I figured I would come back to this video to provide my experience with these two kayaks. I've had the chance to demo both kayaks. They were both fully rigged with xi3, livescope, foot steering, black pack pros, fish finders, (gearpod on nucanoe), etc. I'll try to explain why I am personally going with the Nucanoe Unlimited. For size reference, I am 6'0 240 lbs and wear 34 inch inseam pants. I suppose a disclaimer would be that I am not that experienced in a kayak and I'm used to a bass boat(and the room that comes with that). That being said, I felt more cramped in the PWR than I did in the Nucanoe. The lack of anything in the middle of my leg room made a much bigger difference than I thought it would. I enjoyed being able to stand off balance and in different foot placements on the unlimited vs being confined to 1 foot on each side of the dry pod. I enjoyed the swivel seat more than I thought I would. I thought the foot steering was smoother, higher quality, and more effective on the unlimited. I thought it was definitely more stable, and handled quick adjustments from the xi3 better. I also love how I can have a fully removable livescope setup/head unit/50ah battery using the gear pod. Nucanoe's transducer retract system was great. Balancing and trimming the boat was much easier to achieve with the seat adjustments on the unlimited. I enjoyed both kayaks much more than I thought I would coming from a boat. The PWR had very few flaws, but, overall, the Nucanoe Unlimited just did everything a little bit better. With my current nucanoe configuration, I could have achieved the same configuration with the PWR for roughly $700 less, but the benefits of the unlimited were more than enough to justify that price for me. Before I tested both kayaks on the water, I was fully sided towards the Bonafide, but it paid to go into this with an open mind. If anyone actually reads this and has any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them!
I appreciate your insight. My big question: Assuming that Nucanoe admits that the 3hp NK300 is doable (considering their stated 2.5hp limit and I own the NK300), have you experienced 5+ mph in either kayak? My 8 yr old Native SP13 goes about 6.5 to 7mph with the NK300. I typically run it 5.5 to 6mph to give me more battery range. I'm a SE Louisiana inshore saltwater fisherman and if I get any significant chop (often) I will get wet. That's okay in the summer at 80+ degrees, but I fish all year. Do your have any experience with the speed in the Nucanoe with a rear-mounted motor and does it provide a dry ride in at least light chop? My plan would be to add a small (inexpensive) trolling motor to the front for fishing movement and emergency "get-home" propulsion.
@@michaell1665 Hey man! I'm from LA, small world. Living in GA now. I haven't experienced 5+ mph. The fastest I've gone was 4.8 with the xi3 in the front. I have been in lots of chop going around 4 mph though, and you do take a small amount of water over the bow, but I never get wet because I sit so far back in the kayak. That's with a lot of weight in the front, so I would imagine if you had less weight up front, you would be in even better shape. I know a bunch of guys that run the nk300 no problem at all on unlimiteds. What I mentioned about the foot steering is even more important for you.
@@michaelsanchez3659 I moved my NK300 from my Slayer Propel 13 to my ATAK 120 which I never used much. I even spent the money for the foot pedal controls on the ATAK and I found this steering too hard to slide and uncomfortable. I ended up very effectively creating a tiller steering pole using old graphite fishing rods - very effective, easy to control and now I use the same tiller on my SP13 since I moved the NK300 back to the Slayer. I'm ready now for a roomier kayak, strongly considering the Pro 128 and the XTR 130. Now also have to consider the Unlimited!
@@michaell1665 I agree, the sliding foot steering is tough with the nk300. But the cable foot steering nucanoe offers can definitely handle it. Strongly encourage you to demo all the kayaks you're considering though. That's the best way to make a good decision.
So, add the rudder to the Unlimited and you basically have the same yak for a bit less $$ 😎. The plus goes to the Bonafide bc the rudder cables are internal 😉 Thanks for the great video BP 👊😎
Thanks man. The rudder control from Nucanoe is $400 extra so it does make it more expensive than the PWR129. It just depends on what deck layout you want honestly
Love my nucanoe , great for casting , stand up sight fishi g trout ect. Great for jigging walleye s, ausable river , manistee river mich, like a small river boat & get where others can,t
How is the PWR129 on flat water like lakes and reservoirs. My first kayak was a RS117, and I loved it but I had to sell it. Been looking hard at the Unlimited. I prefer to bow mount a motor and I like to stand and fish
Thanks for this video, this is exactly the decision I'll be making later this year. Would you say the Bonafide handles current slightly better? I'll be primarily fishing lakes, but may get a wild hair every once in a while, strip everything off the kayak and go down a creek/river.
i would say it does. it has a shallow draft and goes across the water nicely. The drop down rudder is needed for tracking. The Unlimited can handle rivers but its home is flat water. Both Bonafide and Nucanoe make phenominal river fishing kayaks in the Flint and the RVR119
These are the two best quality fishing kayaks out there. Unlimited will be slightly more stable but not a night and day difference. The PWR129 goes across the water a little easier though
I'm looking to replace my NK300 motorized Native SP13, moving the NK300 to a more stable, drier running (in chop at 5-6 mph) kayak. I'm considering the new, expensive 150 lb behemoths, but perhaps the Unlimited might work. I might even be able to get a demo or used unlimited! I actually was ignoring Nucanoe, but maybe I shouldn't! They do claim it can only handle 2.5hp!
