I've had this kayak for a week now, but have spent about 10 hours total in it already. Great little kayak! I was nervous spending the money on this because you can buy a used "real" boat for a little more, but.... I am very happy I bought this. I have paddled a little bit in still water, it tracks well and is quite stable even for a beginner in kayaks, I am however quite experienced in canoes. I have spent most of my time in the river, a river with very shallow areas (just a few inches) and some very fun little rapids that I would rate at a small class 2. There is a little scratching on the bottom of the boat, but not much. This little boat will go places that you absolutely cannot take a regular (non-whitewater) canoe. It has a super shallow draft and is very easy to maneuver. I have enough faith in the boat that I am going on an 8 hour float trip in a couple of days, I spent 5 hours in it today on the river. It requires a little bit of practice to get in and out of it, but you can get that down pretty quickly. The cockpit is very open, so you don't have to do any yoga positions to enter the boat. The seat bottom is decent enough for a quick little jaunt, but if you plan to spend any time in it, you will absolutely want a cushion. You can find a better used boat if you look around, but you probably won't find one as stable, lightweight and fun as this one is. P.S. I'm buying another one in the morning so I can have a spare to take friends along who don't have their own boats. I do not know how long it will last, the plastic is a little thin. I wish the plastic on the bottom of the boat was a little bit thicker, but..... I have taken this boat over stuff this weekend that you definitely should not and it has survived impressively well. If you're on the fence about this boat, don't be, buy it and enjoy it :-) I did not rate this at 5 stars because it should come with a seat cushion for the bottom and the seat is a little too far back, when you're in very shallow areas, you can scoot forward a little and make the boat run a little shallower. I am around 175 pounds and this boat will clear obstacles 4 inches under the water very easily with maybe a little light rub, 3 inches and you may have to give the boat a little "oompf" to get over the obstacle. None of my canoes will float over the shoals that I took this boat down today, it was very nice to not have to get out of the boat and pull it over shallow areas!

Wanted to buy this on sale till I noticed they will charge $149.00 to ship it to my local store. That's a little insane.