If you're in a boxy kayak you may find the hull interferes with the paddle as you come up. You need to push the back arm away from you momentarily at this stage, but the back arm must be pulled in at the start and end of the roll - something I call "choo-choo the back hand". Another approach is to k...

A better idea with the karabiner is to attach it to the rope inside the bag. It is always there then and can be used for equipment recovery. When the rope is used to rescue a swimmer the krab is padded by the bag and won't hurt anyone. Either clove hitch it inside the bag next to the knot, or with ...

Moving the seat back may help, or if there is a rear compartment, putting a heavy weight in it (adjusting trim)

Black Witch and also liquid latex works quite well for covering pinholes

Check out NFKCC and PDCC who have paddlers that frequent the area.

"Not managing to pull a spraydeck" - I've had this whilst head-ruddering whilst leaning back when being pummeled in surf; unable to reach the grab loop. Whenever I use a new spraydeck, I make damn sure that I can pull the lip of the deck off from the side so that I know for sure that I can break the...

You could try a Dagger Blackwater, which has a skeg to help you hold course.

Cover it in Velcro :P

But my point still stands that most reasons people give for a backband being there is based upon dogmatic supposition rather than actually going out and testing to see what is real and what is not. And one of those dogmatic reasons is that it keeps you in the boat. This is where I take issue; I don...

Poke wrote: ↑

Fri May 04, 2018 12:14 pm

"You don't need any back support †, provided you have back support ‡"

† from a backband
‡ from a bucket seat

Ker-ching!

No-one has yet suggested attaching velcro to the posterior of the drysuit and the seat :P

whether having a backband is a partial bandaid to the type of seat that normally comes as standard in boats now

That's pretty much it as far as I can see....

you forgot the point I made about Bren Orton stating that he doesn't use a backband when doing freestyle. Fair point. Does he use lap straps or a thruster? Why on earth would you want to be less well fitted into a creek boat? In a creekboat you're in an environment that has pinning potential and yo...

I think you're trying to conjure a rule that applies to all scenarios, when each scenario is different; e.g. a creeker is less tightly packed into their kayak than a playboater, a sea kayaker even less so. I don't know for slalom. Certainly a K1 paddler is hardly attached at all. Hence the apparent ...

Others say it is to keep you in your boat upside down. I shouldn’t have to explain why that is nonsensical. It just is. Please explain why that is nonsensical, because a few years ago I tried the "replace the backband with a foam block" thing in my sea kayak, and discovered I had to pull myself up ...

I've used water in plastic bottles. Whatever you use must be firmly fixed in place and if you use water in a bottle there must be very little air; you don't want a surface sloshing around.

I admit most gloves make the paddle slippery, but if you wax the paddle they are super grippy. Which sounds strange as the same wax is used on skis especially to make them slip smoother. It's the scraping of the wax that makes skis slippy; if you don't scrape them they will practically stick to the...

I use a Typhoon Hypercurve; you will definitely need the convenience zip. I'd also say go for the larger size. It doesn't feature the double-breast but you don't get much water finding its way through the spraydeck's body tube. Especially if you apply a rim of liquid latex at the top of the waist tu...

Wow, those Flare Pistols are quite pricey!

See "Hull Forms" here:
http://5-staryakpak.org/kayaking-101/choosing-a-kayak/

I would imagine that Swede form would lead to bad trim in WW.

For me I think the short answer is "no", however having done the coaching training up to UKCC L2 (and other coaching) has certainly helped me snowboard better. I've also used the fundamental patterns of observation and feedback to coach other snowboarders. I would put knowing your headgame and postu...

I don't carry any flares but have considered carrying a white hand flare to ward off a collision.

At pool sessions that I attend, we all sign in on a sheet where we tick a box indicating whether we agree to being filmed or not.

Are you finding that the back hand / back blade is catching the hull? If so then you need to "choo-choo" the back arm: 1) Pulled in at setup (so the front blade doesn't dive) 2) Extended during the sweep (to clear the hull) 3) Pulled in again during recovery (to prevent the front blade diving) I oft...

Heheh very good :)

If you wish to paddle rock gardens in the sea, you need a sea kayak with lots of rocker for manouevrability. For rivers you need a proper river runner. I once owned a Dagger Approach and it did both flat water and rivers but not very well, and I received a lot of flak from the other people in the WW...

There was a Perception Madness.

I'd like to see a rhyming name, such as Pyrnaha Bandana :)

Normally you only need to move it a couple of inches to get it "free".

Rope and cleats FTW!

Just be sure that you make a "there and back" thing so there is some mechanical advantage.

Make sure you know your pig-rig (or other mechanical advantage system) as you may be quizzed on it, plus also be sure your First Aid kit is up to scratch.

Good luck!

Although my SuperHero is for sale, I still maintain that I loved it however I was right on the weight limit which meant I couldn't carry any "cargo" such as safety gear, spare paddles etc. Plus I had my backrest jammed in very tight. What I will say for the SuperHero is that if I wanted to suddenly ...