Dagger

I owned a Catalyst 13 for over 3 years, and it is an excellent all around boat. Fast for its size, and very, very stable. I had taken it in up to just class 2 rapids and had no problems at all with it.

This boat is an all around winner, from casual Class I to Class III-V (which is where it really shines). The 7.5 is for everyone under 5'10 and less than 175lbs (beyond that you should consider the 7.8 or 8.1 instead). The boat is fully adjustable in the cockpit to a degree that is simply unheard of in whitewater boats. With the 7.5 Dagger proves it's the finest mass production whitewater kayak manufacturer the planet has to offer (no offense to Perception, Liquid Logic, et al). Sierra Trading Post as usual came through, and I purchased the last one as luck would have it (these are discontinued and it's obvious why they're so hard to find used...people simply don't ever give them up and friends have told me for over 3yrs that I need to hunt one down. I'm glad I did! The few I found online recently were simply not local and too expensive to ship).

Great Kayak, its shame they discontinued it when Wilderness Systems, bought out Dagger, very similar to the Pungo 140, I have paddled both and the Dagger is superior in all areas

Best buy for the price and there were no "transport blemishes" on arrival. One con is that it took two weeks to deliver and even longer if you live in an apartment.

I wasn't sure what "minor blemishes" meant from the product description. I'm pretty cautious about buying "2nds", but the kayak looks as good or better than ones at the local store. Cockpit is larger than expected with room behind the seat for a small cooler or tackle box. I plan to fish from the kayak, and I have plenty of room in front of the seat to store fishing poles, etc.