Sit-on-Top Kayaking : A Beginner's Guide Reviews

• Read This One First...

  
  By A2Y67O8EN4O07I on 2000-05-19
  I wish Tom Holtey's "Sit-On-Top Kayaking" had been in print when I started ocean kayaking at age 55, nearly ten years (and 4 or 5 kayaking books) ago. Today, I'm grateful that it IS available as a packable, readable reference that always reminds me of the basics that are so important to beginners and veteran kayakers alike. Don't get me wrong - the books then available were good - just overweight with procedures I simply couldn't apply. This book delivers what it says on the cover - A Beginner's Guide - with clarity and directness, thanks to Mr. Holtey's lean text and Mr. Altman's line drawings. After several years of increasingly challenging coastal paddles, I have found that it is indispensable.
  
  

• BEGINNERS Guide....as the title suggests

  
  By A14SO48SN83R3U on 2000-08-18
  A bit expensive for a manual type guide (minus one star). The larger than normal type and simple language makes this guide an easy read and a very useful one, especially for those who are new to the sport of kayaking. The chapters on safety, rescues and signals could be literal lifesavers and are essential reading for anyone entering the paddling experience (ok..so if it saves your life..it's worth the price). However, if you are already familiar with the paddling basics (strokes, safety, etc), there's nothing much new here, except for some specific information tailored to sit-on- top type kayaks. For those planning to paddle in the ocean, chapters on waves, tides and kayak surfing are useful and informative.
  
  

• Short and Childish

  
  By AXRRN4ZRU9YE on 1999-12-27
  There's some information within, but the format of the book is awful and it's poorly written. They chose the font so that it could take up the most space possible, a trick that isn't usually tried after failing to work in highschool. Even so, many of the chapters don't last more than a page and a half. You could compress the book into a handbook one quarter the size, and lose no readability. Also, the heading fonts are terrible and do more to obfuscate than help. The illustrations, however, are very good.

  It reads like a children's book ("The paddle makes the kayak move"). There are a few checklists which are equally insipid (on the kayak checklist, the first thing you must remember to bring is...you guessed it...a kayak!). I bought this book because I had some specific questions, like, Should I get a kayak with a rudder? Two sentences were devoted to rudders, neither one of which answered my question. I feel cheated and insulted that I paid money for this. I've gotten more information casually surfing the web!
  
  

• No words of wisdom here.

  
  By on 2002-08-12
  Spend the money on a good basic sea kayaking
  book. There are some good ones out there, but
  this is not one of them.
  
  

• A must have book for all levels of kayakers

  
  By ALRY0OWQVZ1AZ on 2000-03-02
  Tom Holtey has had several decades of experience in kayaking and it shows. The information in this unique book is an easy read, but by no means trivial. The obvious target is the beginner, but there are many details that the experienced kayaker will find useful. I have personally paddled with Mr. Holtey, and I can vouch that he knows his stuff, and practices what he preaches! If you are considering kayaking, there are other books on the subject are very detailed and you may want to purchase them. However, if you want a book that distills all of the information into a concise form that you will remember when you are out there in the awesome blue world that all kayakers know and love, then get this book.
  
  
• A "must-have" for all beginner kayakers.
  By on 1999-07-03
  I read the book as an advanced beginner, and I still learned much from Mr. Holtey's excellent directions. It was like having a personal kayak instructor.
  
  
• A Good Basic Buy
  By A289OEKA4S15C4 on 2003-07-03
  I'm still a bit new to SOT kayaking and I found that this book offered some excellent information and suggestions - the checklists were very helpful when I began equipping my kayak. Really solid, basic information!
  
  
• Very Basic
  By AFQO668ULG1TJ on 2005-09-16
  As the title suggests the book is for a beginner, however I was disappointed with how basic the information was. I am new to Kayaking and had found that most of the information is available on the kayak vendor's web pages, which I had already read. On the plus side the book is well written and easy to read. I would only purchase the book if you are still deciding to purchase a Sit on top kayak versus a Sit in kayak.
  
  
• A very basic book.
  By A123DUSQJMTEQD on 2007-01-26
  This book would be good for someone who has never even seen, much less paddled, a kayak. Otherwise, anyone who has been out 1 or 2 times will find this book a bit thin on content. I would recommend "Sit-On-Top Kayaking" by Dennis Stuhaug as a better, more comprehensive beginner's book.
  
  
• Not useful
  By ALB3H2I3JIJJ1 on 2007-04-21
  This was a waste. There have to be many, many better books related to sit-on-top kayaking. Really, after getting into the hobby, this book was very rudimentary and didn't cover much of the more useful information about kayaking. Granted, there isn't much to sit-on-top kayays. Still, a beginners video (or class) on paddle strokes would be much more beneficial. The strokes were the one thing that was pretty well covered in the book, though. (I actually passed on the sit-on-top type and am now on my second sit-inside kayak, which is much better for me).
  
  

• Basic Essentials Sit-on-Top Kayaking, 2nd (Basic Essentials Series)
• Kayak Fishing: The Ultimate Guide
• Kayakfishing : The Revolution
• Kayaking Made Easy, 3rd: A Manual for Beginners with Tips for the Experienced (Made Easy Series)
• Go Paddle - Beginning to Intermediate Kayak and sit-on-top