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. However I think that this is about to change. Having seen quite a lot of the new Yak range over the last couple of weeks I can safely say that I think they have come up with some great looking designs that appear to be very well thought out.
Tag: First Look (Page 5 of 6)
A shiny new Liquidlogic Flying Squirrel is on its way to Unsponsored HQ as I type this. In the meantime Kev from Northshore Watersports here in the UK hooked me up with one of his two demo Squirrels (Kev has both the 85 and 95 on demo).
The newest boat from Liquidlogic arrived in the UK this week and has soon found it’s way out to dealers including Northshore Watersports.
A new GoPro Hero 4 Black Edition landed at Unsponsored HQ during the course of today and has just been unpacked. Other than the video upgrades there also seems to be a number of changes to unit that are not apparent when looking at the pre-release images.
In the box is the usual booklets, safety advice, skeleton backdoor, 2 x extender pieces, 1 x curved mount, 1 x flat mount, USB lead, additional QR and stickers. The notable difference between this and the GoPro 3+ is the lack of a remote fob.
The form a factor the the actual camera remains the same as the 3 and 3+ series but there have been a number of changes. Continue reading
Palm Equipment’s product designer Barney Caulfield shows us the new Peyto PFD at Paddle Expo 2014. A smooth and colourful touring PFD available spring 2015. Continue reading
Paul Robertson reveals the new Folding Knife from Palm Equipment at Paddle Expo 2014. Just the right size for your PFD knife pocket. Continue reading
The new Alpha PFD, a minimalist buoyancy aid from Palm Equipment suitable for competition and recreation. ICF approved for slalom competition and just as at home at the lakeside with your SUP. Available spring 2015, previewed at Paddle Expo 2014. Continue reading
Over the past few months I have been testing a couple of pairs of shoes from the Canadian company Baffin. They both fall within the companies Trail To Rapids range and are designed for use on and off the water (with more of bias to waterborne activities).
Baffin are probably better known for their cold weather footwear which by all accounts is damn good stuff, but their Trail To Rapids range including the two pairs I have here at the Unsponsored HQ are worth having a look at.
First up is the Swamp Buggy:
This is relatively large set of shoes that offer great support. If you are familiar with the Five Ten range then they are certainly comparable in many ways to the Canyoneer shoe.
Over the course of the summer I have had the opportunity to read and review In the Flow by Jonathan Males. Jonathan has coached both the British and Australian Olympic slalom teams in the past has has used his knowledge of coaching and recent research to create a book that aims “to help paddlers and coaches understand the theory behind success and provide practical skills to improve performance”.
Now don’t be put off if you are not a slalom paddler. In the Flow is applicable to all areas of the sport and has actually been broken down in to a number of component parts with only a small percentage of the book being focussed on competition. Continue reading
Adventure Technology (AT) have always been known amongst whitewater kayakers for producing some of the best paddles that money can buy (the Elite Series). Unfortunately for many paddlers, the budget often doesn’t quite stretch far enough and we find ourselves opting for the cheaper and somewhat inferior options.
It has been some time since Prijon have launched a new whitewater kayak. The Curve is a river running kayak – super agile and boofs like a champ. The Curve also comes with Prijon’s brand new outfitting system.
A few weeks ago the new Sweet Protection Supernova dry top arrived at Unsponsored HQ.
Thanks to Palm Equipment and Northshore Watersports (for piggy backing delivery) I have a Palm Impact Spraydeck in for review. The Palm Impact replaces the Extreme as Palm’s top end neoprene bungee deck. First impressions are good. The deck looks and feels solid. It is well made and the black/lime colour scheme is bang on trend!
On the outside there is a protective 4mm Armortex reinforcement to increase the robustness of the deck. This should make the Impact of interest to those who put their decks through a rough time.
Pure Land Expeditions
Northshore Watersports
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