Perception Kayak Conduit

Terrible shipping practices. Kayak arrived as if it was pinched between two different pallets. I can deal with scuffs. Not holes

Good kayak for the price, little faster than some, little less stable than some, but that's the tradeoff. Maybe not for the first kayak, but a great second one. A little tipsy for my girls 11 and 13 yrs old, but they haven't dumped it yet. I really like it. I'm 6 foot 205lbs. Some experience, I've paddled four others of different design, but this is my favorite one.

I really like these boats ... I own 3 of them and we use them for family outdoor adventures. We've had them for over a year and have used them on lakes( big and small) as well as rivers and streams. Features : They have a large cockpit, are easy to get in and out of, durable, track very well and are stable out on a big lake in waves on a windy day as well as are maneuverable on smaller Ozark streams. The only reason they did not get a 5th star is the seat is not as comfortable as advertised especially on longer trips. The seat is adjustable as are the adjustable foot pegs. I also like the dual dry storage zones - we haven't gone on any overnight floating trips - but these boats with the extra storage would be perfect for that. Overall for a family on a budget wanting good gear that will perform and last These fit the bill perfectly.

This is a solid kayak - very durable and good in rougher water. But just doesn't track well without a rudder or skeg. Any type of wind will cause you to have to make constant corrections and exert much more energy than would be needed. So I am gong to install a rudder.

You cant go wrong for the money on these, I own three in different colors, first thing to consider is safety, and you've got in here versus those floating coffins they sell at the farm stores... two sealed off compartmentalized sections keep these from sinking. Second, comfort...granted I added an extra cushion on top off the seat, but other than that, its perfect. tracks great even on windy days. this length lends itself for flat water lake touring and slow river kayaking. simply too long for rapids, etc. Very well made, this is our fourth season and no repairs needed. There's barely enough room to add a third small hatch just behind the seat for reachable storage and of course you can add the topside kayak packs as well.

