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Review Detail
The most important fact that needs to be said about this boat is that the bottom is textured. IT IS NOT SMOOTH. If you're surfing it, that's got to be amazing because each little bit of that texture is going to give just a little more grip for an overall amazing performance. If you're not surfing it, and instead using it to travel down a river, it's not the best tool for the job. It's not the worst thing to take down a river, mostly because it floats and there are some things out in the world that don't float.
I owned one of these for a little while when I was first getting into whitewater, a bad idea. It's not a good boat for beginners. Luckily I had a lot of skill and experience in other kayaking disciplines before getting this boat. I bought mine used from a little person. I was a little too heavy for it. I don't know if they manufactured different sizes or volume boats back in the late 90s. I was also a little bit tall, so the result was that it sat really low in the water, was hard to get in and out of, cut off the circulation to my feet, and I hadn't yet mastered my roll. It earned the nicknames "the submarine" or "the deathtrap" depending on what it had done to me more recently.
Despite all the issues I had with the boat, it was very well built and durable. Every complaint I can think of for this boat is more a complaint about me as a beginner in a mismatched boat than an actual criticism of the craft.
Bottom line:
This is a specialty boat for special purposes. Not for general use.
Review
2. The grab handles on the front and back of the craft are such that it can be locked with a steel cable/bike chain, I really hate boats that don't have security features,
2. Occupant weight should be no more than 150; height no more than 5'6" unless you like submarines.