The Product Profile | Prijon Pike/Party Pike

Welcome to « The Product Pro-File » at Kayak Session! This new section is all about helping paddlers learn more about the latest products on the paddlesports market. By chatting with designers and experts within the brands, we uncover the design and function behind these products. Explore the stories, craftsmanship, and innovative features that make these products stand out. Join us as we bring you exclusive insights to help you to make the right decisions for your paddling sessions.

We got to chat with Toni Prijon where we managed to gain an insight into the Pike and Party Pike. The latest products to be brought to Prijon’s kayak line.

Owning and leading the Prijon GmbH kayak and accessories company since 1992.
Toni is both an exceptionally gifted kayaker, who won e.g. the world champions slalom title in 1987, on the French river Isère. And an inventive mind, who develops up-to-date kayaks with heart and soul together with his team. New products are always intensively tested by himself before they go into production.

When did we see the Pike release into Prijon’s kayak line?

The PIKE was introduced to the market in 2021 and has been a huge success since then. As by 2024 Kayak Cross will be an Olympic discipline, paddlers were asking for an even more playful and race-like version of the PIKE. That’s why we released the PARTY PIKE in 2023.
Both PIKES are registered at the ICF for CANOE SLALOM KAYAK CROSS.

Prijon Pike and Party, Green and Red Side Shot — Prijon GmbH Pike in Red and Party Pike in Green

What makes the Pike different compared to Prijon’s previous boat designs?

After several river runners with evenly distributed volume and high volume creekers the PIKE is finally a boat with a flat stern. With a length of 273 cm and a width of only 61 cm it is one of the fastest whitewater kayaks we have in our range.

What was the biggest goal Prijon aimed to achieve when designing the Pike?

To make it fast and agile at the same time. While the PIKE is designed to combine playing, cruising and easy creeking in one boat, the PARTY PIKE is shaped to be super-fast and enormously agile. A river-play kayak with a super flat, playful stern to make it a perfect playmate and race boat.

Prijon Pike and Party Features — Pike and Party Pike Features Diagram

Is the Pike mainly designed to be a river-runner specifically or can it be used for creeking also?

Basically, the Pike is designed as a riverunner. But as it has enough rocker and volume to climb up over big holes, a sporty stern and a planing hull, this boat combines the paddling dynamics of a riverrunner with the safety of a creeker. When things get rough, the PIKE always stays on top and dry thanks to its voluminous and strongly curved bow.

PIKE_Whitewater_1 — Pike in action | Photo Courtesy of Prijon

From complete beginners to advanced kayaker who is the Pike best suited for?

Thanks to their agility and playfulness, both the PIKE and the PARTY PIKE ride very smooth in whitewater. They can be paddled by every kind of paddler up to 85 kg. Sturdily built beginners might perceive it a little bit wobbly at the beginning, but will get used to it. For beginners between 60 and 80 kg it suits perfectly and is the ideal boat for improving their skills. Intermediate paddlers can learn how to undercut, turn it on the spot, paddle in, through and out of eddies and try surfing if they find an inviting river wave.

Small changes in the hull make a big difference between the PIKE and the PARTY PIKE. The PARTY PIKE has a flatter and wider stern and the bottom is flatter, too. This makes it more loose whilst surfing, stern squirts are way easier to do and the vertical stability is higher during stern squirting.

What were the key steps considered in the testing process of the design?

Design a hull shape, which accelerates and paddles as fast as possible at an overall length below 275 cm. A perfect distribution of the volume, so that you can bring the nose with style in the air or take the maximum speed out of an eddy. A round top of the bow, which makes the boat always resurface nicely, straight and controlled. And finally: the lowest overall weight possible.

What is the difference between the ‘PRO’ and ‘Sport’ model?

The PRO-fitting provides an excellent contact to the boat. It consists of a fully padded and adjustable seat system with hip pads and back belt, incl. bottom rail and foam pillars in bow and stern. Every move of the paddler is directly transferred to the boat. This leads to more agility and a far better control over the kayak while demanding athletic use. The bottom rail in combination with sturdy and lightweight foam pillars in the front and back provides the already very durable HTP-shell with even more rigidity. Additional stability is offered by the ergonomically-shaped PRO seat, which is longer, wider and its hip-padding can be individually adjusted. The lightweight back-belt offers a very good hold and is easy to adjust, thanks to the new mounting.

SPORT is an economical version, due to simplified equipment. Without bottom rail, without foam pillars and without throwbag/bottle fixation between the feet. For paddlers looking for a light kayak, not needing a full equipped one. Learn more.

Does Prijon make efforts to minimise the environmental impact associated with the production and disposal of materials?

Yes, we produce every kayak sustainably. A production of kayaks in Germany can only persist by offering excellent quality. That’s why all of our kayaks are manufactured by hand without piecework.

More than 80% of the components assembled in our kayaks, come from our own factory or from suppliers located within max. 300 km radius. This ensures only short delivery- and transport routes to our dealers and customers. And this results in only low emissions and low energy costs for the delivery. The heavy oil consuming containership is missing in the life cycle assessment of a Prijon kayak!

Since 2009, we operate a photovoltaic-system on the roof of our warehouse and ecologically produce a part of our needed electricity for the production out of sunlight. Eco-friendly generated electricity matches with eco-friendly produced kayaks. Thanks to our photovoltaic system we saved approx. 380 to of CO2 since its activation. The process heat of the production of the hulls is used for the heating of the production building.

All of our sewed and pressed parts don’t come from Far East but from our workers in our own sewing room or compactor instead. This is how we work regional and sustainable.

The material and the production of Prijon HTP kayaks is ecologically sound. HTP is neutral to groundwater and food-safe. Both stabilizers and color concentrates have an organic origin and are free of heavy metals. We take back old, worn-out Prijon kayaks for a lifetime and care about its properly disposal. HTP-kayaks are recycled and can be used in other application areas.

Our PE-waste is disposed properly. As an example, it is delivered the short route to the near « Cement works Rohrdorf », where they use it as substitute fuel in their energy cycle. This substitute fuel works mostly as secondary fuel in processes of the basic industry (cement and chalk) and is used for the energy conversion, as it replaces standard fuels like coal, natural gas and fuel oil at a certain amount.

Since the formation of the Prijon GmbH we place importance to sustainability, pay tribute to human being and nature and deal fair with our partners. To be responsible for what you do isn’t a trend for us but has ever been a naturalness instead. Our wish is to paddle the river with a good feeling in the heart and it stimulates us to avoid hurting the nature. Waste avoidance and garbage separation, energy efficiency measures and further measures to reduce traffic, heating and cooling costs – we do not only talk about it, but practice sustainability instead.

Finally, is there anything else you would like to add?

For the production of our world-famous HTP-kayaks – incl. the PIKE and PARTY PIKE – we’re using a special Polyethylene, called HTP (=HOCHLEISTUNGS-THERMOPLAST). This material can only be used in blow-moulding and not in roto-moulding, as used by other producers of kayaks. The molecule chains of our HTP are approximately 10 times longer than those of rotated PE. This makes the boat hulls of our whitewater kayaks stiffer, lighter and less susceptible to abrasion. HTP-kayaks have clear advantages regarding form stability, abrasion and boat weight, compared to kayaks made of rotated PE. And all of them are made in Germany! 🙂