Perception Conduit 13 ~First off, a quick back ground so you can understand my perspective. I am 5'6" at 163 lbs. I have kayaked over 10,000 nautical miles. I started with a Seda Viking in Seattle for use in the Puget Sound and Lake Union. Then went to the Northwest Kayak Discovery, and kayaked the Inside Passage of SE Alaska, in 1994. I kayaked over 1,000 nautical miles, solo. Back in the days when this was rare.From there, the next major trip was a 4 year circumnavigation of all the islands in SE Alaska. Going over 6,500 nautical miles, or 7,500 miles. I have kayaked raging tide rips, 13 foot seas, crossed 40+ miles of open ocean, and now locally, in Texas, have paddles hundreds of hours of local rivers and lakes. Twenty lakes in all. But all those kayaks in the Pacific Northwest were fiberglass ocean touring. Now it seems I have gone what we once called rotomold.So now let's get to the kayak and my opinions from someone who is avid, experienced, and understands the minute details of kayaking. And compare with my Sundance 9.5.The Perception Conduit 13 is a great boat. Sure. So let's address some issues one may find while researching online.Tracking. What gives? To answer that, there is no right answer. Does the boat track well. Of course. It was designed to track. But will that mean it will track well for you? Not necessarily. Let me say it this way. Currently, I have 2 Perception Sports Sundance kayaks, the 9.5s. They are fat little bathtubs on the water. I can go against a 20 knot headwind and expect to gain 3.3 mph. (The Sundance upgraded to the Conduit 9.5 for reference. They added the back hatch and knee padding.) So for 9.5 ft kayaks, with only so much waterline and so much surface, you can only expect so much speed. Want more speed, step it up. Get a longer kayak.In the Conduit 13, I can take on that same stretch, same headwinds, and instead gain 4.8 mph, on average, over 4 miles, instead of the 3.3 mph I gained in the Conduit 9.5 (Sundance), over the same four mile stretch. So this will prove the theory that if you have a slightly narrower boat, that is longer, you can gain more speed. Put me in the Atlantis Titan kevlar fiberglass, and I can still outdo the 4.8 mph of the Conduit 13. And be back to fiberglass and maintenance.But did it track straight?The answer is, it depends. I am only 5'6" and thus, feel like I am getting swallowed up in the cockpit. And let's face it. The seats in the conduits are bare bone and not the most comfortable. Anyone who says they are is probably describing their first kayak and too excited to notice seat comfort. :) But the truth is, the Sundance/Candence 9.5 is the same cockpit. 12 inch deck height. Same 11 inch height at the knees. The only difference is the Conduit 13 is four inches shorter in the space in front of you or the length of cockpit. But the taper is slower to reach the bow, and thus, you will have one full additional inch of beam to clear and thus, probably why my 220 cm paddles now feel like I need to stretch. Seems I need to upgrade to a 230 cm paddle for this boat. Which if I get another Werner Ikelos Carbon Fiber Bent shaft, is another $425. Moving on...I hate the seats. The knee padding is a pad, not a brace and not adjustable. It is thin. My Sundances do not have this pad, and I don't mind. And may take this padding off. Waste.Want a seat upgrade, look at the seat on the Carolina models. Those are upgraded seats (from what i can tell), but no, I don't think you can purchase those seats and change out the seats in the Conduit 13 with those. Would be nice. But let me add this experience.The Atlantis Titan kayaks I owned had seats I hated. But, they had a two part seat. The back lumbar seat was an adjustable band, and then a bottom seat. So, I took out that bottom seat, and bought some closed cell foam and glued up two pieces, then with a Dremal, cut out my seat pattern and made a seat that went from the back of my knees to my tail bone or butt. I then took the seats, had two kayaks, and went over to a motorcycle upholstery shop and the guy covered the seats with leather for motorcycle seats. They were then velcro'd into place. They were the cadillac of seats. Custom fit to my own bottom end. Everyone loved my seats. :) I am probably going to find a lumbar adjustable back band, install that, and do that to this seat, and get rid of it. Add a seat I make from closed cell foam. To fit me, correctly.In the Sundance 9.5 kayaks, I could put a 64 oz Rtic thermabottle next to me on one side, and a waterproof box large enough to hold phone, camera, smokes, lighter, keys to the car, etc.. in that box. No more. No can do. The seat will not allow things to slide between the seat and kayak. What a waste of space.But back to tracking. Think of this. When I do a low angle stroke, aggressive, with my Werner Ikelos Carbon Fiber bent shaft, I actually veer right. When I use a high angle aggressive stroke, I actually veer left. So what gives? Finding the right combination stroke and angle, paddle length, and seat height. My 220 cm paddle is now a bit too short to get up and around the wider breadth of this kayak, in front of me, as the taper to the bow is less than a 10 ft boat with a quick taper. This yak is narrower than my Sundance which is 30 inch beam. Yet I sit closer to the bow taper and can dig my blades further out and be more aggressive in the smaller boat. This is why I feel so small in the cockpit. Its a longer reach to clear the sides with my current paddle.But… adding a pad to sit on helps… a lot. A cheap