Folbot News Room

Cooper by Folbot Kayaks

Posted By: Sea Kayaker
6/1/2008
Website: http://www.seakayakermag.com/
PDF: Sea Kayaker Cooper Review

The Review

FIRST GLANCE
Folbot’s Cooper makes a compact package that is “very practical for air transport. The light weight means you probably won’t have to pay extra for airline feeds because you can pack the kayak and a few miscellaneous items in the supplied backpack and still keep it under 50 pounds, the weight limit for a single bag. The black Hypalon hull and trim look sharp, clean and attractive. The hull is reinforced only at the very ends of the keel line, so you’ll want to be extra careful about dragging the boat on the beach” (GL). “The entire kayak comes in a nylon bag, including a paddle and repair kit. The Cooper seems to be made to be a light-duty kayak. The construction appears solid yet lightweight. The deck zippers are easy to use, even while the skin is tensioned. Assembly took exactly 30 minutes. The tensioning system is a breeze, allowing the frame to be inserted into the skin fully assembled” (JK). “To further stiffen the boat and add some stability and flotation, a pair of sponsons are blown up by mouth. I puffed, and the boat creaked its way to taut. Two medium-sized float bags provided are easy to blow up and insert in the bow and stern by unzipping the deck” (GL).

“The Cooper is very lightweight and easy to carry solo. The cockpit is well padded and comfortable on the shoulder” (LJ). “There are no end toggles, but two people can carry the Cooper comfortably with hands under the hull” (JK). “Car-topped, the kayak sags some; care should be taken if tying down the bow and stern to avoid overly stressing the frame” (GL).

FIT
The Cooper’s “roomy cockpit allows for easy entry and exiting. The somewhat rectangular shape of the coaming let me move around easily but left little on which to brace” (JK). GL, the tallest of the three reviewers found it “easy to sit down and bring my legs in afterward. Foot room is very good. I found that the fat coaming tube was more difficult that most to secure a spray skirt on; I had to really work it around the rounded coaming to be sure it wouldn’t pop off. Twisting for a brace or roll or reaching forward risked popping the skirt.”

The foam seat has a stiff plastic base and a mesh cover. Velcro on the bottom holds it in position on the frame. The seat can be moved fore and aft to adjust the trim of the kayak. JK “found the seat bottom comfortable but the back too tall for my short torso. During reentries, the seat stayed firmly attached, but the seat-back fell forward. I recommend adding a bungee to hold the back up.” “Plastic foot braces are mounted on a plastic rail that attaches to the chines. It seemed pretty secure and can be adjusted easily while underway” (GL). “The Cooper has bungees fore and aft of the cockpit. Either set can hold a spare paddle” (JK). There are no bungees for setting up a paddle-float outrigger.

STABILITY AND MANEUVERABILITY
The Cooper’s initial stability was rated as “moderate” (JK) to “very good” (LJ) and “excellent” (GL). Secondary stability was rated from “good” (GL) to “fairly strong—I had to work hard to put the Cooper on edge” (JK). It feels secure without feeling barge-like. You feel the waves passing underneath, and the boat tends to flex and ride up over waves rather than bore into them. Although the secondary stability is good, it has hampered by a lack of body contact with the boat, so control on edge needs improvement” (GL).

The Cooper “tracked very well” (LJ). It “is not a quick turned. It turns slowly but surely with a bit of lean and sweep strokes. In a 15- to 20-knot wind, it was well balanced and tracked pretty well on any course. It took some work for turning both upwind and down, and timing with the waves was needed to bring the boat around” (GL).

SPEED
GL noted the Cooper had “good speed, with decent glide for a folder.” LJ “accelerated to 4.5 knots with ease and maintained 4.5 knots with ease and maintained 3+ knots against the wind and current. I easily maintained an average speed of 4 knots.” JK “found the Cooper to be of average speed. I could cruise at 3.5 knots, exercise at 4.5 knots and max out at 6 knots.”

ROLL AND RESCUE
The wet exit from the Cooper was “one of the easiest I’ve ever done. The spray skirt presented no difficulties when removing it. The reentries were also extremely easy. The low back deck and long cockpit make it very fast and easy when climbing up on the back and in for a cowboy reentry” (LJ). JK found “holding the paddle to the foam-covered coming works better than trying to set up a paddle outrigger on deck. He “could roll the Cooper, but I had to work hard to brace myself in the cockpit. The high back deck and high seat-back prevented laybacks.”

CRUSING
Although JK thought “stowage space is limited—I think I could pack for a weekend in the Cooper, perhaps for a week,” LJ reported the cargo capacity as “huge. Since there are no hatches, you can jam almost anything you want in there. It’s just a matter of moving your articles past the frame parts.” Similarly, GL wrote that the Cooper has “excellent stowage, easily enough for a week or more, and the zippered deck allows quick packing of bulky items.”

“With 40 pounds of gear aboard, the primary stability stayed the same, but the secondary stability increase to very strong. I felt confident in leaning with out capsizing. The speed is similar, except the top speed dropped by half a knot. I did not notice much difference in the handling or maneuvering” (JK).

THE BOTTOM LINE
LJ thought the Cooper “would be a good choice for the paddler looking for long, multi-day excursions down gentle rivers or placid lakes. With its easy acceleration, speed, stability, folding camp chair seat, and being a dream to pack, even a novice would feel perfectly secure taking a long and winding trip and not worrying about having to keep up with the group on or off the water. This boat is perfect for some of the trips I’d love to do down rivers and canals in the US and Europe. Being a lightweight folding boat, it would be very easy to transport.” “The Cooper would be good for a novice paddler who prefers day tripping on protected waters. The skin tensioning system is unique and allows the frame to be fully assembled before skinning; a nice design” (JK). Great-looking boat-in-a-bag with a straightforward assembly and quick and easy gear loading. Best suited for milder paddling conditions at those faraway destinations” (GL).

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