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

Tag: Pin Kit (Page 2 of 2)

On Your Person

16 August 2013 / / 0 Comments

It’s always interesting to see what other paddlers carry with them. What do you carry with you?

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Astral athlete Gareth Tate sends in a photo showing what he carries in his Greenjacket and says…

“I could not be more stoked on the convenience and capacity of the new clamshell pocket on the Greenjacket, check out what I am able to carry with room to spare.”

-1-2 prussiks
-2 locking carabiners
-1 small pulley
-15-20ft of webbing (half inch)
-Rescue whistle
-Rescue knife
-Snack bar
-SPOT device

What do you carry in your Greenjacket?

Astral Green Jacket 2013 – Review

3 July 2013 / / 8 Comments

It’s been a long time since I have had a new Astral PFD.

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There was something that I really didn’t like about the previous version. For me the fit was just not quite right, I know that lots of people really liked them but the design was not right for me. Roll on a few years and we have the 2013 Greenjacket.

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Batman Had One

19 January 2013 / / 3 Comments

Surely everyone should have a utility belt, Batman had one.

UK based Palm Equipment have come to rescue your wanna be super hero dreams by creating the Zambezi Utility Belt.

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From Palm Equipment:

A technical waist belt to mount any Palm throwline. With a throwline release and belt release buckles, a pocket for storage and a comfortable vent mesh belt that floats.

Features include:

Embossed foam waist belt with Fixlock® QR buckle
Throwline deployment system with Fixlock® QR buckle
Cordura® top-opening towline pouch with removable 3m HT polypropylene floating line in yellow
Shock absorber on rope
Comes in storage bag with printed usage instructions
Fabrics: Embossed foam belt, Cordura® 550D bag with 6mm floating Polypropylene line

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Time For Something Sharp

8 December 2012 / / 0 Comments

This a Spyderco Tasman Salt. The blade is a rust resistant H1 steel. This knife has now found a new home in my PFD. A review will follow shortly.

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Pin Kit – Tape Knot

1 July 2012 / / 0 Comments

A tape knot is pretty much the only knot to use with lengths of climbing tape to form a loop/sling. Any other knot is prone to more slippage than the tape knot. Dyneema tape should only ever be stitched and should not be knotted.

Start off by tying an overhand knot in one end of the tape. Just make sure that there isn’t any twists in the tape. It’s also good practice to have plenty of spare tape at the free end of the knot to account for any possible slippage. I like to have 10-15cm spare.

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Pin Kit – Creating A Prusik Loop

23 June 2012 / / 1 Comment

A prusik loop is a length of 5 or 6mm cord tied into a loop using a double fisherman’s knot. Prusik loops can be any length but using a length of rope between 120cm and 160cm will give a pretty flexible system.

The knot must be tied with a rope of diameter less than the main rope. So if you are using an 8mm or 9mm throw line you need to be thinking about a prusik loop made fromm 5 or 6mm cord. The closer the cord and main rope are in size the less efficient the system. You also need to balance this against using a cord that is so thin that a. its breaking load is quite low, and b. it could cut through the main rope.

I made a couple of new loops today. Each one takes only a few minutes to put together. The 5mm cord used in the following images is manufactured by Marmot and costs only £0.60 per metre. The first step was to cut the cord to length and then seal the ends using a lighter. I cut my cord to approximately 150cm long.

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NRS Green Knife

16 June 2012 / / 0 Comments

On arriving home from work today I was greeted by a package sent by Rapid Kayaks.

Within the package was one of the new NRS Green knives. If you are not familiar with the NRS range your really need to check it out. It’s pretty hard to get hold of it over here in the UK but Rapid Kayaks do have a good selection of their kit.

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HF Swifty Belt

8 June 2012 / / 2 Comments

The HF Swifty Belt is designed so that you are able to carry your throw line with you at all times. It is designed around the same belt system that you see on all rescue PFDs. The buckle is exactly the same and ensures that the system is quick release.

HF Swifty Belt

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Pin/Rescue Kit Part II – Throwbags

7 June 2012 / / 2 Comments

Carrying and being able to use a rope effectively/safely are key skills that every paddler should have and practice. First things first, if you intend on carrying/using a throw bag or a rope then you should also be carrying a knife. That knife should be capable of cutting through your throw line with ease, therefore it must be super sharp and hold its edge. Lots of great information about all things sharp and keeping them sharp can be found over on British Blades.

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New Hardware for the Pin Kit

20 April 2012 / / 0 Comments

A couple of new karabiners have landed today. The plan is to add them to my Pin Kit.

After looking at some DMM kit in the local climbing shop I was very tempted to buy a couple of bits there and then. However I remembered that V12 Outdoors are a dealer for DMM who also stock DMM cosmetic seconds.

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Pin/Rescue Kit Part 1 – Climbing Tape

8 January 2012 / / 0 Comments

Tubular tape can be purchased from most climbing shops off the real for £2 or less per metre. You can also purchase 4m (newer models 5m) of Palm tubular tape for around £14 from most kayak shops!

I carry a 5-metre length of 25mm tubular tape for use in rescue situations, lowering boats etc.

My 5m tape rolls into a coil with a diameter similar to a CD/DVD disk. It can be used as a short throw line, tied into a sling around a tree or even turned into a make shift sit harness. The Palm version is supplied with a stitched in loop which makes adding a carabiner into the system really easy.

Tape should be tied using a tape knot (aka a water knot) to prevent any slippage – click here to see how to tie the water knot.

Pin Kits/Rescue Kit

26 December 2011 / / 0 Comments

We are about to run a series of articles on the kinds of kit that paddlers are carrying to get them out of a tricky rescue situation. We are therefore very interested to hear about what kit individuals/groups are carrying/using.

If you are interested in contributing to the series then please either leave a comment on this post or visit the Unsponsored Facebook page and leave a message there.

Pin kit options.

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