Equipment Advice

[strathblair]

Hi,
I am just moving into Sea Kayaking and Looking for some advice re the folowing to ad to my P&H Capella 166 plastic Kayak

1. Touring Spray deck - Venture Kayaks Neoprene Spray Deck / Palm Roanoke or Lomo Neodeck ?

2. 215 cm Paddle for touring on coast and Lochs

Any advice or recommendations would be most welcome

[Kayaks'N'Beer]

Decks are much of a muchness. They'll all keep you dry and should pop off when you pull the tab, if you ever happen to find yourself upside down. (make sure it isn't too tight to get on and off) Pay a bit more and you'll generally find they come with more pockets and stuff and might last a bit longer than the cheapies, to be honest, they're hard to get excited about.

Regarding paddles - there's not much point asking on the internet. There are hundreds of different ones and (aside from the cheap cruddy ones) they're all good. It's a personal taste thing, so my only advice would be to try out as many as you can get your hands on and go for the one that feels the best. Don't just pick them up in the shop and hold them, mind you, go out and use them for a day or, even better a weekend. Cover some distance - it's the only way to form a decent judgement. If you can afford it go for adjustable length and feather, that way you can play about with those things, long after you've bought them.

Hope you enjoy sea kayaking, you have a great boat to start out in but I'm sure there's loads here who would disagree - same as with paddles and decks - it all comes down to personal taste.

[MikeB]

I'll echo that. If you've not found it yet, follow my sig link to the Almanac wherein you will find a mass of useful material about paddles under "Equipment". As well as other stuff.

I'll add that, depending on how seriously you want to take your sea paddling, and your budget, it really is worth spending to get decent paddles. I also suggest two-part ones for convenience. I've had excellent results from Epic paddles, and have several Lendal ones - as I've said before, the difference between a cheapish, straight, glass shafted / plastic bladed Kenetic and a rather more spendy, cranked, full carbon one is immense. People also speak well of Werners but I didnt like them at all. Dont be tempted by a big blade - smaller is sometimes better, depending on your overall fitness of course.

So try, try and try. All that said, I was paddling at the weekend with a chap using relativly inexpensive Mitchells (I think) and he was doing very nicely thank you.

As to spray decks, Lomo are excellent for the price - towards the other end of the scale, consider those made by Seals. Reed are now making neoprene decks which look nice, and Yak decks seem decent as well. I've got a Palm Grumpy Fish deck for my river boat which seems nicely made, so a Palm deck would do fine too. But, personally, I've never liked neoprene decks with nylon waist tubes and braces, like the Venture and Roanoke ones. While they might be marginally more comfy than a full neoprene deck, the braces make the use of a double waist seal cag impractical and that certainly is something worth having.

Unless you're planning seriously bouncy stuff to paddle in, I question whether a sea kayaking deck needs to have kevlar re-inforcement or even extra added latex bits. That said, if you're doing the "Star" progressions and doing lots of rescue practise a result (or just doing lots of rescues - - ) then some re-inforcement will protect the deck. Bungees to hold a map case might be worth having, but equally the map can live under the foredeck elastics.

Welcome to the salty stuff. Mike.

[Kayaks'N'Beer]

As to spray decks, Lomo are excellent for the price - towards the other end of the scale, consider those made by Seals.

Surely you must be joking!

[MikeB]

Love it!

[PhilAyr]

Brilliant one KNB ! :-)

I hope it's ok to laugh at this without upseting a certain non paddling individual. ;-)

Phil

[TechnoEngineer]

Reed decks? With D rings and bailer hole?

[Sprucey]

The Reed Aquatherm decks are fantastic for general paddling - I own several. But, if you are learning and going to be doing a fair bit of rescue practice etc. then leave them on the shore for those sessions - they won't last more than 1-2 attempts at dragging another kayak over them without holing! Use a neoprene one for that. Other than that, I echo all the thoughts above.

I started in a plastic Capella and still use a lot, even with a lovely Rockpool in the quiver.

Sprucey

[seylan]

I'd advise you stay away from the Roanoke spraydeck. Mine started coming apart at the velcro attachment within a few weeks of light use and a friend had exactly the same problem. Plus it's one size only so if you're anything less that a tad portly and don't have a waist tube thingy there's plenty of opportunity for water to get in.

[MikeB]

Reed decks? With D rings and bailer hole?

No - neoprene - http://www.chillcheater.com/aqshop/cata ... 150&page=1

The Reed Aquatherm decks are fantastic for general paddling - I own several. But, if you are learning and going to be doing a fair bit of rescue practice etc. then leave them on the shore for those sessions - they won't last more than 1-2 attempts at dragging another kayak over them without holing! Use a neoprene one for that. Other than that, I echo all the thoughts above.

Nice deks, but as is noted above, not suitable for rescues.

[Owen]

The Reed Aquatherm decks are fantastic for general paddling - I own several. But, if you are learning and going to be doing a fair bit of rescue practice etc. then leave them on the shore for those sessions - they won't last more than 1-2 attempts at dragging another kayak over them without holing! Use a neoprene one for that. Other than that, I echo all the thoughts above.

I started in a plastic Capella and still use a lot, even with a lovely Rockpool in the quiver.

Sprucey

There really is no need to DRAG any kayaks over your cockpit just use a bow roll, that way you don't damage your deck.

Also, Reed don't recommend using their Aquatherm decks on plastic kayaks.

[mick m]

As to spray decks, Lomo are excellent for the price - towards the other end of the scale, consider those made by Seals.

Surely you must be joking!

I tried to Youse seals in my work shop once , no good thay cant sit on stools at the sewing machines , ther flipers get in the way

[PeterG]

Are you sure about the 215 paddle? I would try some different lengths and see what works best for you. Personally I mainly paddle greenland style and that is about 215. However, I use my wife's Epic relaxed touring from time to time. I like them on the 205 setting whilst she likes 210, we both find the maximum 215 rather long as with the euroblade all the area is very far away from you and it is too long when you need an upright aggressive style to push against the tide.

[Sprucey]

There really is no need to DRAG any kayaks over your cockpit just use a bow roll, that way you don't damage your deck.

Also, Reed don't recommend using their Aquatherm decks on plastic kayaks.

Yes Owen, you are right. My Aquatherm decks get used on a Rockpool Alaw Bach and my partner's Mega Diamante - both composites. I use a Reed neoprene on the plastic Capella.

You can empty a boat without "Dragging" it over the deck with practise and care. However, if you're getting enthusiastically stuck into rescue practice on a club training night with pressure to get people back in boats quickly the practical reality is that it's hard to avoid damaging the Aquatherm deck.

Sprucey