I’m hard on boats. I like a little water to go with my rocks. A new record on how fast I can wear a hole through a plastic whitewater kayak- 24 months on my pyranha 12r. Usually I get about 3 years. The Hole or crack is almost always under the seat and this time there was a hole under the seat as well. The most likely explanation is that a small rock (of which there were several) jammed under the seat wore a hole through the boat. The combination of my weight and my affinity to run over rock ledges (boofs) adds to the equation. I got my buddy who is a retired dentist to do the repairs. I’m the guy that hands the skilled laborer his tools. We welded a purple shampoo bottle into the hole on both sides and covered with gorilla tape. Removing and putting back a pyranha seat is a big deal. We’ll see how long the repair lasts. During the past week I boated in TN/NC on the French Broad (section 9 twice), Toe River, Lower Noli, and Pigeon. Three of those runs I did with hole in the boat, the power of gorilla tape.
Always good to carry some extra gorilla or duct tape on your paddle shaft.
ww boats and how I rate their plastic
jackson- unknown, never owned one
pyranha- soft thin plastic but love the designs, too much weight is left to sit on the seat pan ( I average about 212 pounds)
wavesport, middle of the road on durability, tend to break out around the seat bolts
dagger- pretty good plastic, comfortable but heavy outfitting
liquid logic- very good plastic just don’t like their designs as well, back bands are unsupportive
the old prijons, eskimos, and saltos- built to last but uncomfortable
old perception boats- kind of soft but flexes, holes come in the ends of their pointed designs