My first boat, and the right choice. I paid about 350 for my Swifty, and I have spent 3 seasons in it on the Potomac River. Your turn a bit with each stroke, but it stops on a dime and does hustle, but you have to work. I now use it to assist in triathlon swims, and prefer it becuase of how easy it is to turn. I am now about to purchase a bigger craft for some light touring, but the Swifty is a king for beginners, and a fun everday boat for paddlers of any skill. Lots of fun, light, affordable, sturdy, and steady. I will always keep my Swifty.

This has been the most fun per dollar of any sporting equipment I have. Very easy to paddle and manover. Easy to carry, fits in the back of a pickup. It is not fast. 3-3.5 mph cruise speed. If you want to cover a lot of water this probably isn't the boat for you.

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Old Town Loon 138, Ocean Malibu, Ocean scupper classic, Necky Gannet, Ocean sundowner

Getting tired of the regular hiking I decided to purchase my swifty. After spending a few months paddling I quickly fell in love with my her. I went on a 150 mile paddlehike and the swifty never let me down......not once. LOVE IT!

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I now have two Swiftys; so I always have one for someone else to come with! My first one I bought quite some time ago. We put in additional flotation bags, front and rear, and have river kayaked class 1, 2, and (accidently) 3 rapids. What a blast! I have managed to tip it(my fault - stupid mistake) and it sank. Thus, the flotation bags. I have now purchased a new Swifty for my husband, They are much improved over my older Swifty. It has more built-in flotation, REAL comfortable seat, bungie strap holder on rear deck, attached mesh water bottle bag, a lot more comfortable carrying handles. I read the review about poor tracking. I disagree with that. I feel it tracks very well. However, I will admit that it would not be suited for the advanced kayaker. This is just a real fun, fun, fun toy; and a very safe one at that. We just recently traveled from the state of Washington to Wisconsin for a family vacation and took the Swiftys with us. They were used non-stop by all the kids and also my 88 year old Dad, who went kayaking for the first time and is now going to buy one.

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had a 18' sea kayk. Sold that, too heavy for me. Now I have a 14 1/2' sea kayak. love that too.

Strictly for beginners. If all you want to do is get on the water for as little money and hassle as possible, then consider the Swifty. It is very stable and has a huge carrying capacity. However, it is a TUB!! You will not be a happy paddler if you want to cover any kind of distance in the boat. Lots of pivoting with each stroke and almost no tracking or glide to speak of. If you think you'll be paddling for a while, get more boat.

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I bought my Swifty 9.5 because I wanted a good kayak for a little amount of money. The positive reviews on this site are right on. I have gone on multi day trips thinking I should have a bigger kayak, but I didn't. There is plenty for storage as long as you aren't bring tons of stuff. The speed is a little slow, I easily keep up with my friends with 13 foot kayaks unless we race. I have been in four foot swells on Otter Tail Lake in Minnesota and hardly got wet without a spray skirt. It handled the waves fine. The kayak is highly manueverable, where my friends complain about theirs with their longer kayaks. If you are looking for an inexpensive, quick, comfortable kayak that is a total blast and nearly impossible to tip the Swifty is for you.

Customer Service

As far as I know they are great.

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Dagger which I didn't like as much as the Swifty.

This is a great boat for people who have never paddled before. However after one season you will be looking for a new boat. This boat is great on flat little rivers, and not so bad on fast moderate white water, turns great, but very inefficient when paddling large bodies of water for long distances. it's just slow to paddle in those conditions. always test out a boat before you buy it!

First Kayak.Use for fishing. Excellent for my purposes. 3 friends purchased for same reason and they love boat as well.

I bought my swifty with the idea that it whould be a good all around beginner kayak,I wanted to fish, camp, and travel light and be stable. Well the swifty has done all this and more,I have even used it in Saginaw bay in 1- 1 1/2 foot swells and felt stable and safe. Perception has a real winner with this model, it is a real suv for the beginner kayaker.

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AN EASY PADDLE, TURNS ON A DIME, AND LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN...CAN FISH FROM IT, GREAT FOR WILDLIFE WATCHING..I EVEN PUT SWIFTY IN MY BIG BOAT AND TAKE IT OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF LONG ISLAND SOUND...GREAT FIRST KAYAK...LITTLE TOOT IS SO LOVABLE.....AFTER I MASTER THIS LITTLE GUY, I WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE UP...BUT FOR NOW, I LOVE IT

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