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

Month: September 2020 (Page 1 of 2)

Made It Back – Great Falls

Made It Back

Great Falls has some of my earliest kayaking memories, but it had been WAY too long since I made it back. I decided to make the long rally up for the race, but also because levels were looking good and the joy kayaking was gonna be great. The levels worked out where I was able to get all the lines I hadn’t done in so many years, and then some more. It was actually an epic day, and I’m so stoked I made the rally.

Dane Jackson
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Immersion Research Arch Rival Front Zip Drysuit – Review

I’ve paddled for many years, mostly on the river Tay where I honed my skills with help of some pretty handy people from Perth canoe club. With a solid base I gradually progressed to local Perthshire runs, opening my eyes to what was possible in a kayak. I now regularly enjoy pushing the grade of my paddling to class 4/5 and tend to get out twice a week to keep me sane. Paddling has brought me all over the world, from India to Iceland, and over time I have come to appreciate quality equipment.

Even though I’ve paddled for a long time, my slalom experience meant that semi dry cags and neoprene shorts were initially the norm. I only recently experienced the luxury of a dry suit when five years ago I bought my first dry suit with the prospect of a brief visit to Iceland that October. I pushed aside the slalomer’s stigma against dry suits and got a new Immersion Research Arch Rival front entry dry suit. My first dry suit was a revelation! It opened my kayaking up to harder grades on cold, mind numbing Scottish winter days (when the paddling here is at its best). 

I swithered for while between a L and XL with my tall skinny stature. I found I would be too tall for the L yet too skinny for the XL. With help from the Immersion Research customer service team I decided on the XL size (although if you have more time and money to spare, you can get sleeve and leg lengths modified). I received the XL dry suit which I found to be a good fit apart from the seals. I told this to Immersion Research and they happily put smaller seals on it which made a huge difference. I very quickly put a hole in the knee after running and tripping on the bank during a spate of carnage on a tree infested, fence interspersed Scottish ditch. This was expertly fixed by Immersion research and remains one of the toughest parts of the suit.

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Movie Monday 28 September 2020

Welcome to Unsponsored and Movie Monday 28 September 2020.

Enjoy!

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Social Media Saturday 26 September 2020

Welcome to Social Media Saturday 26 September 2020 at Unsponsored.

Social Media Saturday 26 September 2020

Enjoy!

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Laps On Laps

Laps On Laps

Weather by rain or a scheduled release, the Cascades are worth getting a day on. A short and sweet roadside section with plenty of fun moves especially when the water gets higher. You can just continue lapping and lapping and each time you’ll find a new move. I was stoked to be around when there was a release, and managed to get a few laps with a bunch of the local paddlers. It was a dope afternoon!

Dane Jackson
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Movie Monday 21 September 2020

Welcome to Unsponsored and Movie Monday 21 September 2020. This fine selection of whitewater edits should keep you busy for a while.

Movie Monday 21 September 2020
Movie Monday 21 September 2020

Enjoy!

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Social Media Saturday 19 September 2020

Welcome to Social Media Saturday 19 September 2020 at Unsponsored.

Enjoy!

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GoPro Hero9

Apart from the front facing screen it looks pretty similar to the Hero7 and Hero8 editions, but in reality the new GoPro Hero9 is a bigger camera both in terms of its physical size and its capabilities.

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Finally Took The Large Antix For A Rip

Finally Took The Large Antix For A Rip

Yet another day with a 200% release, seemed like a perfect time to give the Large Antix a try. It was actually super dope, definitely gonna be messing around with it some more!

Dane Jackson
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Movie Monday 14 September 2020

Welcome to Unsponsored and Movie Monday 14 September 2020.

Movie Monday 14 September 2020

Enjoy!

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Social Media Saturday 12 September 2020

Welcome to Social Media Saturday 12 September 2020 at Unsponsored.

Enjoy!

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Spade Kayaks – Joker And Blizz

In addition to the Joker Spade Kayaks will also be releasing another river runner in 2021.

The 245cm long Blizz will join the rest of the Spade line up.

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