Riot Magnum - Opinions?

[no-no]

Are they cheap and cheerful for a reason?

Lots of people say they paddle well enough but they dent and spit easy, however most of these comments seem to be very old, ten years or so.

I know the outfitting isn't meant to be great but it'll still be a step up from what I paddle at the moment.

Has anyone got experience of paddling a newer one?

[purelandexpeditions.com]

Even now these are a popular boat for clients and guides on our Bhutan expeditions. - Lighter than a mamba etc. If you like rounder hull designs this is a good boat - dated but good. We still have a few in our Nepa. fleet that take plenty of abuse.

Darren

[StoneWeasel]

I love the Magnum. If you are a fan of creek boats that need a little driving rather than corking down through things then the Magnum is great.

I still paddle a Salto and love it though (never found a boat I want to replace it with) so my opinions might be a bit outdated.

[no-no]

sounds promising then, just need to try one out on moving water. would you know how it'd compare to a zet raptor?

[banzer]

I've had a couple of Magnums (the smaller size of the two). Decent boats, quite hard wearing, coped well with various steep Scottish creeks.

As far as I know the mould has been bought by someone else who are knocking out the 'new' Magnums, not one of the recognised WW manufacturers. So I can't say whether their outfitting or plastic quality matches up with the Riot's who at least had plenty of boat know-how.

[James Hartley]

I remember when they went back in to production a few years back. Having had the mold bought by a new distributor. So I was keen to demo the boat. And (the smaller of the 2 sizes) the boat was really nice to paddle from what I recall. One of the best boats I demo'd at the time. And I really got on with it in terms of how it was on the river and handled. The reasons I didn't buy one was; 1) The boat felt made of soft cheese. Seriously, the plastic felt super soft and not well put together at all. Now this was a few years back (4? or 5 maybe? Not sure on the time frame, I forget) So how the boats are today. I can't comment on. The second mark against the boat, was the cockpit size. It was super small. For reference, most boats these days take an R5 sized keyhole deck, this one took an R3. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of a backwards step in a potential safety feature. But that is just me. Some people would no doubt prefer, and like the smaller option.

[Ryder87]

I’ve had my magnum since March this year, have been doing Grade 4 plus in it and love the boat.

Carves and surfs well, you have to work the boat down the river which is much more fun than most boats. Where you point it, it goes. Plastics are really good quality and it feels bomb proof, haven’t seen the older versions so can’t judge.

I bought mine as it seemed best value for money on the market at the time

[banzer]

It's pleasing to hear that - maybe you don't need to shell out £900+ on a boat after all... certainly Magnums did all the big stuff under the guidance of Steve Fisher and Ben Brown back in the 00s.......