Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view

Tag: Spraydeck (Page 1 of 2)

Palm Impact Spray Skirt 2017 – First Look

A surprise parcel landed at Unsponsored HQ this week, a brand new 2017 Palm Impact spray skirt. We’ve had an older one of these in at the HQ a couple of years back and it proved to be an awesome skirt.

Palm Impact Spray Skirt 2017 - First Look

The Palm Impact spray skirt is Palm’s top end bungee corded offering.

For 2017 Palm have updated the design so that it now includes a few tweaks.

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Peak UK Racer ST

A couple of weeks ago Peak UK announced their release of the new Racer ST line of PFD/Top Deck all in one combos. They have since released the following info and video. Check it out.

Peak UK Racer ST

The new Racer ST is a unique and ground breaking three-in-one garment that combines a paddling jacket with spray deck and buoyancy aid for the ultimate streamlined performance. The Racer ST holds around 30 percent of it’s flotation in its spraydeck, meaning now there’s less than 20mm of flotation foam on the athlete’s body.

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Spray Deck Skirt Modification

After reading through some old threads on liquid latex, I found some good reviews on the stuff but no pictures of how people got on, so I thought I’d share with you the pics of my repaired spray deck. Time for a little spray deck modification.

spray deck modification

My spray deck had always been fairly loose fitting so I could get it off easier in a panic, but now as my confidence has built up, I wanted a tighter fitting deck to keep me drier in pushier water or waves.

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Palm Impact Spraydeck – Review

I’ve been using Palm’s Impact spraydeck for a few months now and am ready to feedback on its performance to date. Thanks to Palm Equipment and Northshore Watersports (for piggy backing delivery) I have a Palm Impact that replaces the Extreme as Palm’s top end neoprene bungee deck. First impressions are good. The deck looks and feels solid. It is well made and the black/lime colour scheme is bang on trend!

Palm Impact Spraydeck 4

On the outside there is a protective 4mm Armortex reinforcement to increase the robustness of the deck. This should make the Impact of interest to those who put their decks through a rough time.

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Immersion Royale Spray Deck/Skirt – Review

For the past few years I have been using Immersion Research decks for both playboating and creek duties.

Thanks to the guys at Immersion Research I was hooked up with one of the brand new Immersion Research The Royale spray skirts.

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Palm Impact Spraydeck – First Look

Thanks to Palm Equipment and Northshore Watersports (for piggy backing delivery) I have a Palm Impact Spraydeck in for review. The Palm Impact replaces the Extreme as Palm’s top end neoprene bungee deck. First impressions are good. The deck looks and feels solid. It is well made and the black/lime colour scheme is bang on trend!

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On the outside there is a protective 4mm Armortex reinforcement to increase the robustness of the deck. This should make the Impact of interest to those who put their decks through a rough time.

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Immersion Research The Royale Spray Skirt – First Look

Thanks to the guys at Immersion Research I was hooked up with one of the brand new Immersion Research The Royale spray skirts.

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Now I have have said this before but will say it again – for most of my paddling career (28yrs+) I have used Playboater decks and it has only been Immersion Research who have been able to tempt me away from the brand. At present I own a couple of IR skirts. The first is a rand based (more on that later) skirt the Special K and the bungee based Klingon Empire. The latter has been my go to deck for over a year – I love it!

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Playboater Pro Team Deck

What happens when you take a Playboater Workdeck design but make it a little heavier duty, add a dry lip and make the fit just a little snugger? You get the Pro Team Deck.

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Immersion Research Klingon Empire Spraydeck – Initial Thoughts

Those of you who have followed the site for many years will know that I usually only ever use Playboater spraydecks. I have owned a few and they are always superb. Well today I tried my new Immersion Research Klingon Empire Spraydeck and have been simply blown away.

This is what IR say about the deck:

The Klingon Empire is the same skirt as the Klingon with one major difference- the front casing (the high wear area going over the front portion of the cockpit rim) is laminated with a high thread-count Kevlar™. This very costly strip of woven gold is simply the best possible fabric when it comes to flexible abrasion resistance, making it the perfect choice for people who are exceptionally hard on spray skirts.

The Klingon skirt, with it’s high-tension bungee and extra neoprene extending out past the bungee make it a perfect choice for keeping even the most difficult rims dry. Typical use would include high-end playboating and on creek boats where all other skirt designs seem to leak.

The Klingon Empire had been bought for my new Pyranha Jed as I wanted something with a dry lip and bungee. An order to IR in the States and a couple of weeks later it landed. The deck arrived early last week and despite opening it up it has sat unloved in corner of the dining room. Work has been getting in the way of fun out on the water. So today was my first chance to get the deck onto a boat and get it wet.

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Immersion Research Special K Spray Deck

For the past 15 years I have been exclusively using playboater spraydecks. However as I was buying a new Immersion Research (IR) Double D Drysuit I thought I’d take the opportunity of ordering an IR deck for my LL Stomper at the same time.

The model I chose was the Immersion Research Special K spray deck. This is IRs top of the line rand deck. The deck is a rand deck which means that rather than using thick bungee cord to seal the deck onto the boat the deck has a strip of rubber. In this case the rand has a couple of ridges/fins that help improve the seal. The first couple of times I used it I did need assistance with putting it on. A bit of time on the boat helped sort that out – I expect to do this with all well fitting decks.

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Spraydeck/Sprayskirt size guide

A superb resource that is well worth bookmarking.

http://www.skirtfit.com/

Bombergear K Bomb

Bombergear have had a pretty bad wrap since the problems with the Koldfusion Technology (unfair given the quality and warranty on/of the new kit). However the Bombergear decks have always had a solid construction and reputation. The neoprene used is top notch and all seams have been glued and taped. Areas at risk of significant wear are re-enforced with kevlar!!

I have owned two K Bomb decks over the last couple of years and have only had to change decks when I have changed boats. The deck itself goes on easily even when sat in a swirling eddy with one hand grabbing onto the bank! But at the same time it stays put once in place.

The grab handle is stiffened with a plastic handle and snugly fitting fastex buckle. Both of which allow the deck to be hooked or fastened onto the PFD whilst out of the boat.

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