Valley Style Round Day Hatch Cover by Necky

I buy these hatch covers regularly because they are known not to last and I have not found an alternative. I am not sure if it is sun degradation or salt, but they rot and fall apart in a depressingly short amount of time...

I haven't bought a replacement, but I do have the original factory one from my Necky Chatham 18, or what's left of it anyways. I bought the Kayak new about two years ago. It held a rather large place of honor in the center of my garage, which meant I had to step over it about three times a day. The goal was to keep it outta the sun except when in use to extend the kayak's life.As stepping over it became untenable, I moved it to the backyard, flipped it upside down resting on high density packing foam blocks, and promptly covered it with a new, UV resistant tarp. It stayed out there until my next expedition a few weeks later. As I was spraying off bugs and spiders and such, I noticed that the round day hatch was cracked. It was slightly more than a year old at this point, and had probably spent less than 24 hours of it's total life in direct sunlight.I tried lubricating it with various substances as recommended by friends to no avail. It eventually eroded away entirely, until the middle fell out completely, rendering it useless less than two years since it left the factory. The large, oval hatches are still 100%, mind you, although I did tear the loop where the string secures one of them by tripping on it in the dark. I would not be so miffed about the round hatch dissolving like a saltine on the floor of my cockpit were it not for the fact that this is apparently a $40 piece of Tupperware, without the warranty, or if I had simply neglected any kind of maintenance which is certainly not the case. I will certainly be looking for a cheaper replacement that will last at least as long as the disposable containers that Chinese Take-Out food comes in.*UPDATE:* I contacted Johnson Outdoors, owners of Necky, Ocean Kayak, Oldtown Canoe, and many others and they replaced my hatch with no questions asked, which I think is fair, considering how much I paid for the boat to begin with. I give their warranty five stars, and I'm changing the product to two stars, because it still wears out way, WAY too quickly for how much it would cost had I bought the boat used and needed to replace it.