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

Tag: Guide (Page 3 of 3)

Kayak – William Nealy

18 December 2013 / / 6 Comments

I can’t actually remember how many times I have read or flicked through the first edition of Kayak by William Nealy (Kayak: The Animated Manual of Intermediate and Advanced Whitewater Technique).

Kayak - William Nealy

It is my firm belief that this has to be one of the best kayaking related books around. Nealy has managed to capture something really special, a combination of wit, humour and instruction rolled into a single book. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that its fun to read whilst at the same time being informative.

I know that during my early days of paddling (some 20+ years ago) that this book made a massive difference to how I ran whitewater.

Kayak – the New Frontier: The Animated Manual of Intermediate and Advanced Whitewater Technique

Kayak has recently been updated. A few tweaks here and there. Still the same great book, same great humour.

If you have never seen or read Kayak, I would strongly recommend picking up a copy.

Other great Nealy titles include:

Whitewater Tales of Terror

Kayaks to Hell

Jackson Kayak Backrest Upgrade

3 November 2013 / / 0 Comments

Jason Cole kindly agreed for his Jackson Kayak Backrest upgrade guide to be included on Unsponsored. It looks like it could be a very worth while upgrade for older Jackson boats.

On numerous occasions I’d been at Lee Valley, with the backrest pulled in tight, thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice if it was just a bit bigger?”. It also kept slipping down, which I’d mitigated by fitting toggles, but it was still not 100%.

The other day I visited WWTCC and sat in a new Jackson Karma, bloody huge boat! But I was really taken by the new-style backrest – which are sold as kits. They didn’t have any in stock at WWTCC so got one from Squarerock as I was in a hurry to get one.

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Spraydecks – Bungee Vs Rand

10 September 2013 / / 0 Comments

Over the last couple of years I have been using spraydecks using a bungee cord system. However a couple of decks using a rand system have found there way into my kit bag. So how do they compare? Who would win in a Bungee Vs Rand contest.

Unsponsored-Bungee Vs Rand (2)

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Kayaking Manual: The Essential Guide To All Kinds Of Kayaking

7 August 2013 / / 5 Comments

Kayaking Manual: The Essential Guide To All Kinds Of Kayaking is a Haynes manual written by Bill Mattos. Yes that’s right Haynes, the same Haynes that make the guides to fixing your knackered car.

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I must admit that this along with the bold claim of the title made me extremely dubious about this book. The last time I had a Haynes manual was around 20 years ago for a MK II Ford Fiesta, and although great for fixing the brakes etc it wasn’t the kind of book you would read just for the hell of it.

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Contour Roam +2

2 June 2013 / / 0 Comments

The UK distributers of Contour products (Ultra Sport Europe) kindly agreed to send me one of the new Contour + 2 cameras for test.

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GoPro – The Right And Wrong

7 March 2013 / / 3 Comments

The GoPro series of cameras are superb, small robust and not too expensive. It is now so easy to knock together a short video or your paddling and share it with the world. Anyone can do it and quite alot do. That is where the problem starts. It is really easy to get a video that looks like all the other kayaking videos that end up on youtube, vimeo and Facebook early each week.

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Removing A Liquidlogic Seat

3 June 2012 / / 2 Comments

The shots below show the process of removing a seat from a Liquid Logic Stomper. The way in which this seat is fastened into the shell will be very similar to all other recent LL kayaks. Before removing the seat I used a pencil to mark the inside of the hull so I knew its position ready for when it was fastened back in.

Removing A Liquidlogic Seat

The seat is held in place by two bolts. Each one is located to the side of the cockpit. A Phillips headed screwdriver is all that is required to remove them. The bolt fastens into a threaded plastic slug that is located within a channel on the seat. You can safely remove the bolts without fear of parts dropping into the kayak. The aluminium guides that help keep the backrest straps in position are also held in with the same bolts and can be pulled out by hand once the bolts have been removed.

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GoPro Instructions

26 May 2012 / / 0 Comments

The final bit of outfitting for my new Pyranha Jed was a GoPro guide sticker.

GoPro Reference Guide for on the water

20 April 2012 / / 0 Comments

Not getting the correct settings on your GoPro for a particular shot or sequence is something that I find occurs quite a lot. Carrying the guide/manual around whilst paddling is also a bit of a nightmare. To try and solve this issue I have had a few stickers made up that show some of the key display codes from the GoPro. One of these is now stuck inside each of my boats.

Find out more on the Unsponsored Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/unsponsoreduk

Spraydeck/Sprayskirt size guide

13 January 2012 / / 0 Comments

A superb resource that is well worth bookmarking.

http://www.skirtfit.com/

Improve Your Showboating

1 January 2012 / / 0 Comments

Note: This will make you better than Corran Addison or Jay Kincaid, or your money back. Just follow the instructions.

1: Don’t stick just to moving water

If you can’t master the move in the hole, move back to the canal, grab a squirt boat, and practice your technique on the flat. You won’t be as distracted by the noise, spray, and possibility of a swim down to the basin. You’ll find that you’re suddenly much more aware of how slight movements in your body position can really affect the trim of the boat. Build up a sequence of moves, bring it back to the white water, and you’ll be amazed at the difference!

Improve Your Showboating

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