With the RRP of most whitewater kayaks hitting the dizzy heights of £900-£1000 buying second hand has a great deal of appeal. There are hundreds of unsused boats out there lurking at the bottom of gardens or getting in the way in garages.

You can find adverts for 2nd hand boats listed on Kayak/Canoe Forums, Facebook groups and of course sites like ebay. If you can it is always best to see the boat in person as you will potentially be buying something that will cost 100s of pounds and will need to take you safely down whitewater.

I am going to give a quick run down of what to look out for if you decide to go down the 2nd hand route. I’m also going to focus on the plastic kayaks that the vast majority of paddlers use.

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