Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak: Overview
The Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak is a ready-to-go tandem kayak with outstanding stability. The highly adjustable paddles and variable seat positioning make it a fantastic choice for sharing with different size paddlers, and its high capacity and great tracking performance make it a great choice for multi-day trips.
Specifications
Dimensions:
- Length: 12’6”
- Width: 34”
- Thickness: 6”
Weight:
- Kayak Weight: 42 lbs
- Capacity: 1 or 2 people
- Maximum Payload: 600 lbs
Buying Info:
- Warranty Period: 2 year
- Returns Period: 30 Days
- MSRP: $1299
Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak: Construction and Capacity
The floor and sides are both made with the same 6” thick, cross-woven drop-stitch PVC build as the Thurso inflatable stand up paddle boards.
Inside each part of the kayak is a cross-woven drop stitch core that uses two layers of woven fabric material connected with thousands of fibers to give the floor and sides their flat shape. The fabric is laminated with two layers of PVC for durability and rigidity.
This dual-layer PVC construction does make the Compass a little heavy at 42 pounds, but is far more resistant to impact and abrasion damage than a thin-walled vinyl or TPU tube found on many inflatable kayaks, and it makes the kayak incredibly rigid thanks to the 15 PSI maximum pressure capability in the floor and side walls.
I could not feel any flex or bend while paddling the Compass 150, and even while standing on it. Jumping up and down on the kayak did cause some flex, but not much.
The Compass 150 is 12’6” long, 34” wide, and 12” tall with 6” thick walls and floor. There’s a lot of buoyancy in this kayak, so the 600-pound weight capacity makes sense. The only real limit to what you can bring on the Compass 150 is what you can fit on it.
Thurso iSUPs have been some of our most recommended for several years for both their performance and construction, so I’m not surprised that the Compass 150 kayak has followed suit.
Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak: Features, Accessories and Comfort
You can use the Thurso Compass 150 as a solo or tandem kayak, and it comes with all of the accessories you need for either configuration. It has an impressive number of D-rings to adjust your seating and cargo position, but is otherwise light on other accessory mounting points.
While there are more D-rings than most paddlers will know what to do with, there aren’t any other accessory attachment points on the Compass except for one at the nose. Not having options for things like fishing rod mounts, drink holders, or other accessory mounting options on such a large kayak feels like a very large oversight. If you are just loading the Compass to paddle, you may not miss any of these, but anglers will find it more difficult to manage their equipment without them.
Thurso includes a full kit of accessories for two paddlers with the Compass 150. The included kayak seats have inflatable seat cushions and non-inflatable backs. They attach to the boat with four adjustable straps connected to the seat backs, but not the bottoms. This makes the seats a little more difficult to set in place and allows them to move around when carrying the boat to the water.
There are three fin boxes under the stern of the Compass 150 set up the same as on Thurso’s iSUPs. This is an odd choice for the Compass as the 2+1 configuration with heavily toed-in side fins is a very specific surfing setup. Most inflatable kayaks will have just a single skeg under the stern or may have a second skeg in the middle of the boat. The fin setup makes me feel like the Compass 150 was built from a SUP design first rather than as a whole new design. Additionally, the Compass 150 comes with two coiled ankle leashes. That’s also not something that is typically ever included with (or recommended for) kayaks.
Many kayak paddles that come from SUP-first companies tend to be SUP paddles with an extra blade or lack the finer adjustments found in purpose-built kayak paddles. Thurso has taken the road less traveled and built a highly-adjustable kayak paddle rather than repurposing a SUP paddle.
The five-piece Thurso kayak paddle allows you to adjust both length and feather angle with markings for each on the center section. Changing the length is easy, simply unlatch the compression collar and pull the halves of the paddle apart (or push them together) to reach your desired length. Due to the Compass’s width and height, you’ll likely need to use a longer paddle than you think. I was glad to see that the paddle extends out to 260cm to help reach appropriately past the gunwales.
Adjusting the feather angle on the blades is a lot trickier. There are feather angle markings on the center section of the paddle shaft, but there are no corresponding indexing marks on the adjustable side of the paddle. You still have to adjust the angle and then sight down the length of the paddle to actually see how far it adjusted. This makes it difficult to easily or quickly set the feather angle, but the fact that it can be changed is a big plus over many hybrid SUP/kayak paddles and lower-end kayak paddles.
The two main sections of the paddle shaft have an oval shape to help you index your hand on the paddle, and they are covered with a high-grip rubberized cover. I personally prefer just using the fiberglass shaft, however some paddlers may appreciate the extra grip if the paddle becomes wet or in colder paddling conditions.
Along with the Compass 150 kayak you also get:
- Roller bag
- Two kayak seats with inflatable bottoms
- Two 5-piece adjustable paddles
- Electric pump with internal battery
- Fins
- Leashes
- Accessory pouch
- Maintenance and repair kit
Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak: Stability and Performance
The Compass 150 has excellent rigidity because it is built like a paddle board. It’s 34” width and high side walls make it extremely stable when it is flat and when rocking from side to side. I actually had a difficult time even getting the kayak to rock side to side while seated.
With excellent rigidity and stability I had no reservations about standing up on the Compass 150 to keep testing its stability. The stiff, high side walls allow you to heel it over very far without worrying about tipping the entire kayak over (though you still can if you lean far enough).
Turning the Compass 150 in small amounts is easy, but turning beyond 90 degrees at a time can take some effort. With standard sweep strokes, it took me an average of 12 strokes to turn a full circle from a standstill with the fins installed. Trying to make the same 360 degree turn while already moving is much harder.
However, the Compass 150 does track very well. I had no problems keeping the kayak moving in a straight line while taking even strokes on either side.
I do recommend using just the single center fin with the Compass 150. The small side fins are not going to add a significant amount of tracking performance, but they will increase the amount of drag in the water since they are toed-in toward the centerline of the kayak.
The Thurso Compass 150 is a combination of a wider kayak designed for fishing and carrying more cargo with the construction of a more performance-oriented inflatable kayak. With that I was hoping for a bit more efficiency and speed, but overall I left the water feeling that it had more of a typical performance profile.
In sprint testing I was able to reach speeds around 5.1 MPH, but had difficulty maintaining that speed for very long. I could sustain sprints at about 4.8 MPH for longer distances.
But when I slowed things down to a more casual cruising pace, the Compass kept up with a brisk 3.8 to 4.0 MPH average. I could sustain this pace for long periods of time without much effort.
Overall I think the Thurso Compass 150 has good performance on the water. It tracks very well, cruises comfortably at a moderate pace, and handles steering input without any fuss. While it’s not the most agile or fastest inflatable kayak, it is one of the most stable that we’ve tested.
Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak: Warranty and Customer Support
Thurso Surf warranties the Compass 150 inflatable kayak for 2 years from the date of purchase. Additionally they also warranty the pump and bag for 1 year, and the leash and paddle for 60 days. If you do have any questions or concerns about your board, you can contact Thurso Surf through their website, via email, and on social media.
Thurso Compass 150 Inflatable Kayak: Final Thoughts
The Thurso Compass 150 is an impressive inflatable kayak. The construction is top notch and it comes with a great kit of accessories. I would like to see some more mounting options for things like fishing rod holders and a way to attach the seat bottoms to the hull (rather than just the backs), but the ability to customize the exact positioning of the seats and high adjustability of thee paddles makes it a great option for tandem paddling with different sized people.
It’s extremely stable and tracks quite well. Combined with the large capacity, this is a kayak you can easily load up with everything you need for a weekend (or more) on the water.