The Folbot CitiBot is probably my favorite kayak that I don’t own, have never paddled, and have never even seen in real life. That said, I still think I know more than the reviewer who wrote this short review on the Citibot at Wired:

CitiBot review in Wired

Click here or on the image above for the review.

Folbot owners seem to be quite rabid in their defense of their favorite brand, myself included. You might quite reasonably guess that the lone commenter is one such rabid Folbot fanatic (hereinafter “RFF”). Anyway, I agree.

This is not to say that all Folbots are perfect – I did have my share of issues, including some stitching that came apart on my Kodiak and less-than-perfect fit of parts in the Aleut. But I am still very happy with the kayaks. I have had no problems with my Kiawah, which is one of the new style of Folbots, like the CitiBot. Anyhow, it is clear to a fellow Folboter that the RFF’s comments have some basis, because if there is anything to complain about in a Folbot, it certainly isn’t that the topside zipper makes the CitiBot any less waterproof. My Kodiak has such a zipper on the front and the back and has been washed over many times by waves in rough seas without any problems. The Kiawah also has the same zipper arrangement as the CitiBot – again, no problems even in rough seas.

The Velcro straps are weak and are a poor choice? Really? I doubt the reviewer tried to pull apart two frame members strapped together by these allegedly weak Velcro straps. Again, this is not to say that these kayaks don’t have issues (very few issues), but these are not the issues to harp on if you actually know something about the boat.

In defense of the reviewer, however, I also don’t doubt that the reviewer means well – it’s just too bad that the pressure to create large volumes of original content is compromising the accuracy of these types of reviews.

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