Bottom line personally I recommend the AdvancedFrame for younger children and others that prefer an extremely buoyant kayak plus those that like to stop and go while exploring coastlines. The AirFusion is best for longer paddles and those like me that like to explore as much coastline as possible.
Advantages of the AirFusion:
- -The AirFusion glides with minimal effort through the water. I'm able to paddle twice as far with the same amount of effort. I paddled 8 miles yesterday and felt I could have gone farther. In the AdvancedFrame, I was fatigued after 4 miles.
-With the larger cockpit, you don't need to be a contortionist to get your feet under the deck.
-Water does not collect on the deck then drip into the kayak and collect under your seat. Although there are plenty of solutions posted on the AdvancedFrame forum.
-Even if water did collect, the seat is on a foam pad that lifts you an inch off the floor.
-Water does not leak in through the "orange" material. I never had to dissemble the AirFusion so it could dry after a paddle.
-It's lighter and folds up tighter
-The "backbone" is guaranteed to align with the bow and stern.
- -Setup is less stressful. Not necessary faster when using a backbone but inflating the AirFusion's front thwart so it's correctly aligned takes patients. Mostly because it's out of reach.
-For children and beginners, the AdvancedFrame is a LOT more buoyant. I don't think I could have tipped it even if I wanted to. The AirFusion feels like it could tip however I've been pretty clumsy getting in a couple times and it has not tipped.
-Most important, the AdvancedFrame performs better at slower speeds if you are slowly exploring coastlines plus stopping frequently. When you start to slow down in the AirFusion, it turns either left or right.
