I've never paddled either of these boats, although my whitewater boat is
a Prijon, and in general they make very good boats.

If a salesman can point to a real weakness, particularly one you can
verify, I'd pay attention. Otherwise, particularly for well-reviewed
boats (like the Kodkiak), I would not pay much attention. You don't
know whether the guy is a "good" salesman, but you know he loses the
business if you buy a Prijon.

I second what Gary says: don't buy a boat unless you can paddle it. A
boat that is great for some people may not be for you. So I would gather
opinions about a variety of boats that seem to match your needs -- the
kind of paddling you want to do, how much you weigh, how big your feet
are, and even how wide your hips are if you are big -- and then take
your time to paddle several. When I bought my current boat, I paddled
several that are supposedly good for people with my weight and
dimensions. In the end, there were only 2 that I was really comfortable
in, and those two handled completely differently. I bought a boat that
was not even on my initial list (but it is well reviewed), and a year
later, I don't have any regrets. I would have regretted buying any of
the others that had been recommended to me.



Brian Nystrom wrote the following on 7/24/2005 8:16 AM:
Gary S. wrote:

On 23 Jul 2005 16:21:23 -0700, "NYC XYZ"
wrote:


Oh yeah, they also don't think highly of the highly-rated FirstLight
kayaks. What gives?

NYC XYZ wrote:

The local kayak shop doesn't carry these boats and thinks they're not
as good for the money as some Daggers and Neckys...I've always read
good reviews of both, and have actually done well in the Touryak as a
beginner, so what could they possibly be talking about??


I have seen shops speak negatively of brands they do not carry, and
then a year or two later, when they do carry those brands, all of a
sudden those brands are the best. And vice-versa.

The job of a salesperson is to sell you something that they have, not
to review the entire market of possible options for you.


While that's true, a good salesman will not simply bad-mouth the
competition. If there are known deficiencies in another brand, he may
choose to explain them; otherwise, he should simply say that they make
good boats but that don't carry them and show you something equivalent.
I would be highly skeptical of any dealer that bashes brands they don't
carry, but it could be just a case of an untrained salesperson.

Prijon make good quality boats, but that doesn't necessarily mean that
they make one that suits your needs. As a general rule, you're better
off to buy a boat that you can demo, rather than buying on reputation.

I had never heard of FirstLight kayaks until you mentioned them. They're
folding boats and nothing like Prijons. I suggest that you decide what
type of boat you want before you worry about specific brands. While a
dealer may be able to help you sort that out, you could also cause a lot
of frustration if you simply bounce back and forth between various ideas.