Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
We’ve received this very interesting content from Graham Snape relating to his University research.
For my major project at the University of Nottingham I investigated whitewater Personal Floatation Devices (PFDs) and the level of buoyancy they provide. The aim of the project was to increase the total buoyancy available to the user in emergency situations.
R3 France have recently posted the video below showing one of their training sessions that helps paddlers who end up swimming to deal with a sieve barrier.
It is well worth a watch.
Teaching kayaking, I always emphasize that the last move in any rapid is looking over your shoulder at the person behind you. Complacency, poor safety hazard and risk assessments, media/social media, and the quick learning curve and inexperience of newer paddlers all play into risk being higher on rivers although the hazards remain the same.
When I first saw Paul’s photo (below) I initially thought that the PFD looked like a FX or FX R in a funky new colour. But there is clearly a different zip and an additional zipped side pocket.
The jacket looks new as well!
The NRS Zen Rescue PFD is a low-profile rescue jacket with all the features essential to assist guides and experienced paddlers in a swiftwater rescue situation. Modeled after the popular NRS Ninja PFD, the low-profile design of the Zen allows unrestricted range of motion.
Painspotting: Choose Kayaking has to be one of the best things I have seen this year. Very nicely done.
I’ve been using the small Palm Equipment Lightning throwline as my small carry on a belt throwline. The compact size of the bag makes it ideal for this purpose. To achieve this size, it only uses 18m of 8mm rope with a 8KN breaking strain.
In addition to a small bag I also like to have a larger burlier throwline in the boat. This is where the new Bolt throwline comes into to play. The Bolt takes many of the features of the Lightning and scales thing up. As a result it includes 20m of 11mm rope with a breaking strain of 10KN. This is strong enough to use as a haul line, but is still light enough for person to person rescues. The rope is really nice to handle even when under considerable load. A nice touch is that the two ends of the rope have been shrink wrapped.
Welcome to Movie Monday 5 February 2018 at Unsponsored. We’ve got another fine selection of edits for you to have a go at.
Enjoy!
We have the new Palm Equipment Bolt throwline in for review at Unsponsored HQ. The Bolt is the big brother to the Lightning throwline released last year and replaces the Palm Alpine throwline.
Chris Wing from H2O Dreams has launched a new series of videos (“The Flow State”) covering some important issues that all paddles may face.
In this episode Chris discusses some of the utility of a rescue PFD for paddlers and the common myths of different uses.
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