We bought this boat because we had intended to rent inflatables 2 days in a row, and the cost of buying this was the same as renting a boat for 1 day. Of course, now we pretty much never have to rent a boat. The package arrived very quickly, in time for me to set the boat up and check it for problems, and learn a little about using it 3 days before our trip. Problem was, the box was ripped. Luck held though, nothing was missing, and the boat was not damaged. I'd read reviews from other buyers and that was what helped me decide on this boat. I'm glad I did, the reviews were mostly good, and I am very happy with this product. I will add some of my experiences with our new boat, hopefuly it will be helpful to you. It is very easy to inflate and set up. Using the enclosed hand pump, I was able to inflate the boat in about 15 minutes, and there was little difficulty. Be careful with the foot holders on it though, they seem very flimsy. I made sure to use both feet, instead of 1 foot, seemed less likely to break that way. The included grab rope is not that impressive, but I didn't expect a mountaneering rope, lol. the accessory pouch ties onto the boat and it'll hold things together in roughly the same spot, but make sure anything you put in it and want to keep, you find a way to clip to the string that holds the pouch to the boat. Two inflatable cushions come with the boat, as do 2 fishing pole holders. I am afraid to lose these, and did not take them with us on our trip. the cushions to do attach in anyway, and it did not seem to be wise to set them in the boat while ging down the spring river. It's not a rough river at all, but there is certainly potential for things to wash out on occasion. It occured to me, the cushions may serve as impromptu patching material if you're, um, "up a creek." Pun intended. The paddles included in this boat are collapsible, but beware. I put them together with ease the fisrt day I had the boat, but I was rushing around the day we floated the river, and my "hand tightening" of the compression ring on one of the paddles produced a broken compression ring. I tried to use the paddle anyway, thinking if I hold the thing below the connector, it might be alright. Within about 2 minutes of launching and trying to use that paddle, I found my theory was completely false. The plastic tube that the aluminum handle pieces fit into shaddered. Again, I got lucky, I was able to retain all the paddle parts,I might be able to find a new compression fitting one day. (you should have seen me paddling for 5 hours with about 4 inches of paddle handle...) The paddle that I did not pre-break performed perfectly fine. At the end of our trip, I found the compression fittings were tough to loosen, so when I got home I put a dab of WD-40 on the threads, and in a few minutes, they came right apart. I found the paddles to be a bit on the short side, I'm 6' and learned recently through research that a paddle should reach from the ground to about your chin, these do not. Also the length is just barely enough for the paddles to clip in the storage rings on the tubes of the boat. I was afraid to use them, so if we set our paddles down, it was in the boat, not in those rings... also, the boat has two sets of oar locks. One set each, forward and aft. I don't know a lot about rafting, but it seems like there should be a set admidships, so that the boat could be rowed single-handedly from the center. I don't know, just a thought. I bought 2 more paddles as well, seems like a boat that is for 4 people should probably have 4 paddles... The boat comes with a little ruler that aligns with 2 lines on the main chambers of the boat. If the boat line, and ruler line match up, it is inflated correctly, according to the manual. well, I had practiced inflating and deflating the boat a few times, trying to work out the kinks and thought I had it down pretty good. I found though, when we actually started going down river, the boat felt a bit mushy, even though I was sure to check for proper inflation. After about 10 or 15 minutes, we banked it, I added some airwith the hand pump to give the boat just a tiny bit more rigidity and our trip was quite comfortable. (Our party was (2) adults, and (2) 13 year old girls, and a cooler, well under the 880 lb. limit on the boat) Which reminds me, with that load, we fit very nicely. I've read reviews on many different inflatable boats where the writers were not satisfied with the capacity of their 4 man rafts. I'm glad to say, I'm happy with this one. Let's see, I concur with other reviews, that the beach ball inflation point on the boat floor is a bit of a pain during deflation. I carry the included inflator in the boat, but when it comes to ACTUALLY inflating and deflating, I have used 2 different coleman pumps (12 volt dc, and the 110 volt ac) and a shop vac. Those all work fine. the coleman pumps aren't that much quicker than the hand pump, and I dare say it'd be wise, if you're going to initially inflate with one of those, to finish off with the hand pump. The shop vac was convenient when I got home and had to clean off and store the boat. I guess whatever you use would be fine. But, I did, just once, deflate the boat by hand, meaning, opened all the valves, started folding and rolling it, and had to hold that little bitty beach ball blow up tube. Yeah, thats not fun for long. But with the jusdicious use of modern tools, the floor's inflation point is not a problem. I mean, do you really want a boston valve sitting there in the floor, waiting to be bumped loose and instantly let the floor deflate while you're going down river? (not to mention, it's location was covered in water about the whole time we were out) Storing the boat is easy for me. After cleaning and deflating it (with the shop vac to get as much air out as possible) I am able to easily put it in a bag I had lying around. It resembles a military issue sea bag, but about half as long. once the boat's rolled up, it fits right inside, and I disassemble all 4 of my paddles, and slide the parts into the bag around the boat. Obviously a storage bag is not included with the kit, but this should give you an idea of how small a space you'll need for storage. It'll fit in a car trunk easily, or at the bottom of a closet. I keep mine inside. I don't like what garage temperatures do to plastic over time. I actually had reason to use the patch kit that was included with the boat on another intex product. It's not a huge kit, but if you follow the directions, it works just fine. I don't know if the glue tube included is enough to use for all the patches if you need them. I hope I don't need all mine. So, If you're still reading, I hope this has been helpful for you. I am pleased with the boat kit and look forward to using it with friends and loved ones for a long time coming, and I certainly recommend it. Great boat for the price. Ten years in & I still have it. We don't use it nearly as much as I thought we might, but it has floated a few rivers & got promoted to dingy status when I got a sail boat a few years later. Still in decent shape. Not a bad purchase at all. I purchased a small electric motor for it & the intek removable "transom" for it, but haven't ever used them. Maybe some day.