@@michaell1665 don't sleep on the PWR129! The Unlimited is great if you want more of an open deck. Watch my video I did on the Nucanoe EPS system as that would be best for your NK300 motor
Do you think you could do a video on adjusting both rudder and foot control on pwr 129 ?? I haven't seen any videos on it . I have done everything right and been having issues with rudder , besides that I love this kayak it paddles awesome. I appreciate your videos .
The problem is my rudder it only works when it's out of the water , i have to manually deploy rudder , and my foot controls don't always work . I tighten the screw on the rudder, and that helps a little . Thank you for responding to my question.
I’ve talked with dealer and said that they can sell titan without pedal drive I’m willing to buy it that way I have a pelican with swivel seat love it but I also like the bonafied but I’m not sure about getting to the yak box in the back without leaning over the seat
I'm all out of Newports at the moment. I did do a Newport on a Titan X video and everything is included but the battery. Newport have everything you need which is why I like it
In regards to the rudder: it’s good for micro adjustments at slow speeds. I put my terrova to speed 3 and could easily navigate a bank. I would not feel comfortable using it at any speeds faster than that. It feels like the rudder is too small to handle it. There was also some issues with the pedals getting stuck. I applied some WD-40 dry lube and it helped tremendously. The rudder also has a hard time deploying. After you release it you kind of have to wiggle the pedals to get it to fully deploy.
@@TimG3394 I had the same issue with the rudder deploying. The rudder is spring loaded and there is an adjustment to help with that. It helps a great deal. The pedals do good by me but once you get some lake water on it some dry grease works wonders instead of rinsing it off everything. Great feedback!
Also, didn’t mean to reply to osprey. But for his question, the nucanoe will be more stable. Stability is a hard thing to quantify though, there’s a lot of factors. I’ve been in an unlimited once and now own the PWR. The PWR has less initial stability but the secondary stability that kicks in is great. You’ll be able to stand and fish in both. If stability is your biggest concern, go with the unlimited.
Do you have a link to a video that gives us an idea of what size battery is best and how long it will last? Can we run on the motor all day or do we need to Mix in some paddling to be able to go all day. TIA.
You missed one. Bonafide offers limited LIFETIME warranty on manufacturing defects and 5 years on hull wear and tear Nuconoe offers 3 years on manufacturing defects...that's it... A company that stands behind their products? There is no comparison here.
Nucanoe offers free parts for Life. This is kind of splitting hairs on warranty. Mfg defects are typically going to show up pretty quickly. Normal wear and tear is not covered under that obviously Thanks for watching and for the feedback!
@@thebeardedpaddlerI’ve always wondered how a kill switch would work on a bow mount motor. I’ve had many bow mounts on bass boats and always had a concern over no kill switch. Could you point me to an example? Great video by the way. I’m leaning toward the PWR since it offers a lot more for the money, but I’m old with bad knees so stability is important. Hope to water test both soon.
The rudder and foot control is obsolete on PWR129 if you use the Xi3. Way easier to use the remote control to go slightly left or right. And if you use the back motor you have to take it off anyway.
I figured I would come back to this video to provide my experience with these two kayaks. I've had the chance to demo both kayaks. They were both fully rigged with xi3, livescope, foot steering, black pack pros, fish finders, (gearpod on nucanoe), etc.
I'll try to explain why I am personally going with the Nucanoe Unlimited. For size reference, I am 6'0 240 lbs and wear 34 inch inseam pants. I suppose a disclaimer would be that I am not that experienced in a kayak and I'm used to a bass boat(and the room that comes with that). That being said, I felt more cramped in the PWR than I did in the Nucanoe. The lack of anything in the middle of my leg room made a much bigger difference than I thought it would. I enjoyed being able to stand off balance and in different foot placements on the unlimited vs being confined to 1 foot on each side of the dry pod. I enjoyed the swivel seat more than I thought I would. I thought the foot steering was smoother, higher quality, and more effective on the unlimited. I thought it was definitely more stable, and handled quick adjustments from the xi3 better. I also love how I can have a fully removable livescope setup/head unit/50ah battery using the gear pod. Nucanoe's transducer retract system was great. Balancing and trimming the boat was much easier to achieve with the seat adjustments on the unlimited.
