Got my ebay tramps. Quick first impressions. I fitted them as close into the boat as possible and that seemed to allow enough room to use a paddle (albeit awkwardly). The buckles on the straps are absolute rubbish - they are flimsy and tinny and had some surface corrosion straight out of the box.
Of course the first thing I did was to put my full weight (170 lb) on one of the tramps, since that is not recommended. The jaw on the outside rear buckle gave way and the buckle turned itself inside out. I replaced the outside straps with tie-down straps and it felt solid and seemed to be supporting my weight easily.
This enabled me to fulfil a long-held fantasy and fit a passenger seat (from my Ocean Kayak).
It's very comfortable sitting in the seat with your feet resting on the front aka. When you sit back, the straps pop up and give you something to hang on to.
They also integrate easily with my existing Conlon spayshields (
For a dry ride, always use a Conlon ).
All in all, they look promising at the price, but I would definitely factor in the cost of 4 short tie-down straps per tramp (or something similar) if you want them to support any substantial amount of weight. I should reiterate that the Hobie tramps are clearly a superior product. I only got these because I feel strongly that full width tramps are not for me.