Here's my thing. ain't gonna pay top dollar for something bad for me. lol.
Used Kayak when it hit the shelves at $.99 and stayed there for a bit. Decent. Not high end. $.99 makes things really good. But till it got up to Cougar price, it was better than Timber Wolf and Red Seal and all them. Once it hit $2.50 plus and I found Cougar, Kayak got benched.
Then Cougar started appearing maybe 2 years ago or so. Low $2 range. Still around $3.50 +-, and the better of the budget brands. Acquabtince gave up the cost of Grizzly when he tried my Cougar. Can't do Red Seal or Wolf, or Longhorn or whatever all hte other off brands are. Cougar by choice. Stoker's then Kayak as backups.