If you're in the market for a new ATV here are seven reasons you may want to get a Quietkat instead.
Before you go and get yourself all worked up and start commenting on how an ATV could never be better than some "fat-tire mountain bike," take a second to consider something.
For those who are serious about their money and off-road travel, this is going to strike a chord. This is for the hunters, fishermen, and outdoorsmen who wants to go a little further. But maybe their budget won't fit an ATV, they don't have anywhere to store it, or they'd rather start a little smaller. There are plenty of reasons to adopt the use of something else.
I own a hand-me-down ATV from my grandfather, and when I was in the market for a new one, I asked myself, what is it I truly want to use it for? For me, it was to help manage two 900-acre farms, I also frequent public hunting land during the season, where ATVs are not allowed. So with that, I started to look into the Quietkat.
My question was, is it worth it? I started reading online customer reviews and saw that many who owned one loved theirs. Of course, I had specific questions. I needed to know if I could haul a deer with the Quietkat trailer, and I wanted to know how far it went on one lithium battery and if it was capable of climbing steep hills.
Did it have a hub motor or a mid drive motor? Is it as much of a powerful transportation as the customer reviews say they are?
I will try to answer all of those questions later, but for now, here are seven reasons why I was finally convinced that a Quietkat, rather than an ATV, was going to be my new toy for this year.
1. It's quieter
Let's not get too crazy to start off the bat, and state the obvious up front. The Quietkat wasn't given its name for nothing.
I have used this thing several times during turkey season, and out this summer running trails, and have sneaked up on several game animals. It was given the true test on the whitetail deer that are on my land, and wouldn't you know it, they aren't as scared of me on the Quietkat as they are an ATV.
This deer season will be my first time heading into the woods with a Quietkat. In the spots where I do a lot of stand and blind hunting, this will be the perfect tool to getting in and out like a ninja, whereas normally I'd have to weigh in the noise factor with an ATV.
2. It's stealthier
You may assume quiet and stealthy mean the same thing, but they don't. If you were able to try to be as quiet on an ATV, a golf cart, or any other four-wheel electric vehicle, you still wouldn't be able to be as stealthy as a QuietKat in size and stature. It's virtually unnoticeable.
With the fat tire design on a bicycle frame, you can maneuver this thing through just about anything. Moving and turning on a dime and squeezing into the tightest areas, undetected, makes the Quietkat a better choice for sneaking into prime areas.
3. Go places an ATV can't
From snow to sand, to standing and flowing water, up steep hills and down through valleys, the Quietkat truly can get anywhere your typical all-terrain vehicle can. But what about the places an ATV can't go?
The truth is, a Quietkat can't entirely stack up, but for certain situations, it reigns supreme. For starters, what about places where ATVs aren't legal? Of course, motorized vehicle classifications vary per state and jurisdiction, but most of the time a Quietkat would be allowed.
Aside from legality issues, take a look at footpaths or bike trails. If a mountain bike can travel there, you bet a Quietkat can travel there. I first found this out while taking the Quietkat up the trout stream by my house in Pennsylvania.
Trout fishing is a huge deal in Pennsylvania and getting to where other's can't can be a huge success. I was able to take the Quietkat up the banks, actually into the creek and upstream where other fisherman may have never been. I was miles back and what would take someone an hour to walk, I was able to get there in under 10 minutes.
And you can bet I wouldn't have been able to drive through a trout stream on an ATV without getting serious flak from fishermen, and rightfully so. You can do far more damage with four huge tires on a gas-powered machine than a couple fat tires on a bike.
4. It can haul a great deal of weight
Of course, an all-terrain vehicle can haul a great deal of weight too, but can you get miles back on a bike trail and haul a deer out on public land? Probably not. So with that, I was decided to test out the Quietkat trailer and load it with 160 pounds of weight and see how far I could go.
The electric motor acted like there was nothing behind the bike at all. It runs off a lithium-ion battery and can haul weight for all your on and off road travel. I took the Quietkat trailer off-road and uphill, pulling the weight the whole time.
5. Road legal
E-bikes are a thing of the future, and the Quietkat can be a multi-purpose purchase. Because of it's fat tire design, solid frame, and comfort, you can run this through the toughest terrain and get to where you need to go.
With capable speeds of over 20 miles per hour, the Quietkat can get you places quickly and efficiently. Maybe you need to drop your truck off at the mechanic, and instead of getting a ride home, you take your Quietkat. Use it to grab some groceries, get some exercise, or even to get to work everyday. None-the-less, it can do much more than you thought when you originally wanted to purchase one.
6. No fuel cost
I heard it a lot from people when I would mention the Quietkat: It's nice, but it's expensive! That may be true to most, but I tried to understand exactly what goes into that cost.
ATVs today cost well over $10,000, and then you have to figure in your annual fuel and maintenance costs. It just keeps adding up.
Once you purchase a Quietkat, there are no additional costs that come with it. You're using electricity to recharge it, but nothing out of the ordinary and a small amount . of resources compared to the gas an ATV can guzzle.
Quietkat also offers financing, breaking the cost down to a reasonable monthly payment. Think about the money dedicated hunters spend on archery equipment, binoculars, other optics, guns, and camouflage... The Quietkat is not nearly as expensive as an ATV.
7. No need for a trailer
To bring an ATV to your hunting location, you would need a pickup truck with ramps or a full-fledged trailer. The Quietkat can fit right onto a bike rack, securely attached to the smallest of cars with no need for extra people to help load or offload.
Heck, if you already own a pickup truck, this may not matter much to you. But for those family guys who have to have the extra seats, you're still in luck!
Did any of these reasons sway you to the other side? Learn more about the Quietkat in my past articles, and follow along as I use it throughout the season.
Like what you see here? You can read more articles by Dustin Prievo here. Follow him and his hunting team, Top Pin Outdoors, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
NEXT: TWO VIDEOS SHOW THE BENEFITS OF HUNTING WITH A QUIETKAT
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