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

Category: Outerwear (Page 4 of 7)

Palm Zenith Pants – First Look

16 February 2016 / / 3 Comments

We have a pair of 2016 Palm Zenith Pants here at Unsponsored HQ for review.The Zenith pants are designed to be combined with any dry or semi dry top to create a flexible system for year round use.

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Although a two piece combination will find it hard to be beat a drysuit I have used a number of two piece systems in the past that have been super dry. The big advantage is that you can mix and match tops and bottoms to create a system that is best matched for the conditions you are going out in.

I will be matching these pants with the Palm Fuse jacket which we have been using here at HQ for almost a year.

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Palm Horizon Shorts – Review

21 April 2015 / / 0 Comments

The new 2015 Palm Horizon shorts landed a month or so ago at Unsponsored HQ. Since then they have been used several times, even when it was a little too cold for shorts.

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First of all these are lined shorts, the inner shorts are made from soft fleece but the waist band is neoprene. This band sits nice and high and gives good lower back coverage when sitting down. I find this to be probably the most important feature in a pair of shorts that will be used for kayaking/canoeing. Sometimes board shorts don’t give the additional coverage. The shorts’ waist is fastened/adjusted by a lacing system in the same style as many board shorts. What is quite nice is that the laces cannot easily be pulled through the lace holes.

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Palm Equipment Kaituna Neoflex – First Look

30 March 2015 / / 0 Comments

I have a couple of bits of gear from Palm Equipment. The first is a Kaituna longsleeve top that I purchased last year and then there is this short sleeved version which landed at Unsponsored HQ a couple of weeks ago.

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Palm Equipment Horizon Shorts (2015) – First Look

28 March 2015 / / 0 Comments

The new 2015 Palm Equipment Horizon shorts have just landed at Unsponsored HQ. I have a bit of time to look at them and am waiting on the warmer weather to arrived to try them out on the river. In the meantime here’s a quick run down.

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The outer short is contrasted from Nylon 200d, this is very similar to the fabrics used in dry trousers and dry tops. As they are shorts none of the seams are sealed.

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Yak Equipment – Riwaka, Chinook, and Hallertau

20 March 2015 / / 1 Comment

Yak are the kayaking/canoeing side of the Crewsaver company. In the past Yak have catered for the middle to lower end of the market with some fantastic hardwearing kit for centre and club use. Although functional and hardwearing they didn’t have the same appeal as some of the more well known brands. Over the last few months I have been testing a few pieces of Yak gear including the Riwaka dry top, Chinook dry trousers and Hallertau PFD.

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Some of the colours used will put some off, there is no denying that the GREEN of the dry tops and PFD takes a little bit of getting used to.

Yak Riwaka Dry Top

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.

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Chris Gragtmans Explains – IR 2015 Arch Rival Drysuit

23 December 2014 / / 0 Comments

Chris Gragtmans gives us a run down of the new Immersion Research (2015) Arch Rival Drysuit. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for the new 9ft boat from Dagger currently named the Phantom.

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Reader’s Rides 2014 – Aaron Kendall

23 November 2014 / / 0 Comments

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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.

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Reader’s Rides 2014 – Eddy Mead

21 November 2014 / / 0 Comments

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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.

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Reader’s Rides 2014 – Ben Hawthorne

19 November 2014 / / 0 Comments

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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.

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Winter Paddling Essentials

14 November 2014 / / 1 Comment

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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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Winter Time

9 November 2014 / / 2 Comments

The last few days here in the North East (UK) have been pretty cold. A couple of mornings have even included getting rid of some pretty thick ice from the car windscreen.

Keeping dry and warm becomes really important as it gets colder.  Part of this is making sure the gear I am using does its job well.

This includes making sure that by boat has no leaks and that my deck is up to the job.

Winter Time
Winter Time

My winter paddling gear is as follows – PFD, helmet, boots/shoes and spraydeck don’t real change through the seasons, although if it is really cold I might wear a Playboater Titanium Earwig. The Earwig helps take the edge off that sensation you get when your head hits cold water.

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Present Ideas for Paddlers (2014)

9 November 2014 / / 0 Comments

Here’s a run down of a few of the things that kayakers, canoeists and SUP paddlers may like as a pressie from Father Christmas. All could be useful and all are items that I either own or have tested.

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I am assuming that other large bits of kit are already on the list!

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