Movie Monday and an Evan Garcia Special at Unsponsored. We hope you enjoy the selection.

Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
Movie Monday and an Evan Garcia Special at Unsponsored. We hope you enjoy the selection.
The Hellbender is Verus Kayaks first full slice design, and a new addition to our 2020 lineup. This boat was born from a craving for cartwheels and a dream of a slicey boating revolution. Combining a modern hull and outfitting, with classical inspiration from the days of rodeo, this boat is your go-to fun machine. This is the perfect craft to squirt, splat and style up your local run!
Continue readingMeet a few of our kick-ass Team Dagger female paddlers and take a closer look at the unique ways in which they inspire and empower other women, on and off the water.
Welcome to Unsponsored and Movie Monday 23 September 2019.
Enjoy!
Continue readingAfter a few years in development Palm Equipment has revealed the Shuck helmet. I tried out a 3D printed Shuck almost two years ago but was sworn to secrecy. It took a few days to print and was super heavy.
Roll on a couple of years and the Shuck has been released into the world.
Welcome to Social Media Saturday – 23 June 2018 at Unsponsored HQ.
People go abroad for all sorts of reasons – to relax in the sun, to work, or to ski on the slopes, for example. Some people travel for adventure – and seas, lakes and rivers provide plenty of activities for those who love spending time on the water. Canoeing, white water rafting, kayaking, fishing, surfing, sailing, diving, windsurfing, and traditional swimming.
The options are endless.
Dewerstone have teamed up with pro kayaker Bren Orton to develop the Orton wooden sunglass with Carl Zeiss polarised lens.
I’m going to begin the Astral Hiyak – review by saying a little bit about the boots I’ve been using most of the time – the Five Ten Water Tennies. They have been faultless and have become my favourite pair of paddling boots. The Stealth rubber is what really makes it. I have several pairs of shoes/boots and have probably tested/reviewed pretty much everything that is available on the market but for river use I always return to the Water Tennies.
Now to the Astral Hiyak. They don’t have the Stealth rubber from Five Ten but have Astral’s own G.ss rubber, I have seen the G.ss a number of times but have never been able to try it out, until now.
Continue readingChris has been kayaking, canoeing and coaching for the last 15 years and runs his own business Chris Brain Coaching, delivering paddlesport coaching, safety and rescue courses and REC First aid training. Chris is a keen and passionate boater with a real love for coaching in a range of paddlesport disciplines.
When and how did you first start paddling?
I first started paddling when I was 15 after my Dad and I inherited two 4 meter long fiberglass kayaks that had been retired by the fire brigade! We took them down to our local river, wearing life jackets that didn’t fit and our cycling helmets. When we arrived at the river we clearly didn’t look like we knew what we were doing as the local paddlers suggested that for our own safety we took some lessons instead! That was sound advice and the coaches at the activity centre started to show us the way, at least we were paddling plastic boats and wearing kayaking equipment that actually fitted us. I was being taught by some great paddlers that had the latest boats at the time, either the Acrobat 270 (if they were into freestyle) or Microbat 230 (if there were serious about their creeking) they were so cool!
I instantly became captivated with paddling and pretty quickly I was in the river giving it my best. I managed to get someone to lend me a “rodeo” boat and started trying to tail squirt and do bow enders and pirouettes before I could even roll, basically every time the boat went over I had to swim. I think my record of swimming was 15 times in one session, but I quickly cut that number down the next few times on the water as my roll improved.
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.
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