OVERVIEW

Pedal-driven kayaks have revolutionized the way people get on the water, whether they’re searching for fish, relaxation or a deeper connection with the natural world around them. But like all new technology, pedal-drive kayaks have been overly expensive since their invention. 

We wanted to make walking on water accessible to everyone. And that’s what we did. Now, in our 5th year of connecting you to the water, we’re very excited to introduce you to what we feel is the ultimate pedal drive kayak at a price that can’t be beat.   

MEET THE NOMAD

The Nomad is your go-anywhere vessel, boasting the ultimate combination of speed, stability and maneuverability. It’s fast enough to reach those birds three miles offshore, stable enough to stand up and sight cast at redfish for hours on end, and nimble enough to pluck largemouth out of those backwater honey holes. 

PERFORMANCE

The beauty of pedal drive kayaks is their ease of use. There’s no “form” to master, therefore no prior experience is necessary to fully enjoy your time on the water. Anyone can hop in the Nomad and begin their next adventure! 

The Freedom Drive simply drops into a pair of secure drive locks, and with a push of the feet, the fins move side-to-side and propel you forward. This side-to-side movement mimics how a penguin’s wings allow it to glide through the water.

Steering is as easy as a flick of the wrist. The rudder drops down by simply releasing a pull cord in the cockpit, and moving the steering lever left or right turns the boat in that direction.

We combined over 75 years of kayaking experience to design the ultimate sit-on-top kayak hull. The result is a kayak that handles beautifully whether it’s being pedaled with your legs or paddled with your arms.

DESIGN

We started with a tried and proven hull design and made improvements based on our combined 75 years of paddling and kayak fishing experience. And the result… is stunning. 

We have redesigned a classic hull and turned something good into something great. The new hull has the perfect rocker to ride smoothly over open ocean swell and yet still track straight as an arrow. We added additional flair to the bow of the boat to keep it as quiet as possible while riding through small wind chop and keep you from spooking the fish that you are stalking. Additionally we increased the hull stability to allow for better stand up sight casting and an overall more secure feeling out in any conditions. This has been a long process and we are super excited to have an amazing new addition to the Lightning Kayaks family.

Other improvements include an oversized transducer pocket beneath the hull provides ample room for even the largest downscan transducers from the best Depth Finders in the industry. 

We ditched the inaccessible front hatch to keep the inside of the hull bone dry on rough days, but with two large tankwells at the bow and stern, there’s plenty of room to store all the gear you’ll need for your next adventure.

Installing a Power Pole Micro Anchor is a breeze thanks to a built-in mounting location at the stern, so you can anchor at the push of a button.

Each of the four flush-mounted rod holders comes paired with an attachment point for a leash, so you don’t have to worry about losing your rods in case of an unsolicited swim session.

Miles of gear tracks allow for unlimited flexibility in mounting your depth finder, camera boom, more rod holders or any combination of accessories you can dream up. 

On impact, the rudder pops up into a protective recess in the hull, preventing damage should you run into obstacles or shallow water.

DURABILITY

We’ve kept costs down by keeping our team small and our overhead low so that we could deliver a premium kayak at a reasonable price. We knew we needed premium materials to build the ultimate kayak, so we partnered with an industry-leading plastic manufacturer to ensure we used the best.

The Nomad is proudly Made in the USA at our rotomolder in Houston, Texas. We manufacture it using a super linear high density polyethylene, the exact same material used in kayaks that are double the price of ours.  And we overbuild our boats with a wall thickness above industry standards to handle the rigors of the every day kayaker, not just the weekend warriors.

WHERE YOU COME IN

We believe in this project so much that we took on huge financial risks to get this kayak to the  production stage on our own. We chose a Flexible Funding campaign because we’re all in, and we will bring this product to life no matter what.

But we need your help to order the bulk materials necessary to begin full-scale production of the Nomad.

Your contribution will be used for purchasing raw materials such as plastic and hardware parts, as well as labor costs such as “cooking” the boats and outfitting them with all the features we packed into this kayak. 

We could have gone a different direction to acquire the funding we needed, but we wanted to engage paddlers and adventure-seekers alike and offer the Nomad at a steep discount for those interesting in being a part of the movement from day one.

RISKS & CHALLENGES

We took many risks in deciding to undertake this project, but many of those have been addressed or never came to fruition at this stage. The prototypes have been put through the paces, and at this point only fine tuning and minor tweaks need to be made.

One challenge we face is the current global shipping costs, but thanks to Stu’s relationships and contacts through his paddle company, we are working through those challenges to get our shipping costs as low as possible. We also “eat” a large portion of every shipping charge to provide you with the best possible value we can.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

If you aren’t in the market for a kayak at this time, you can still help us get the word out! Share this campaign with your friends, co-workers, family members or on your social media channels to help us bring the magic of walking on water to the masses.