Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
Way back in 2006 WRSI was a new company and we had one of the first Current helmets off the production line. At that time Unsponsored was looking at importing the WRSI Current into Europe but it was not going to be viable at the time. We used the WRSI Current for a couple of years on and off before moving to another brand.
Move forward 12 years and we have the WRSI Current Pro helmet in for review.
Team Pyranha kayaker Mark Mulrain takes a closer look at the 9R and Machno from Pyranha.
So the latest and greatest Pyranha Kayak has been released and been around for a while now, The Machno. This boat is Pyranha’s take on the latest generation of creekers. It’s faster, has a bit more edge and a more developed rocker profile than the big, round, safe-but-boring creekers of old. I think you’d see the same kind of trends in most of today’s designs.
The T-rex is the new creek boat from Italian boat manufacturer Exo kayaks. My first impression of the was that it is pretty big and has a lot of rocker. Definitely a little larger volume wise than the last two boats I owned (Toro and a Tuna). It is also a little rounder than a lot of modern designs, not fully a displacement hull but without any extremely sharp edges.
Numbers wise it is 270cm long and 345 litres so a little shorter than a 9r or Toro with a little more volume than both. Weight wise it is surprisingly light for such a big boat coming in at pretty much bang on 21kgs. Myself I am 188cm and around 75kgs. Defiantly towards the lower end of the weight limit but didn’t feel swamped at all.
Here we have a GoPro Hero6 Black – First Look. The GoPro Hero6 Black has been released to the public and we have one at Unsponsored HQ for review.
Does it look familiar?
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.
Brian Vermillion recently got his hands on the new Pyranha Machno (small) and took it down the Cheoah.
Cheoah release was last Saturday, and I was lucky enough to get a full lap in while testing out the Pyranha Machno. I chose to use the Machno small, which ended up being the perfect size for me. At 5’5” and 150lbs the small Machno at 73 gallons was perfect for this gem of a run.
I was lucky enough to get hold of a medium Machno for a demo not long after it came out. I was hopeful that maybe I could get away with a medium as it looked awesome and I really wanted to paddle one. I paddled it and enjoyed it, it was fun but I knew (although I tried to ignore the fact) that it was too big for me, (I’m 5’5″ and 58kg). So the waiting for the small to be ready began.
I had planned a demo day through work and was hopeful that a small Machno would be ready to make an appearance for this and it did not disappoint!
Continue readingFor me one of the best bits of kit to own for summer paddling has to be a rash guard. I have owned a few over the years and they form an important part of my gear line up. Rash guards can be worn on their own as an outer layer to ward off sun burn (UPF 50+ sun protection in this case) or worn as part of a layering system under a short sleeve dry top if it isn’t that warm.
Most of the rash guards available out there are from the world of surfing. There are a number of manufacturers from the paddling world who are producing rash guards with paddle sports in mind. The one shown here is from UK based company Palm Equipment.
If you are looking for your first rash guard or looking to replace and old one then the Palm Equipment Rash Guard is one that is worth considering and we have one in at Unsponsored HQ for review.
We are big fans of the Nikon range of cameras at Unsponsored HQ and have worked our way from the Nikon D70 through to the Nikon D500 over the past few years. All of the images taken for the site have been taken with a Nikon camera of one sort or another. Mid 2016 we added the Nikon D500 to the gear list. We wanted a fast, and good low light performer that would be able to cope with the varying conditions we often find ourselves in. As we had been shooting with Nikon DX bodies for so long we had a good range of glass to use with the D500 but needed a new (to me) type of memory card as the D500 runs both a SD and XQD card.
The Palm Equipment Poncho Grande is designed to make getting changed at the beginning or end of a paddle session a little more comfortable for innocent bystanders. As well as being more comfortable for the user who is getting changed. No more slipping towels or bare backsides.
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