise suggestion,suggest everyone heed this). I felt they could use a few more attachment points for leashes. I bought the slip in tie points only to find out they were wider than the tracks but simply replaced the bottom piece with a nut that fits inside the track. Loved the stability, stood on one side and rocked it and didn't flip it. Casting while standing is easy in this yak once you get your sea legs.Overall I love it, worth every penny, just avoid steep hillsides when you can. A friend who helped lug it down the hill(too rough for trolley) described it as stable as a barge but just as heavy.In defense of the slayer I did have it loaded to fish when we went down. I chose to pedal a mile top nearest boat ramp to pull out,much much easier using a jeep to get it up hill:)
