(Damo is a nickname for use on forums etc) Right - didn't realise you could get those cuff things retrofitted. Good luck trialling that glue - if it works, let us know. Re. neoprene v. latex: neoprene seals used to be rubbish, as I discovered many years ago when I was learning to dive using the scho...

When you say neoprene cuffs, are we talking wrist seals? If so, you put those on the same way you would latex seals. The only difference is that you might want to put one or two extra layers of contact adhesive on the neoprene because it's a rougher, more absorbent surface. I've got one neoprene and...

There's no harm in trying this glue, but given the hassle you have in getting seals changed, I think the best long-term solution would be to learn how to do them yourself. One of my ex-colleagues was a lifeboatman, and he took me down the lifeboat station where the guy that looks after their kit sho...

Does the glue stop UV? Could the glue itself attack your seals? Would the glue affect how well the seals work - e.g. make them a bit stiffer and less able to form a tight seal around your wrist? What's the cost/benefit analysis like? I.e. how much does the glue cost? How much of a hassle would it be...

On the rare occasion that I need to dry my kit indoors, I find a dehumidifier in my front room is enough to do it within the day. No need for heating over and above your general household heating. If I were making a room for dealing with my kayaking kit, my main priority would be that it allowed for...

That's good to hear. I've had similar excellent customer service from Icom, in circumstances when I really shouldn't have expected any help at all. Both Icom and Standard Horizon have a well-deserved reputation for this sort of thing.

The temptation to try a home-rebuild is much more nagging with my model of PLB because the battery and the PLB are two separate sealed units which are just held together with a screw. To replace the battery, you simply buy a new one from a shop and swap it over yourself. Don't worry - I value my eye...

Lucky b********! That would have made my day. I'll have a look in my local store, but them having one is probably about as likely as me winning the lottery. I managed to get a very cheap, new McMurdo FastFind Max G several years ago, but replacing the battery after 5 years cost me £100, and many sho...

When I tried tide prediction it only recognised Bristol & East London in USA... Setting it up for the location you want is its least user-friendly feature. If you can't guess the name of the nearest town that the app recognises (e.g. in my case it's Devonport, England) then the app doesn't help you...

I didn't respond to this thread as the OP was looking for an iPhone app, but now they're sorted out: there's a free Android app which will give you tides around the world for over a year ahead. 'Tide Prediction' by 'Muchoviento.net'. It's on the Google Play market. Works fine.

Appending SOLD to a post title (or deleting the post, if possible) is an entirely logical thing to do and makes browsing the forum a little bit easier: it's the whole purpose of using subject lines on posts. Moderators: please continue with the experiment - I am sure nobody else would object.

I use the 8-hour sunblocks as I want to put them on at the beginning of the day and forget about it. These tend to be very expensive, and it's surprising how much you can get through over the summer. However, I found Wilkinsons were selling one called 'Calypso once a day' pretty cheaply - less than ...

A couple of days ago I bought a 'Crivit Lightweight Camping Mat' from Lidl. They'd obviously been one of their weekly specials from a few weeks earlier as they are now being sold with 30% off, making them £12.50. Have a look on YouTube to see a couple of people reviewing them. One of my favourite bi...

Access at the Mount Batten watersports centre is via a big but occasionally very busy slipway, but you have to pay a parking fee to get to it. The nearest free alternative is the beach at Batten Bay, but that's a bit of a hike to the water, including a flight of steps, and it can be difficult to fin...

I'm not aware of any launch sites in the vicinity other than the beach. However, at this time of year, you've got a good chance of small surf which would be easy to get past - it's a forgiving sandy beach and you've got lifeguards on duty. I was there a couple of weeks ago and the only difficulty wi...

Thanks for everyone's replies but my experience of 100 / 200 lumen lights is that they are great for close-up stuff and general use, for example in a campsite, but don't really provide a sufficient pool of light to be of much use in a cave or similar environment. But please keep the suggestions com...

A significantly cheaper alternative: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rechargeable-BYBLIGHT-Headlamp-Headlight-Waterproof/dp/B073TRVJ7J I've been using this one for a couple of years - very bright, long-lasting and completely robust. At the reduced Amazon price, it's a no-brainer, Only two mods you ought to...

I assume the cheapest way would be the car body repair shop option as G7AFM says. My mate did mine for me for free using the kit he uses to fix bumpers - basically a big hot air gun with a load of sticks of different types of plastic. If you find a backstreet garage with the right kit, and agree to ...

Danny_G wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:49 am

What do you guys think?

I think that your two posts since joining this forum have been remarkably similar: resurrecting old threads to shoe-horn in a link for the same business.

I'd never buy from any business I thought was dishonest.

There'll be plenty of things to fill your winter, e.g. making a few greenland sticks or weeping over and re-varnishing the first scratches on your precious new boat. I built two of my boats in winter, which worked out okay - the worst I had was a run of glass tape which just refused to fully wet out...

I don't think the shape of the boat makes a huge amount of difference - whether it's wide and flat or narrow and tubular, they should still go, albeit with varying degrees and stages of resistance. The two critical things I've found are (1) your feet/leg contact (for driving the boat round with your...

Just a thought about putting a bilge pump in a Shrike. One of the things you're going to like most about it is that it's so light, so I'd definitely recommend you just get out and paddle the thing and enjoy the current good weather before you start thinking about putting a pump in. Personally, if I ...

My experience has been the same as Sean's: I was determined to make a 2-piece solution work so that I could mix and match according to the weather, but even though I bought some very expensive Kokatat stuff, it's still not completely dry. The other problem with 2-piece kit, is that you need to have ...

JasonFox wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:04 am

Man, this argument just keeps coming up...

That happens when old topics get resurrected.

Just to add to Jim's explanation on how to sheath an entire hull in glass: I wouldn't apply resin to the hull first. Sand the hull so it's smooth and dry, then lay the fine fibreglass cloth (often referred to as 'twill') over it, use a soft dry brush to shape it round the contours of the hull then p...

Those shiny, waxy, plasticised materials are tricky. E.g. you can't stick silicone wrist seals or plastic dry-zips onto drysuits with adhesive - you have to clamp them or use some kind of RF welding process. I don't have the answer, but I'd recommend you find out exactly what material your tub is ma...

Any kayak suggestions welcomed Sectional kayaks aren't often considered, but they could be a solution for what you're after. You could have a full-length sea kayak (with retractable skeg) standing up in a 1 metre square footprint in your hallway. There are lots of technical options and pitfalls, so...

Either can work well, either can be donned solo (although you'll need a bit of pull-cord tied to a back zip) but either can also be very difficult to get in/out of depending on how flexible you are and how the suit fits you. Your only way to be sure is to try before you buy.

Water on the lens is frequently an issue. I did try some RainX on it, which people said helped. I'm not convinced it made much, if any, difference. I bought a little chamois leather sponge thing from Lidl, then unpicked the stitching at one end, took the sponge out, leaving me with a chamois leathe...

Like Owen, I've found just filling up the various compartments and cockpit with water and then searching for leaks (with a tea-towel, a torch and a marker pen) works fine most of the time. The only time it didn't work was when I was trying to locate a leak in my skeg box - I ended up sealing the hat...