Intex Excursion Pro K2

This is the boat where Intex spent money on material rather than on price. Three-ply PVC vinyl laminate over a polyester core is a proper construction: a PVC layer either side of a woven scrim, where the scrim is what stops a puncture propagating into a tear.

It is the most abrasion-tolerant skin in this registry, and it is why the Excursion Pro is our fishing pick despite everything else on this page.

Forty-eight pounds changes what the boat is for

At 48.14 lb, the hull alone is within two pounds of the 50 lb economy checked-bag limit. There is no packing strategy that fixes that. This boat does not fly.

It is also a third heavier than the next heaviest boat here, and twelve times the Advanced Elements PackLite. Once you accept that it lives in a car, the weight stops mattering much -- but it does close off an entire use case, and it is why we name it as the skip pick on the travel page.

Twelve feet seven is a lot of hull

Longer than the Sea Eagle SE370 by an inch, and 36 inches of beam. That combination is a stable platform to fish from, and long enough to track reasonably for an inflatable.

What it does not have is the SE370's capacity: 400 lb against 650, on a boat that is an inch longer and 16 lb heavier. That is the difference between big low-pressure tubes and a heavier, tighter-built hull.

The same two missing numbers

Like the Explorer K2, no published packed size and no published working pressure. On a boat that clearly is not going in a checked bag the first matters less, but you still need to know whether it fits your car.

The pressure omission is more frustrating here, because a heavier-built hull will generally take more pressure and reward it, and there is no way to know how much.

Who this is for, and who should skip it

Anglers who drive to the water. The skin tolerates hooks and gravel better than anything else here, 36 inches of beam is a stable place to sit and cast, and 400 lb holds a person plus a serious amount of tackle.

Skip it if you fly, walk, or live up stairs. Forty-eight pounds is a two-person lift into a car and a genuinely awkward thing to move alone.