Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
This has to be a must buy for any paddler. The Black Witch glue is perfect for repairing rips, tears and nicks in spraydecks, wetsuits etc. I always have a tube kicking round just in case and have in the past made some substantial repairs to a couple of my Playboater decks.
Once open the glue within the tube can go off fairly quickly. Keeping it cool (even in the fridge) can help prolong its shelf life.
Reviews of the following kit will be appearing on the site over the next few weeks:
Petzl Myo XP headtorch
Ortlieb Camera Bag
Watershed Camera Bag
Sandiline Socks Skin 05
Jackson Zen
Pyranha Jed (Large)
Howies Merino Thermals
I’m fortunate enough to be one of the few people around and abouts the place that has got hold of some of the level6 gear and have to say I love it.
The range is designed by boaters for boaters, but with a strong emphasis on style and quality, but it doesn’t stop there. The gear is all VERY well thought about too.
When worn, to the outsider these look like a real nice pair of board shorts. Great length, colour, shape, style that would be as at home at HPP as it would on Fistral, Golds or Port Talbot. The lace-up waist band teamed with solid velcro fly allow for a snug fit. BUT, this is not where the shorts’ end. Underneath the outer is a liner made of the same material as the above slippers. A close fitting silver lycra/neoprene. Not the silver looped fleece this time but a cropped black flock lining to the silver, making these super comfortable and, again, almost totally impenetrable by wind, water and cold. The shell aids in this due to the great wicking and dispensing nature, not to mention the wind-resistance. Flat-locks and double stitching throughout makes them tough and durable. All in all a great pair of shorts. Be sure to get the right size as the velcro fly is cleverly designed to open both the shell layer and the liner layer, meaning if you’re a bit tubby (or too well endowed ) for the shorts, there’s risk of your modesty (or that of others) being comprimised I’d have no problem wearing these to the beach for surfing, or strutting at Howsham weir in the middle of winter.
Can’t wait to see the rest of the range from Level Six. I understand the full catalogue is going to be on our shores soon after the new year.
Happy Paddling
MattD
This cag is extremely light offering great flexibility and freedom in the boat, it also is rather breathable, stopping you get hot and sweaty on those hot summer days, with the good neoprene seals on the cuffs and neck was surprisingly dry for a single layer cag. However for those who just want to brown your arms there is a short sleeve version available.
Even during wet cold blustery days the cag offered decent protection keeping you dry and warm. Given the extra freedom it offers, it will be interesting how far into the winter it can be used.
One extra advantage is that the cag’s material is very water repellent shedding water within just a few shakes, this means the cag dries very quickly and means you can have a morning session and the cag would be dry within an hour. Meaning you get dry kit for the next session.
Attention to detail on ALL level six kit is superb, the taping and stitching on the seams is just flawless. The cag uses a double strap system to tighten the waste giving a comfortable yet watertight seal between you, the deck and the cag. A key pocket is also located in the chest area, but made accessible when wearing a BA.
Overall the cag is a delight to wear, and would be ideal as a spring/summer/autumn cag, and as it has a neoprene style seal, makes neck rash a thing of the past.
More information on the entire Level six range available at;
HAPPY PADDLING
Jules H
My GoPro Hero 2 
The aim over the next few weeks is to try a few multiple angle shots from multiple cameras. The suction cup mount is definitely a great resource to have.
My current GoPro Setup.
It will become very apparent over the next few weeks that I have a lot of Immersion Research kit. The main reason for this is because it fits me really well. All manufacturers “cut” their kit slightly differently and it just happens that IR is bang on for me.
After well over 25 years of paddling I finally saved up enough cash to buy a drysuit. Out of the crop of drysuits available at the time only the IR Double D was really meeting my needs – Breathable, Socks, Latex seals (neck & wrists), no brass zip, subtle colours!
I ordered the suit via the Immersion Research EU site. The suit landed direct from the factory via Glasgow (it was already in the UK when I ordered it = no import duty) at the start of last winter when I was working on getting my river mojo back. As a result the suit has been “Fully” tested.
I have had this Nookie paddle bag for around 7 years. It is absolutely bombproof. It is used primarily to protect my car from my paddles, but has also been used occasionally to protect my paddles from enthusiastic baggage handlers.
The bag is made from tough Cordura type material and features a large full length zip. This makes using the bag very easy. A clear document holder for ID is provided along with a mesh panel pocket. The bag came supplied with a shoulder strap but in all honesty this is something that I have never used.
The final bit of outfitting for my new Pyranha Jed was a GoPro guide sticker.
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.
Rather than this being a review of the new Palm Spark Suit, this is more of a photographic first look. There has been lots of talk about the suit over the last few months but very little in the way of images. I have therefore decided to put that right. The suit shown is my new Palm Spark in large.
The Spark is a Surface Immersion Suit, it is not a dry suit as both the ankle seals are not latex (or socks) and are therefore not 100% water tight. However reports suggest that the performance of the seals is pretty good.
I picked up the Palm Spark from Northshore WaterSports today. Continue reading
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.
I have been trying out one of Wasabi’s GoPro batteries for the past few weeks. The standard GoPro battery is 3.7V and 1100mAh. The Wasabi battery is 3.7V and 1400mAh. So what does this actually mean, well in theory the Wasabi battery should last longer than the OEM GoPro battery!
This certainly seems to be the case. I have ran the camera using Video and time lapse over the past week using both the GoPro OEM battery and the Wasabi Power Battery. Repeatedly the Wasabi lasts a little bit longer than the GoPro.
The Wasabi Power Battery for GoPro costs way less than the GoPro OEM model. Every time I use my GoPro the SD card capacity has never been the limiting factor. The limiting factor has always been the battery life. I have therefore decided to order the Charger Kit which comes with two GoPro batteries.
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