Tag Archives: Interviews

Van Life Inflatable Kayaks Guide: How to “Van Life” with your kayak from Airkayaks

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Crystal is a full time Van Lifer, Full-time adventurers and with her husband Brian, they share van life hacks, travel tips, adventure ideas, and inspiration for how you can live on the road. We sent Crystal and Brian the Tahe Beach LP2 Inflatable Kayak and they put it to the test on a trip to Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. This Guide offers tips, tricks, and why its worth fitting an inflatable kayak into your own Van life or RV lifestyle. You will hear Crystal’s Top 5 reasons to choose the Tahe Beach LP2 Inflatable Kayak for your Van Life Adventures. To the interview.

First – tell us about why you started Van Life?

Crystal – travel coordinator & wellness-on-the-road affiecienado

I’m a serial entrepreneur and long-time vegan. My health was a disaster for about 20 years before I found a healer that introduced me to food as medicine. I went from being a chronic dieter with multiple eating disorders along with a long list of health issues to reversing all my conditions naturally and starting an online health-based business showing others how they could do the same.  My goal while I was ‘sick’ was to travel around the world and experience as much of life as possible while here on Earth. So that is exactly what I’m doing now. 

Brian. – chief video editor & van driver

I’ve been a traveling audio engineer, tour, and production manager for about 20 years. After the tour industry went downhill in 2020 it gave me the opportunity to think about how I could put all my skills together and find new ways to make money. When we realized I wouldn’t be touring again anytime soon, Crystal and I decided we’d just “make me a job”.  And that’s exactly what we did.

We believe in the power every single person has to create a life of adventure and live life outside the box.

Vanhalla Adventures (website & youtube channel) is here to help you get into van life. Now to the inflatable kayaking interview…

Where do you put the kayak to store it?

The Tahe Beach LP2 Inflatable Kayak is the perfect size to fit under bed “in the garage”. It could also fit in Thule storage up top.

Crystal and Brian’s Vanlife “Garage” Under the Bed

How long did the Inflatable Kayak take to pump up?

About 3 minutes

Brian Pumping the Tahe Beach LP2 Inflatable Kayak with the included double action hand pump.

Would you take it on a hike?

With this inflatable kayak, we would attempt a 1-2 mile hike but only with the destination being to a lake. We wouldnt pack anything else. We wouldn’t take this one on an overnight camping trip. I’m excited

Original Source: AirKayaks >>

Interview with Advanced Elements Co-Founder, Clay Haller

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For more than a decade, AirKayaks has been selling the Advanced Elements line of inflatable kayaks and paddling gear.
The Advanced Elements product line was created in 2002 by two inventors, Charlie Hall and Clay Haller. Both had been involved in inflatable kayak design, but wanted to “push the envelope’ with a new concept – a “hybrid” design of inflatable and rigid components that perform more like a hardshell kayak, but portable, lightweight, and affordable.
What started off as a few solo models, has evolved to a fine-tuned collection, well-known for durability, performance and innovation.
Advanced Elements AirFusion Inflatable Hybrid Kayak
Today Advanced Elements offers 13 kayak models, ranging in size from 7 ft 9 inches to 15 ft.  These span the gamut of recreational to touring, fishing to whitewater, open and closed designs, in both solo and tandem models.

In 2010 Advanced Elements also forayed into the inflatable stand-up paddle board arena, currently offering 6 models ranging in size from 8 ft to 12.5 ft.
We first “met” Clay Haller and Charlie Hall by chance. In 2000, while driving through the vineyards of Santa Rosa, California, we noticed a yard sale sign pointing down a long grape-laden dirt road. Intrigued, we followed the signs, winding around and up a hill. Reaching the crescent, we looked down on the valley to see an amazing sight …. dozens of kayaks lined up in rows. Self-bailers, tandems, singles, sit-insides, paddles, pumps and prototypes – and all inflatable.
We had stumbled upon the original Stearns IK (inflatable kayak) design studio, and Clay and Charlie were cleaning house.
The early introduction set us on a different course, which ultimately led us to selling inflatable kayaks and developing AirKayaks.com. It wasn’t until 2002 that we chanced upon them again, this time as Advanced Elements.
Some of the Advanced Elements crew before a group paddle. From left, Ryan Pugh, Ritchie Simpson, Jeremy Cooley and Clay Haller.
We met up with Clay recently, to ask him a few questions about Advanced Elements.
AirKayaks: Who/what is Advanced Elements? How did you get started?
My business partner, Charlie Hall and I started Advanced Elements about 15 years ago with a completely new concept of a “hybrid inflatable kayak”. A kayak that performs more like a hardshell kayak than anything ever seen before. This model today is the AdvancedFrame.
Advanced Elements co-founder, Charlie Hall, in an AdvancedFrame kayak.
Charlies’ wealth of experience as the inventor of the Waterbed, Sun Shower, and many other products, certainly guided the development and established a solid foundation to grow upon. Advanced Elements has grown into a company with key focus points, such as Product Development, and Customer Service, and we’re doing the very best to evolve the concept of the inflatable kayak and SUP, and to bring new

Original Source: AirKayaks >>