Profile

Let me start off by saying that I haven't been kayaking in year. My Wife & I wanted to try it now that we are retired. We went to a local kayak rental/tour place. They had the nice sturdy Wilderness SOTs. We were our for about 2 1/2 hrs on a local river. Very nice time. It was well worth the time and money to get re-aclimated.

That said, we then did a lot of research. It came down to either the Wilderness Pungo 120 or the Old Town Loon 126. Well, the Old Town Loon 126 won hands down.

Since purchase, we have been in quite a variety of conditions ranging from going upstream against a current with head winds to calm river to the Intercoastal Waterway. These boats performed admirably!

I especially enjoyed how they handled the Intercoastal Waterway when some power boats came by and didn't really mind their wakes. Yes, they rocked a little, but just went with the flow. (This was one of my Wife's biggest worries.) They also did excellent going across the wakes. A little up and down, but cut through it nicely. I feel that was attributed to the length.

This model has the 3 layer design. This would really payoff if the cockpit ever got swamped which put my Wife at ease (me too, for that matter)..

There are a lot of what I like to call creature comforts: Starting with the seat - simply marvelous, nicely adjustable foot pegs, cockpit dash which has holders for all your stuff & a nice bottle holder too & a dry well which even has a way you can bring a small power source for any usb devices, paddle holder, bungies, good handles for carrying, a second larger dry well - aft of cockpit, and lots of room.

I can't say enough good things about our new Old Town Loon 126 kayaks. We got ours' in cloud color. Such a great investment!

If you are in the northeastern part of South Carolina, stop in to see Randy at Waccamaw Canoe & Kayak Co. His shop is just over the border in Shallotte, NC. He's the best! Such a wonderful guy who enjoys kayaking and even more, sharing about it.

Hope this review helped you! Happy paddling.......