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

Category: Old School Series (Page 1 of 4)

NSR Old School Competition 2015

NSR Old School Competition 2015

At last weekend’s National Student Rodeo I took a few minutes of video during the Old School competition.

The raw footage can be seen here.

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2013 Old School Parade – Gene 17

2013 Old School Parade – Gene 17 from Firethought on Vimeo.

Mr. Mullet Approved.

A quick recap of this weekend – 1988. River Dart, UK Continue reading

Old School Series – Twitch V

Twitch V starsTao Berman, Josh Bechtel, Erix Seymour and Ben Stookesbury. As the title suggests this is the 5th video in the Twitch series.

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Twitch V includes “Wake Boating”, first descents in Alaska, Argentina, British Columbia, Idaho, and Washington, as well as many extras like a documentary about Tao called “Fearless” & the original “Twitch” from way back in 1999. Continue reading

Necky Switch – Review

The Switch is an excellent park and play boat which can also be used on rivers. The outfitting is very basic but very effective as well as being comfortable. I am a little over 6″ with size 11 feet and I remained comfortable in the boat for long sessions.

Necky Switch - Review
Necky Switch – Review
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Fluid Flirt – Review

You don’t see very many Fluid kayaks here in the UK. Fluid Kayaks – The company is headed by Celliers Kruger, one of South Africa’s most accomplished whitewater paddlers.

The Flirt is our tried and tested playboat that continues to deliver great playboating performance while being a great little riverrunner at the same time.

The Flirt features a large planing hull with a bit of kick-rocker at the bow and stern. It is very loose and bounces on command. Aerial moves come naturally, and the full-length carving rails with aggressive cut-aways at the stern make for an exciting ride on green waves.

The outfitting on the Flirt could be considered as basic. The ratchet backrest is comfortable and is adjusted via some ratchets located on the base of the seat. The seat itself is comfortable and is fairly easy to outfit out with some foam and glue or by using the strap in hip pads.

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Old School Series – Wavesport Double You Yes

After a long wait, the Wavesport promotional DVD dropped through my letter box the other day and since then I have watched it several times! It is the first offering from Wavesport for a while and all I can say it was worth the wait!

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As soon as the title menu comes up on your tv you are hit by some truly amazing music that suits the paddling clips down to the bone. The first introduction chapter hits you straight away with Jimi Blakeney going huge and this theme lives through out the dvd. There are clips of Freestyle on many of the worlds best playspots and features, The Buseater Wave in Canada and the infamous Skook, there are some great creeking runs, waterfall drops and river running clips aswell to get away from a pure freestyle dvd. Continue reading

Old School Series – Wehyakin

Remember Nurpu and Vahalla? Well Wehyakin is the third kayaking video from Teton Gravity as is produced, directed, edited and filmed by Arden Orsanen and Trask McFarland.

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The Nez Perce (a Native American tribe in Idaho) look to their Wehyakin for guidance through known lands and over uncertain horizons. So this is where the Teton Gravity get the name for there newest kayaking DVD.

After a short introduction the action kicks off straight away with a trip to what must be Europes new kayaking mecca – Norway. Continue reading

Old School Series – Wavesport Sessions

Sessions is the newest DVD offering from Wave Sport and on the whole this is a great little freebie, but at only 22 mins it will leave you wanting more. There is a great mix between creeking and playboating, with most of the time being given to creeking or river running. There is also a 5 minute montage which highlighted some of the better spots around North America, including Canada.

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Riot Glide – Review

In the spring of 1997, Riot Kayaks set out to design a kayak that would enable them to win the world rodeo championships: the ultimate wave-surfing, hole-riding, rodeo kayak.

Riot Glide - Review

From Riot:

We succeeded in creating just that a boat so far ahead of any other kayak at the 1997 championships, that athletes who felt disadvantaged lobbied for a last minute change in the scoring rules to prevent the Glide from achieving high scores on the moves it had been designed to do, and in which it excelled. That was prototype number one. Thirty-three completely vertical ends in twenty four seconds, multiple blunt splitwheels on totally green waves, airborne six point wave wheels, super blunts, freewheels, rockwheels, super clean cartwheels, clean shuvvits and more. The list is endless, the limits are undefined. If all-out rodeo is your thing, then this is the only possible choice.

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Palm Rivertec Fusion PFD – Review

The Rivertec Fusion PFD has been about for some time now and has only seen one real revamp in its history. It first appeared in the late 90’s in a rather smart dark blue which was later joined by red and now grey. The new grey version also has a zipped chest pocket, something which its colourful predecessor lacked. The basic concept of the Fusion will be familiar to most – a slab PFD with adjustment on the shoulders, sides and waist.

Palm Rivertec Fusion PFD - Review
Palm Rivertec Fusion PFD – Review

Where it differs is the use of neoprene to help provide a snug fit without being restrictive or allowing the PFD to ride up. The neoprene forms the basis of the shoulder straps with additional tape adjustment. Further neoprene is also evident on the the front and back of the Rivertec Fusion and are joined by tape adjusters fastened by fastex buckles. This makes the Fusion very easy to put on, adjust and remove. An additional strap on the bottom of the Fusion makes riding up almost impossible.

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Liquid Logic Scooter – Review

I just got the new Liquidlogic Scooter out for a demo today on Hurley on 2 gates. Here are my thoughts of the boats.

Quick Ref: I am 5’11, 34 inch inside leg, size 10 feet, 9.5stone. Quick history of the boats I have paddled: LL Skip, LL Pocket Rocket, LL Space Cadet.

I have been paddling Liquidlogic boats for the past two years and so have progressed through the range. I initially was worried whether I would fit in the Scooter, as my Pocket Rocket was crippling and so is the Skip I am using at the moment. I jumped in the Scooter straight away and had room. The foot cushion was on the limit of my comfort, if I move (which I will) the seat forwards it will come out and be replaced with a foam footrest. Outfitting is the same as all previous models, with a water bottle holder and the foot cushion.

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Riot Trickster – Review

After paddling a glide and disco for a number of years I looked forward to trying out the new trickster. I guess to some extent the trickster has taken the best from both of these boats to produce an all-round river running/play machine. Continue reading

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