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EPIC 18X Sport Seat PERFECTION! Joe at Redfish built me a seat for my 2009 Epic 18x Sport, and it is absolutely awesome. The OEM seat left me with a painful butt and tailbone, and leg numbness after about 5 miles of paddling. After 10 miles, my only desire was to get OUT of the kayak. Redfish seats take care of all those problems, and make the paddling experience absolutely perfect.

Ordering/measurement/installation: It was simple to order from Joe. I had a couple of questions pertaining to the exact generation of my 18x sport versus others he may have built for, so Joe encouraged me to go ahead and take the measurements just to be sure that the product I ordered was exactly right for my boat. He spent time with me on the phone while I took the measurements just to make sure that we were crystal clear on the measurements. After that was complete, he got the seat together and had it ready to ship within 24-hours. There is an installation video on YouTube which shows you exactly how to install the seat. It's simple, but you need to follow the directions to make sure it's installed perfectly. It only takes 1 minute to install the seat, and you don't have to remove the seat track from the OEM seat as there is a cutout in the new seat foam for it. The Redfish seat fits perfectly. The back sits up against the bulkhead perfectly which allows you the maximum amount of room to get your feet and legs inside the kayak. The seat is perfectly molded to the floor, the side padding is a perfect fit, and everything is exactly how you'd dream it to be if you could dream it up yourself.

Paddling experience: The seat is extremely comfortable. It's closed-cell foam so it doesn't absorb water, get heavy, or anything of that nature. It's soft, yet firm, and fits your body well (not sure how he did that, because I didn't have to give him measurements of my backside, but it is as close to a perfect fit as I could imagine). It's solid seating. No movement, no squeaking (which I would get from the OEM seat) and no pressure points in sitting position. It allows me to press on the footboard, use the rudders, and paddle using my knees / hip / core motion as it should be. Have paddled quite a few miles with this seat, and have never felt like I couldn't have paddled double that trip in comfort.

Summary: Experience, craftsmanship, ergonomics, quality, service, expedience, knowledge. These are all attributes I'd give to my experience with Redfish. Very well done, and it made my kayak into something that I can enjoy so much more than before.

I have owned this kayak for around a month and have been on it several times. Probably paddled it 10-15 miles in total. It's not fast, but paddles decent and tracks as expected. I got the optional "flexwings" with the kayak (they're around $30). They help keep the kayak tracking straight. I'd like to have a rudder as well when one becomes available. I don't think that there is an available rudder kit at this moment. The kayak is fairly heavy and I drive a 4Runner, so it's not "easy" to get on top of the truck, but it's not bad at all, and the biggest thing is to watch videos on how to do it correctly, practice and set up your roof racks correctly. The kayak is really stable. In the past I have owned a couple of Old Town Loons (138s). I am enjoying the SOT, and the kayak came nicely equipped. It's a good idea to take the cover off the front of the kayak when transporting, although I didn't take it off once when traveling around 30 miles and it was still there. I've modified a super cheap kayak cart to help move it around. I really like the waterproof compartment. I typically keep snacks there. I keep my keys, wallet, etc in a dry bag. The kayak takes boat wakes really well and I purposefully took the kayak down to the lake during a holiday weekend to gain some experience with how the kayak takes wakes. I plunged into the wakes in every way I could think of and at every angle, and they never upset my boat at all. I had one HUGE wake that I took on directly (for giggles) and a wave came over the bow which pushed a significant amount of water into the kayak and it perfectly drained out within a few seconds, and went off without a glitch. I've never felt the slightest bit unconfident about how this boat handles paddling, waves, wake, etc. It's super confidence inspiring and it would be more than appropriate for a beginner. I'm 60 years old and 190 lbs, and I could easily load this baby up with weight and still be confident in it. Seat is comfortable for hours at the time and you can stand to vary your position and stretch your legs if you want. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the cup holder. It's too big for my coffee cups (yeti type) and my water bottles, so they tend to flop around and I actually lost a water bottle at one point. I'm looking at other solutions (maybe a different coffee mug and water bottle that have a lower center of gravity and are shorter/fatter. All told the kayak is a 95%+. The price has gone up a bit to $1,099. It's worth it.