I enjoyed both kayaks much more than I thought I would coming from a boat. The PWR had very few flaws, but, overall, the Nucanoe Unlimited just did everything a little bit better. With my current nucanoe configuration, I could have achieved the same configuration with the PWR for roughly $700 less, but the benefits of the unlimited were more than enough to justify that price for me.
Before I tested both kayaks on the water, I was fully sided towards the Bonafide, but it paid to go into this with an open mind. If anyone actually reads this and has any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them!
I appreciate your insight. My big question: Assuming that Nucanoe admits that the 3hp NK300 is doable (considering their stated 2.5hp limit and I own the NK300), have you experienced 5+ mph in either kayak? My 8 yr old Native SP13 goes about 6.5 to 7mph with the NK300. I typically run it 5.5 to 6mph to give me more battery range. I'm a SE Louisiana inshore saltwater fisherman and if I get any significant chop (often) I will get wet. That's okay in the summer at 80+ degrees, but I fish all year. Do your have any experience with the speed in the Nucanoe with a rear-mounted motor and does it provide a dry ride in at least light chop? My plan would be to add a small (inexpensive) trolling motor to the front for fishing movement and emergency "get-home" propulsion.
@@michaell1665 Hey man! I'm from LA, small world. Living in GA now. I haven't experienced 5+ mph. The fastest I've gone was 4.8 with the xi3 in the front. I have been in lots of chop going around 4 mph though, and you do take a small amount of water over the bow, but I never get wet because I sit so far back in the kayak. That's with a lot of weight in the front, so I would imagine if you had less weight up front, you would be in even better shape. I know a bunch of guys that run the nk300 no problem at all on unlimiteds. What I mentioned about the foot steering is even more important for you.
@@michaelsanchez3659 I moved my NK300 from my Slayer Propel 13 to my ATAK 120 which I never used much. I even spent the money for the foot pedal controls on the ATAK and I found this steering too hard to slide and uncomfortable. I ended up very effectively creating a tiller steering pole using old graphite fishing rods - very effective, easy to control and now I use the same tiller on my SP13 since I moved the NK300 back to the Slayer. I'm ready now for a roomier kayak, strongly considering the Pro 128 and the XTR 130. Now also have to consider the Unlimited!
@@michaell1665 I agree, the sliding foot steering is tough with the nk300. But the cable foot steering nucanoe offers can definitely handle it. Strongly encourage you to demo all the kayaks you're considering though. That's the best way to make a good decision.
So, add the rudder to the Unlimited and you basically have the same yak for a bit less $$ 😎. The plus goes to the Bonafide bc the rudder cables are internal 😉
Thanks for the great video BP 👊😎
Thanks man. The rudder control from Nucanoe is $400 extra so it does make it more expensive than the PWR129. It just depends on what deck layout you want honestly
Another really informative video with some great comparisons. Thanks
Thank you. I appreciate that!
I chose the unlimited for the open floor deck and 600lb weight capacity and can tandem
Very versatile platform. Definitely a great choice!
Is there any advantages to Bow mounting or Stern mounting an Electric Motor
Love my nucanoe , great for casting , stand up sight fishi g trout ect. Great for jigging walleye s, ausable river , manistee river mich, like a small river boat & get where others can,t
Right on
How is the PWR129 on flat water like lakes and reservoirs. My first kayak was a RS117, and I loved it but I had to sell it. Been looking hard at the Unlimited. I prefer to bow mount a motor and I like to stand and fish
It's amazing. Exactly what it was designed for. Really need to check one out
Thanks for this video, this is exactly the decision I'll be making later this year. Would you say the Bonafide handles current slightly better? I'll be primarily fishing lakes, but may get a wild hair every once in a while, strip everything off the kayak and go down a creek/river.
i would say it does. it has a shallow draft and goes across the water nicely. The drop down rudder is needed for tracking. The Unlimited can handle rivers but its home is flat water. Both Bonafide and Nucanoe make phenominal river fishing kayaks in the Flint and the RVR119
Yeah, a dedicated kayak would be nice, but I think I’m already pushing it trying to get ONE kayak in my small apartment haha.
Which one is build to last better? And which is more stable?
