Twist

I purchased my Twist used for a steal at $300, and I love it! Tracks great, has excellent stability, and it is very sturdy. I am looking for one more for my wife!!

The Twist is a pretty nice little beginner boat. It's fairly comfortable. I am 6', 225 lbs, and there's plenty of room for me and my long legs. The Harmony seat isn't a deluxe model, but it's OK. In fact, OK is the way I would describe most everything about this kayak. The boat is lightweight and easy to carry. I got it last fall on sale at Dick's for about $200. So it was a pretty good bargain as well. The boat does nicely on flat water. It's not really fast, but it's not terriby slow, either. It tracks OK, but not as well as my OK Malibu 2. It seems less substantial than the Malibu, or any other OK boat, for that matter. The material seems thinner. It does OK in moderate surf, but only OK. The nose isn't upswept, like say a Frenzy. So when going out, you go through the waves, not over them. And if you try riding a large wave, the nose tends to bury itself in the water as you're going down the wave front, and you get dumped. (But that straight nose makes it track better on flat water.) It's not easy to handle this boat in big surf. In moderate surf, you can lean back enough to keep the nose up, and it's a lot of fun. But you have to be careful not to take on the big ones unless you're really set for them. I have tried fishing from it once, using a better seat. There's plenty of room for my gear, and it's stable enough to do about anything you need to do. Overall rating is a 7, because it's an all-purpose boat, and as such, it really isn't great at anything. But it is a good, inexpensive, all-purpose boat. I bought it to use in the surf, and am mildly disappointed with its performance there. But it does creeks, lakes, rivers, inlets, etc. pretty well. I'm going to keep it, but I'll probably look for another more specialized surf boat for the ocean. This would be a good boat for someone who is just beginning to explore the sport, a veteran will likely find it lacking in too many areas.

It's a great Kayak for the money, I use it on a lake and found it to be very stable, easy to enter and exit. It tracks very well and with the Harmony seat and paddle its a very comfortable boat.

What an awesome deal! I just bought the Twist at Sam's Club for just over $225! Although it is a short kayak, paddling is easy and it doesn't seem badly affected by wind. While it is certainly not intended for touring, it is certainly a fun little boat and excellent for poking around on our local lakes. The paddle it comes with is a bit heavy but the seat cushion/ backrest is more than adequate. It is also excellent for me since I live in an apartment and the short length allows me to not only bring the kayak inside, but stand it in the corner of our living room. If you want a fun kayak with very little impact on your pocketbook, the Mainstream Twist is a kayak I would highly recommend.

This is a great little boat! I had a chance to demo one this summer, and I was pleasantly surprised at its speed, tracking, and load capacity. It's well built. This boat offers the most bang for the buck out there.

Who should consider this boat? One, beginners should, since it's stable and easy to paddle; it's also a SOT, which are beginner friendly. Two, those who just want to get out on the lake, bay, canal, etc., and have fun. Three, those who want a great value.

The only negative thing I could say about this boat is the lack of tie downs and storage capacity. There's little room for fishing tackle, dive tanks, and so on. However, this boat isn't targeted at that audience, so that isn't a big deal. The boat was targeted at the novice kayaker. Hence, it was designed to give a good combination of stability, tracking, and speed that would suit both novices and more experienced paddlers. It was also designed and built for a price that would make anyone smile. In its intended role, the boat is awesome!

I've been looking for my own boat, since the rentals are adding up-ha! I want a decent, all-round boat. However, I don't have a fortune to spend. That puts the Mainstream Twist on my short list! It doesn't have as much carrying capacity as I would like, but hey, you can't have everything. Therefore, I'll give this great little boat a 9...

Very comfortable, great for beginners and the bay, and a great price. But does not do well taking in waves in the ocean. Nose dives and goes under way too easily. Riding waves was the main reason I bought a kayak.

This is an awesome kayak for surf. I am 240 lbs. This kayak is wide enough to seat me comfortably (29 1/2" wide) and with its 10' length, it is very manageable and tracks well also. An Excellent buy for the money at 300 bucks including seat and paddle at Sam's wholesale. I have not seen another bargain in kayaks as good as this one. I wish it would have a dry storage hatch.. it would be a 10 then!