Perception Kayaks Tribe 9.5 | Sit on Top Kayak | Recreational Kayak | 9' 5"

This Tribe Kayak is great. We live on the salt marsh in North Florida. This little guy is so Maneuverable, balanced and quick... We use it 11 months a year, when the water is warm. January here in North Florida, our water gets down to 65 degrees so that's a bit cold.. It's up to 72 now so we are on the water! Great construction, perfect size. Arrived in perfect condition. The Prime guys even put them in our garage. Can't ask for more.

I'm newer to kayaking and always have used sit on top kayaks (mostly ocean brand). I needed to get a kayak that was lighter and smaller and hoped for a good looking one, too. I find this to be not quite as stable as the ocean sit-on-tops that I've used, but it is comfortably stable and I find it easy to maneuver around. It is more sleek in my opinion than the ocean kayaks but maybe just slightly less sturdy in overall feel (still feels sturdy to me, though). I love this Perception Tribe, and I plan to buy a couple more since the length, weight, color and ease of use are all more than satisfactory.

First of all, this is my second Tribe kayak. This one feels wider in the saddle due to extra leg room thanks to a narrower side molding. Kayak rides nice, very stable, cuts through the water with ease. Love the new seat design. I did just buy an extra pad for bottom of seat as it could be a little more supportive on to saddle area.

SO many factors led me to choose this boat, and I’m so glad I did. I wanted something that would fit inside my Honda CRV. This does, with about an inch to spare. It had to be light enough to lift and carry. At 46 pounds, this is, though I have since gotten an sit-on-top cart that works great. It looks great, handles well, does well in wind and current. Great storage. I would knock it down a half-star for seat design. The straps rub my arms on every stroke. I had to zip-tie them to the frame, which works fine and keeps them low enough they don’t bother me. My boat came without the dry well cover, but Perception sent one right away. Love it.

*This will be a long, thorough review. Strap in, maybe grab a snack.*First off, it’s a beauty. Exactly as pictured. You’d be hard pressed to find a more gorgeous boat. Ordered it Aug 25th, received it on Sept. 2nd. Not an insane shipping time for such a massive item. (I live in the southwest U.S.) Now, I received it just a few minutes prior to 6:30 A.M., and I don’t know about you all, but I wouldn’t get up before 7:30 A.M. on purpose for even the sake of Christ himself, so be more on top of it than I was and pay attention to the app so you can choose your delivery window.I’ll start off with what I like about it. The side handles and the bow/stern holds are solid. Not all kayaks have carrying features that convenient, so I really appreciate those features. The chair is adjustable and more solid than 90% of kayaks I’ve seen and used. I saw some reviews about the straps getting in the way, I didn’t have anything even resembling that issue, I think the design of the seat is damn near flawless. Cargo hold areas have really solid elastic cord, so even if the boat tips a little (and all sit on tops do) what you have under the cord is staying put.What really sold me on this kayak in particular over other options was the high weight rating. 300 lbs gives you A LOT of ability to carry cargo, and if you plan on doing a day trip or lake shore camping, every pound counts. Most all other kayaks that are capable of carrying that kind of cargo aren’t under 10 ft. long like this one is, that’s for sure. Personally, I like as little bow and stern hanging off my car roof as possible. However, that high weight rating also means this kayak is heavy, which leads me into what I don’t like as much about it.When I say it’s heavy, I mean it. I’m a petite woman but I weight train and am significantly stronger than an average female. Still, I don’t stand a snowball’s chance of moving this by myself. Because I’ve got a partner who can help me move it, that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning on going it solo, this is NOT the kayak for you. Likely even if you’re a stronger man. You need two people to really do it right, period. It’s too unwieldy for a single person to handle in my opinion.The center of gravity on this kayak is higher than most sit on tops. Now, you get the comfort of that awesome adjustable seat back, but that does make it less stable than an average kayak. Something to consider if you’re less experienced and afraid to tip your boat. It’s a trade off, but for what I wanted this for, longer trips in the boat, I was okay to sacrifice a little stability. This isn’t the fastest kayak in the world. My partner in his sit in was doing laps around me. That’s okay, I wasn’t after speed. I wanted comfort and weight capacity. If you do want speed and you don’t want to get wet, this also might not be the boat for you.Obviously the self bailing feature is awesome, and it’s why I prefer sit on top kayaks to sit ins. In my opinion, if you’re afraid to get wet, kayaking is the wrong hobby for you. And if you tip your boat, it’s a lot more difficult to get out from underneath if you panic with a sit in. (as an aside, PLEASE invest in a good life jacket specifically designed for paddling, your safety is priceless) However, some of the scupper holes aren’t in totally obvious places, like under the seat, so if you’re planning to put scupper plugs in to stay dry-er, be mindful of that.Basically the only major flaw I wasn’t anticipating of this boat in how pathetic their ‘dry bag storage area’ is. I wouldn’t trust that to not take on water. It’s also tiny. If you plan on taking anything on with you, I highly recommend getting your own dry bags, preferably ones that come with straps that can get clipped to the cargo hold area. Also, a *floating* dry phone case. My phone is one thing I don’t want to take chances with. The only other thing I would change about this in an ideal world is price, but especially with kayaks, you get what you pay for. And in terms of quality and aesthetics, this baby delivers, big time. Overall, totally happy with my purchase. This boat has everything I really wanted out of a watercraft.

Great buy. I cannot speak to how it compares with other kayaks because I haven’t used that many. But I find it to be very maneuverable and stable. Great first kayak purchase for myself.

Update 6/21: We have been to so many beautiful lakes on our Tribes! Love, love these kayaks!We bought two 9.5 tribes, the Dapper & Sunset for me and my daughter. The kayaks are so comfortable, with amazing cushioned seats (like stadium seats) and great foot support. I am impressed with the tracking ability and comfort. The kayaks are roomy and feel very stable. It will tip if you lean over too far, as I experienced trying to get berries off the shore at a local lake. My daughter and I, are able to lift the kayak onto the roof of my RAV4, into the Malone J racks. They fit perfectly. There were some scratches on the dapper kayak, but they were light enough that we did not think worth returning. The sunset kayak was in perfect condition. There were some issues with late delivery by XPO. We get so many compliments on our kayaks and it is one of the best purchases we could have made. We love it!

What an excellent Kayak! It’s light weight, stable and nimble in the water. The seat is super comfortable. It’s very stable for a bigger person, I’m 6’1 and I had plenty of legroom. Delivered in perfect condition. Buy the scupper plugs, and a paddle, you need them but the seat is built right in and it’s so convenient!