Over the last year or so I have been making my way through all of the new creek boats on the market. This has included paddling the LL Stomper, Pyranha Nano, Wavesport Recon 83, Wavesport Recon 93, Zet Raptor, and now the Pyranha Shiva.
From Pyranha:
The Shiva – Ultimate Steep Creeker
New Pyranha Shiva Promo Uk Style from sam ellis on Vimeo.
The Shiva has a rounded hull, soft stern chines, a high bow rocker and loads of volume in the bow and stern.
These features give you softer landings on big drops, rear driving force when you want it, awesome boofability and resurfacing capability. The rounded & high deck, with a high centre of volume, countering a low centre of gravity for easy rollability.
If you are running big drops and pushing harder lines the Shiva is the one you want.
The Shiva is supplied with Pyranha’s excellent Connect 30 outfitting system. You can read more about that in my Jed review.
The Shiva was designed by Robert Peerson, former designer with Wavesport. The Shiva has been specifically designed to take on big water, big drops and to give back big bags full of fun.
The Shiva has a displacement hull which is unusual amongst the current crop of new creek boats. However the hull on the Shiva is very responsive and it accelerates very easily.
The large version certainly doesn’t feel huge but for me feels just about right. The fit is comfortable. The sides of cockpit aren’t too high, so its easily to swing your paddle around without banging elbows or hitting the hull. Freedom of movement isn’t compromised by the design of hull.
As expected the Shiva boofs and lands well. The bow sheds water easily and resurfaces after a drop like a dream. On edge the Shiva is extremely forgiving and I was able to “push” it a few times without getting nailed – the stability really saved me a couple of times from a number of serious beatings.
Rolling is easy with and without a paddle! It has been thoroughly tested in this department.
Overall I really enjoyed the Shiva and if I hadn’t already had a creek sorted the Shiva may have well found itself making its way into the fleet. It is a kayak that is definitely worth trying out.
Small:
Length 254cm
Width 66cm
Volume 280l
Weight 21kg
Paddler Weight Range 45 – 80kg
Medium:
Length 259cm
Width 67.3cm
Volume 305l
Weight 22kg
Paddler Weight Range 60 – 110kg
Large:
Length 264.2cm
Width 68.6cm
Volume 348.2l
Weight 23kg
Paddler Weight Range 80 – 130kg
Could of used one of my videos!!!! God damn seppos!! 😉
Updated!
Yeah much better film, ha
Tried the large Shiva and loved it. Felt like I was paddling a bulldozer. It paddles big.