First off; I don't own one of these boats, I've rented one, twice (once for a half day trip down a class I, maybe occasional class II river and once for a full day class II, occasional class III river) and my over all impression of the kayak is, Meh...
First lets start with the good:
1) This is easily the most maneuverable, inflatable kayak I have ever paddled, it will turn on a dime and stop its turn just as fast, Very impressed.
2) Despite the maneuverability this kayak tracked pretty well, particularly for something that is this short and doesn't have a skeg.
3) It is pretty stable, though less so than some other inflatables I've paddled, but it isn't going to bite you, even if your a total beginner.
4) Seems to be very well made, I bounced it and dragged it off more rocks than I care to think about and it came away with nary a scratch, plus it has a 10 year warranty which tells me NRS really believes in their product so good on them.
5) With no wind, actually glides nicely, easy to paddle.
6) Self draining ports work great, only took about seven seconds to drain the boat after I completely swamped it and I was able to finish the run with more or less the same amount of water in the kayak I started with...
Now for the not so good:
1) The MaverIK 1 has a deeper draft than any other inflatable kayak I've ever paddled (granted, that list is only 4 boats total...). A little more on that below.
2) It is quite a work out to paddle into the wind. A common enough issue with inflatables in general but this was worse than others I've paddled. In a gentle current a lite breeze (maybe 5 to 10 knots) actually pushed me backwards against the current when I stopped paddling for some water.
That's it for the bad.
Now you're wandering why I gave it 6 out of 10, after all seems like a good kayak... Here's the thing, the MaverIK I does nothing particularly well.
It tracks pretty well but not as well as say an Advanced Elements Advance Frame designed for flat water (Or even the Sea Eagle 380X with the skeg attached) and it doesn't handle the wind nearly as well as an expedition style inflatable.
It is certainly tough enough and maneuverable enough to handle white water but the deeper draft meant I was constantly getting hung up on rocks others glided right over and I ended up swamped or swimming. Incidentally this was an issue for my girl friend also, who is only about 140LBS (about 64 kilos for our non-American friends)
There isn't much room to pack anything, now granted I'm 6'6" (198cm) so the forward stowage was occupied by me feet, and there was plenty of room for the requisite emergency blanket, fire starter, a couple days of emergency rations, three litters of water, one set of dry cloths and a small flash light but that pretty much filled it up. If your a bigger guy and want to do any kind of camping your going to be hard pressed to get any kind of luxury items (like a tent or a sleeping bag) in there.
The seat back is comfortable enough but you are on the floor of the kayak so even on flat water you're sitting in your own private puddle.
So, at the end of the day there isn't really anything wrong with this boat, I just don't see the point. It isn't good on rapids or shallow creeks, it isn't great on open water, and it doesn't have room for enough equipment to make even an over night trip comfortable, though if you are under 6 foot (180cm) this last one might not be as troubling an issue for you. Add to that this is a $1,500.00 kayak and that seems like a lot of money to spend on a boat that is really only in its element on flat, deep water that is well protected from the wind...
