I have owned three Hobies so far. My first, an '86 H16 that had the original tramp (white vinyl). I sold that boat about three years ago and teh tramp still hasn't been replced. So, it's at least 20 years old and going strong. My second and current is the '82 H18 which I just replaced the original tramp on this season. This comes to 24 years. My third which I traded for wings was an early '70's H14 with one of the black mesh tramps that was only about 6 years old. If I had kept the boat I would have replaced the tramp since the black one was falling apart.
The point is, $300 is not that much if you look at the cost over the life of the product. I would say get the Hobie tramp. IFyou assume $400 over 20 years... that's $20 per year for a tramp. Not bad. If you use a cheaper tramp and replace it 3 or 4 times in the timeframe, it costs the same and you will not have as good of a tramp.
Just my opinion.
_________________ Nick
Current Boat In the market Previous boats owned '74 Pearson 30 '84 H16 '82 H18 Magnum St. Louis, MO
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