The Yak Riwaka in a very loud GREEN has arrived at Unsponsored HQ. Now this is the third bit of gear from Yak that has landed here the HQ in as many weeks and once again Yak have made a really good impression (I need to find out who is designing this stuff!) – here’s why.
Category: Gear (Page 74 of 135)
I have had a Sandmarc GoPro Pole on test for the last few weeks and follows hot on the heals of the GoPole Evo.
Name: Aaron Kendall
Location: Loggerheads, Mold, North wales
I’m currently a outdoor instructor for Kingswood, based at the Colomendy outdoor centre. What seems to be the perfect location, although I seem to of missed most of the rain due to other commitments. Still getting plenty of low water runs in and the odd bit of water too.
For ever and a day I have been using Oakley MTB shorts for all biking duties. They have been my favourite and served me well. However I managed to get hold of some Sweet Protection Hunter shorts to test and have been blown away by the fit, function and design.
Hunter Enduro shorts from Sweet Protection on Vimeo.
So what is so special. Well they fit really well, plenty of adjustment and the fabric has just that little bit of stretch that helps whilst pedalling. Not too tight and not too baggy (for a pair of baggies!). Length wise they sit just over the knee and are wide enough to accommodate knee pads without any issues.
Hot on the heals of the Yak Chinook dry pants is the new Hallertau PFD. The Hallertau is a top spec river running PFD with QR harness and all the storage options you could ever want. Yet it remains really low profile.
Name: Eddy Mead
Location: Cardiff, South Wales
Boat: Liquidlogic Remix 79
I’ve paddled the Remix for a year now and have loved every minute. It’s super long with a narrow hull so it accelerates quickly and maintains speed. It’s got soft edges so it’s really forgiving but at the same time carves into tight eddy’s and into strong currents with ease. The Remix doesn’t have masses of rocker so boofing can require a little more effort but if the boat is being driven it cruises over everything. What’s unique and cool about it is the scoop on the tail, if dipped in the green whilst punching a big hole, it will give you a boost and accelerate away from the feature. Also the LL Badass outfitting if fantastic, super easy to adjust and super comfy without adding too much weight.
Name: Ben Hawthorne
About me: Been paddling for a while now, maybe 24 years?? Christ I’m old!!! I have however been fortunate to take my passion all over the world and paddle in a whole lot of places including New Zealand, Nepal, Chile and Canada. For the last 2 summers and next I have been running the Sjoa Kayak Camp in Norway along with my beautiful wife and the Gene 17 boys. I’m lucky enough to be supported by Colorado Kayak Supply in the US, super cool guys, check em out.
Location: Currently, Chamonix for the winter. Stoked.
Boat: ZET Raptor. Now when these came out I thought they looked a bit industrial, rough around the edges and wasn’t that keen. Then I ended up paddling one for a bit, and after a couple of runs was completely converted. It does everything a creek boat should do. Fast (for a creek boat), boofs and rolls easy, light, comfortable and most importantly, bomb proof. I do think its not really a great beginners boat, it definitely needs to be driven around the river and will kick your arse pretty fast if youre not a pro-active paddler but I love it. It really suits my paddling style. I’m pretty excited to see the new boat they’ve got lined up, details boys details!!! Also a Bliss-stick Smoothy for my play boat, like a project in my size, love it.
As a smaller female paddler I was asked to review the new small Pyranha Burn 3. I am 5’0”, weigh around 60kg and not particularly flexible. I currently paddle a Zet Veloc, with a brief time paddling the Dagger Mamba 7.5 before and during a trip to Nepal. I confess I have never tried the previous small Burns because they never appeared to be small enough.
Name: Dave Brown (aka Redneck Dave, Full Face Dave, Small Head)
Location: Barrow or North Wales
Boat: Currently an XL Burn Mk3 in the sickest colours you’ve ever seen – Rasta
I really like the way the rails allow you to carve hard without stalling and tripping you up unlike the old burn, making it easy to fine tune lines and snap into eddies. It has quite a flat hull which allows it to surf easily, staying high on features and keeping you in control as you move laterally across the flow which is really cool. It has the Connect 2014 outfitting it comes with which allows the seat to be varied in both height and pitch. I have this set in the highest position, with the largest block installed under the front of the seat to really lock me in which works well, even though I’m the bottom end of the weight range. Seeing as I have the attention span of a gnat, I’m considering swapping out for a 9R to get some speed in my life.
The Handler is GoPro’s move into the hand held grip market for waterborne users. It is designed to perform a very similar role to the GoPole Grenade grip with the added bonus that the GoPro The Handler is designed to float (even when using a Bacpac).
Having owned at least one GoPro camera for what seems like and age. But despite this I have never owned a device used for taking “selfies”. Well that is until now. I have recently bought a GoPole Evo and have used a fair bit over the last few months.
I picked up a GoPole 66cm Evo pole a few weeks back and have been putting it through its paces.
1. A good dry top/trouser combo or dry suit. Keeping dry inside makes keeping warm that much easier. Even some of the two piece systems (dry top and dry trousers) available are getting close to being as good as a dry suit. Price is some much better as is the flexibility of the system.
2. Solid footwear. Wet river banks and slippery rocks are not a great combination if you have dodgy footwear. A good pair of river shoes or boots are worth there weight in gold. Currently using Five Ten Water Tennies or the new Astral Rassler.
3. Good socks. Conventional socks only really work if you have a dry suit with built in dry socks. However various manufacturers make thin 3 and 4mm thick neoprene socks that can help keep your feet warm even when wet.
4. Base layers. I love merino kit – it’s warm when wet and doesn’t smell! But any good, thin base layer will do the job. Colder = more layers. Polartec fleece also works really wet in cold/wet conditions.
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Northshore Watersports
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