pad, from Academy Sports for sitting on at a football game. I felt I was being swallowed inside that boat. But not really as it is the same height as my smaller kayaks. But, this does tell me if I had purchased the Carolina, that kayak would really swallow me up. The deck height here is 12 inches on the Conduit. On the Carolina, 14.5 inches. That's tall. That's a huge surface for the wind to push on. And a lot more deck to reach over to get those paddles into the water. No wonder the better seat on that boat.So tracking: depends angle of attack, length of paddle, height of person, and one another aspect: The more you try to track straight, chances are the more you will find you zig zag. Why? Like steering a car on ice, you over compensate. But if you relax and look further out ahead of the boat and find the right angle and try to rely on your mechanics of your stroke and not concentrate too hard, trust yourself, you can track fine. In other words, stop over thinking it and you won't veer all over. Yes, if you sprint then glide you may fall off your line. Left. Right. Who knows. Don't want that, get a rudder.When I am using a low angle, my lower arm, or pulling arm, is almost straight. You do not bend the elbow, much or very little. When I am using a high angle, my top arm is almost straight and my bottom arm is bent and tight to the body and cockpit and I am really bending the elbow. Because it is really pulling as my other arm pushes. **You should always push with the upper arm more than you pull with the lower. Save those muscles and neck ache. And rotate that torso for power. Just pulling will tire you out and give you a neck cramp.Thus, my paddles on a high angle are almost vertical and right next to the boat. On a lower angle, its more a sweeping motion. My paddles are down and almost level and not vertical. So the bow is a little more lively and moves side to side. You are sweeping side to side, but you can really release your grip and paddle with two fingers and really get speed. Sprinting is a more aggressive high angle stroke used in chop or waves. High angle, you want speed and to really move volume of water and a heavy stroke. It is very aggressive. Somewhere in-between is the right angle for that boat, along with seat adjustments, and paddle combinations of paddle length and again, angle. Just find it. And relax. Look ahead and enjoy the view. Stop thinking your boat is not tracking. Or get a rudder. And use feet to make adjustments. But if you feel you are reaching too far up, then sit on a pad. May really help get you over the gunwales and into the water.So I was wondering why the Carolina was more money when the boat is a foot shorter, albeit a few inches higher in deck space, but it is that seat. So I need to get my seat more comfy. I hate it. LOL But this seat in the Conduit 13 is pretty much the same as my old old Sundance 9.5 seats.The seals for the hatches on my Atlantis Titan were honestly bombproof. No water got in. Period. Same with my NW Kayak Discovery. But here, I expect with this type of seal, some water will get in. Now. Ok. I do like to paddle in winter on Canyon Lake and hope for 4 foot waves out there. But this isn't the ocean, big swells, tall stacking seas. And certainly not 13 foot tall, like my fun in Alaska. But you know, I would trust this boat out there in Alaska. Just would have to dry bag everything loaded. Which, in all honesty, I did with my Titan to move gear around anyway.What I do like is the poly plastic. This is not fiberglass and thus, a hearty material that you can slide around on rocks and not have to worry about really scratching. Try that with fiberglass! But then again, this is not barnacles and so we really don't know how this rotomold would take barnacles and if that would peel the plastic like peeling a carrot or potato. Who knows. Maine people?But maybe this will help someone looking at this boat. Unlike some boats with a softer or no chine, this boat, you can lean, lean some more, and keep leaning and not fall or roll. The secondary stability is incredible. But with a rudder, why do all that? I plan on getting the rudder, with the kit, and completely forget about tracking and just use peddles to go where I want. I am here to kayak. Not show off how much I know and how to lean right, go left, etc… Who cares. I don't want to constantly lean into and lean out of just to kayak. I want to explore and enjoy.As far as carrying the kayak and loading. The seat adjustment clip will hit my shoulder if I carry the kayak level. So you tend to move up a bit and thus the bow hangs in the air with the stern close to the ground. But lifting onto a Dodge Caravan and securing is easy enough for me. But I was lifting a 20 ft Titan at one point. So I am use to this.So a good boat. Good price. Good features. Horrible seat. They took out the two ridges in the bottom, like in the Sundance, that gives the bottom more stiffness. So the floor is smoother and a little more... softer, if you know what I mean. The hatches are adequate and the overall look and feel are fine. Would I rather have purchased an Old Town Dirigo 12? No. Because my dog sits in front of me inside the cockpit, and that boat has a console that takes up space, just to house a few items. That's what my waterproof box once did, when I could set if between the seat and side. New seat on the Conduit won't allow that any longer. Bummer. But this can haul 375 lbs (?). Which let me add, when you do load a kayak a bit more with stuff, they always track better. So remember that.