The Global Paddling Community

IN BRIEF:

• Long creeking and big water boat
• Displacement hull with hard chines and flat bottom (semi-planing)
• Prijon's coex molded HTP plastic
• Excellent tracking and hole punching
• Relatively low rocker
• Very fast, good tracking yet still maintains high manuverability
• Carves well but chines can trip on rocks
• Not as good at waterfalls because of rocker and length, primarily in stern
• Early production models "pig-nosed" under high energy bow impacts

For large, deep creeks and rivers up to class V+: Highly recommended

For small, shallow creeks and rivers up to class V+: Recommended

For waterfalls: Excellent landing, but could use a bit more rocker

OVERVIEW

Granted, the Embudo has been around for a while now, but we had a pretty dismal creeking season this year, so I have only just recently had it anywhere interesting for photos and to check the performance under different circumstances. The Embudo is a fairly long boat compared to what most manufacturers are pushing these days like the Sniper, Java, Huck, Creeker 225, CFS etc. It compares more to boats like the Gus, Big Gun, Micro or any kind of boat designed for taking on very large rivers, punching deep hole piles and bridging squirrely water and small holes. Like many manufacturers, Prijon has tried to find a balance here between giving the hard carving chine that most kayakers have come to expect these days and a hull which responds favorably to rock impacts, so it is more of a hard-chined displacement hull style. And, of course, there's no point in making a planing hulled creeking kayak because ideally, you will always be in displacement.

RIVER PERFORMANCE:

As I mentioned, the Embudo prefers its water deep and nasty. If you are going to go into some monstrous Class V death run, the Embudo will definitely deliver the sense of confidence and ease of paddling necessary to keep you out of trouble. The reason I say deep and large is this:

• The length of the boat makes it difficult to maneuver through tight, rocky lines compared to shorter boats (duh)
• The hard chines can divert the boat in unexpected directions (but usually don't)
• It would be a shame to not use the carve if you don't need it

In essence, the Embudo has a larger scale than the Creeker 225 for example. And for these situations, it is outstanding. It tracks extremely well - if you need to go straight with a minimum of correction or sweep strokes, the Embudo does an outstanding job. It's better than the Big Gun in this respect which can have its high manuverability work against it in those situations. Also, punching holes is very easy, again a function of length and rocker - line up, get to speed and smash through (provided of course that punching through doesn't send you down into a solid mass of slackwater). And the Emubo carves very well, so you can hang onto your lazy technique or your draw stroke instead of having to bust out the Duffek when you need to get behind a rock or into an eddy. To this end, the Embudo plays to the market which has become so saturated by planing hulled boats and the technique used to paddle them that they can't stand anything without hard chines. For it's length and rocker, it is extremely nimble, but there are nimbler boats out there right now.

WATERFALLS:

Here's where the Embudo can become a little bit of a handful. The rocker and length conspire to make this a tough creekboat to boof by modern standards. Back in the day you really had to give a hard stroke at the lip of any drop to make sure your boat didn't cantilever into a piton angle. Most of the creekboats that I have tried recently almost boof themselves, or they will resurface with a lot of forward momentum if the angle is higher than expected. It takes more concentration to keep the Embudo from doing this, and it's a lot of boat to paddle at about 40# and 8'3". So, it's not hard to piton your landings or pogo stick in deep pools rather than penetrating cleanly and arcing gracefully back up to the surface. On the other hand, when you do boof, the Embudo lands with the softness of an displacement hull rather than the back-breaking splat of a playboat.

EARLY PRODUCTION ISSUES:

Early models of the Embudo would "pig-nose" under severe bow impacts. This is not a life-threatening equipment failure, in fact it doesn't even really affect the performance and it will pop back out if you leave the boat in the sun for an hour or two. Prijon has been very open about the problem and offers bow ram-caps for anyone who experiences this issue. However, the 2003 model now has thicker plastic in the bow end which seems to have corrected the problem. I have the distinguished honor of being the first person in America to pig-nose a 2003 Embudo... and I think under the circumstances, any boat would have been damaged, though most would not have healed themselves.

OUTFITTING:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Prijon uses the best plastic in the industry. And because they use the best plastic and best molding methods, they can get away with not putting structural pillars in the bow or stern of their boats, this is the most compelling reason to paddle an Embudo that I can think of - the safety factor of not having a pillar obstructing your exit is a big one. Plus, they are more comfortable to paddle and give you plenty of room for expedition style boating.

The seat and backband are fairly standard, but the ratchets that tighten the backband slipped a bit on mine when I put it through the paces. I've heard that this problem has already been addressed and corrected. The most annoying part of the outfitting for me however are the knobs used to secure the bulkhead straps. These are positioned exactly in front of my kneecaps with the way I sit and the seat position. The plastic grabloops are certainly tough looking, but they are hard to get a standard carabiner around and it might be nice to have a few more attachment points to get ahold of.

SUMMARY

On the whole, the Embudo is an excellent creekboat. For it's size and length, it is remarkably maneuverable. The advantages of HTP plastic are enough to put this boat above almost anything in its class. Even with the plethora of new creekboats out there, the Embudo has a well deserved reputation as being one of the best to this day.

GALLERY:

Because the Embudo has been around a while, there are some other independent, consumer reviews. I can't vouch for any of these people as knowing what they are talking about except "merrypster" who is an excellent local Utah creek boater.

"Merrypster"

The BoaterTalk user reviews for Embudo

And there's my previous article on it:

Embudo pre-review

Here endeth the Embudo review.