These are the two best quality fishing kayaks out there. Unlimited will be slightly more stable but not a night and day difference. The PWR129 goes across the water a little easier though
I'm looking to replace my NK300 motorized Native SP13, moving the NK300 to a more stable, drier running (in chop at 5-6 mph) kayak. I'm considering the new, expensive 150 lb behemoths, but perhaps the Unlimited might work. I might even be able to get a demo or used unlimited! I actually was ignoring Nucanoe, but maybe I shouldn't! They do claim it can only handle 2.5hp!
@@michaell1665 don't sleep on the PWR129! The Unlimited is great if you want more of an open deck.
Watch my video I did on the Nucanoe EPS system as that would be best for your NK300 motor
Do you think you could do a video on adjusting both rudder and foot control on pwr 129 ?? I haven't seen any videos on it . I have done everything right and been having issues with rudder , besides that I love this kayak it paddles awesome. I appreciate your videos .
What problem are you having?
The problem is my rudder it only works when it's out of the water , i have to manually deploy rudder , and my foot controls don't always work . I tighten the screw on the rudder, and that helps a little . Thank you for responding to my question.
Hi great information on kayaks I’m torn between the pwr 129 and the new titan x any suggestions
Do you want the pedal drive more? Or the motor more? That's the real question. These are both upper tier kayaks but very different.
I’ve talked with dealer and said that they can sell titan without pedal drive I’m willing to buy it that way I have a pelican with swivel seat love it but I also like the bonafied but I’m not sure about getting to the yak box in the back without leaning over the seat
I been looking at the nucanoe for sometime now. Mostly because im over 300 would the pwr still work
Absolutely. Pwr has a higher weight cap as well for self bailing
Great video! I liked the information shared. Can you do a similar video, but do it with a stern mounted motor, with a price breakdown too?
I'm all out of Newports at the moment. I did do a Newport on a Titan X video and everything is included but the battery. Newport have everything you need which is why I like it
@@thebeardedpaddler
Thank you! I’ll check that video out.
How is the stability on the Bonafide vs. the NuCanoe?
Very similar. The Nucanoe is wider at 41" but the tri-hull design in the PWR129 gives it great stability. Speed is better on the PWR129
In regards to the rudder: it’s good for micro adjustments at slow speeds. I put my terrova to speed 3 and could easily navigate a bank. I would not feel comfortable using it at any speeds faster than that. It feels like the rudder is too small to handle it.
There was also some issues with the pedals getting stuck. I applied some WD-40 dry lube and it helped tremendously.
The rudder also has a hard time deploying. After you release it you kind of have to wiggle the pedals to get it to fully deploy.
@@TimG3394 I had the same issue with the rudder deploying. The rudder is spring loaded and there is an adjustment to help with that. It helps a great deal.
The pedals do good by me but once you get some lake water on it some dry grease works wonders instead of rinsing it off everything.
Great feedback!
@@thebeardedpaddler how do you adjust the rudder? I took a Quick Look at it and didn’t see anything. Is it an Allen wrench or something?
Also, didn’t mean to reply to osprey. But for his question, the nucanoe will be more stable.
Stability is a hard thing to quantify though, there’s a lot of factors. I’ve been in an unlimited once and now own the PWR. The PWR has less initial stability but the secondary stability that kicks in is great.
You’ll be able to stand and fish in both. If stability is your biggest concern, go with the unlimited.
Do you have a link to a video that gives us an idea of what size battery is best and how long it will last? Can we run on the motor all day or do we need to Mix in some paddling to be able to go all day. TIA.
The 100ah will run all day. Im working on a video on the Redodo battery.
You missed one.
Bonafide offers limited LIFETIME warranty on manufacturing defects and 5 years on hull wear and tear
Nuconoe offers 3 years on manufacturing defects...that's it...
A company that stands behind their products? There is no comparison here.
Nucanoe offers free parts for Life. This is kind of splitting hairs on warranty. Mfg defects are typically going to show up pretty quickly. Normal wear and tear is not covered under that obviously
Thanks for watching and for the feedback!
Hmmm, where is the Kill Switch?
no kill switch on the Xi3. You can rig one up on it though
@@thebeardedpaddlerI’ve always wondered how a kill switch would work on a bow mount motor. I’ve had many bow mounts on bass boats and always had a concern over no kill switch. Could you point me to an example? Great video by the way. I’m leaning toward the PWR since it offers a lot more for the money, but I’m old with bad knees so stability is important. Hope to water test both soon.
all that' stuff is way too much money
The rudder and foot control is obsolete on PWR129 if you use the Xi3. Way easier to use the remote control to go slightly left or right. And if you use the back motor you have to take it off anyway.
Have you used the xi3 on a PWR129??
This is the best part about it. True hands free
@@thebeardedpaddler yes, and I like to use remote control, because when you use the foot control it turns the kayak way too sharp.