Stephen Wright: The Gear that Gets me on the Water by stephenwright | Feb 22, 2013 | Whitewater | 11 comments Hey everyone! Here’s a list of all my favorite kayaking gear. I’ve been paddling for more than 15 years, with lots of warm and cold days of river running, play boating, creeking, squirt boating, pool sessions, and instruction. This represents, in my opinion, the best stuff available, and has kept me comfortable and safe for years! Feel free to check the gear out by following the links I’ve provided. I’m always happy to answer questions about any of this stuff 🙂 Boat choices: Creek Boat: JK Karma Medium. It’s comfortable, safe, strong, high performance, and easy to paddle. It turns like a shorter boat, is really forgiving and stable, boofs like a dream, and planes-out like nothing I’ve ever paddled before on landings. Coming from a Micro 230, then Creeker 225 & Embudo, to a Rocker, 2 generations of Heroes (which I loved), and Villain S, The Karma is the best of all of these former boats in 1. Plus the Uni-shock (shock absorbing) bulkhead is the greatest creeking safety innovation in 10 years. https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater/2013-karma/ Playboat: JK All Star or Rockstar M. The All Star for wave play and ease downriver. The Rockstar for holes. All Star is the fastest wave boat I’ve paddled since the Prijon Release, it takes off well, is ridiculously loose, carves really well, and is forgiving for landings. The Rockstar M gives me tons of leverage over my ends for hole tricks. Really easy to control my edges for mcnasties and phonixes, and gives me massive loops easily. https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater/2013-all-star/ https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater/rockstar/ Squirt boat: Murky Water Slip (designed by Jim Snyder). The Slip is the lowest-cut, most comfortable, driest, most fun squirt boat I’ve used (coming from a Fish, then Maestro, then KOR, with a few days in a Prize in there). With the ability to go mega low on my chop (mine “floats” the highest points of the boat 4″ under the surface of the water–ends are probably 6″ down!), I can roam in tiny eddylines and don’t have to fight volume. It still comes up quickly. The Slip design also has really narrow, dense ends, so it’s incredibly easy to boss the boat around while spinning through turbulence or underwater eddy lines…the boat is an acrobat, submarine, sports car. I love it! Murky Water makes high-quality, durable, beautiful custom composite boats. They flex less when deep than any other boat I’ve paddled, and the care about chops and performance. http://murkywaterkayak.com/kayaks/squirt/slip/ Paddle: AT2 SL 196, zero degree feather. These have been the longest lasting, best feeling, all-around paddles I’ve ever used (and I’ve spent a good bit of time paddling most of the other major brands. There’s just no other paddle that feels this good in the water. I creek and play with the Super Light (though now I use a Super Duty for some creeking…mostly because I have one and feel like I should). My first super light lasted me 550 river days, my 2nd one lasted 340 (then broke on a 50′ waterfall–big hit!, and my 3rd and current one has lasted me 500 so far. http://atpaddles.com/paddles/whitewater/elite/at2_superlight Helmet: I use a Shred Ready Shaggy for just about everything. It’s a good mix of style, good coverage, and a strap system that keeps it in place. I also have a Shred Ready standard full face that I’ll use for the mankiest of runs. http://shredready.shptron.com/p/shaggy-helmet PFD: For play/general use, I use the NRS Ninja. It’s simple, comfortable, has a pocket, stays in place, and has served me well for the past 2 years. I have to tighten the side straps pretty tight once I’m sitting in my boat, but then it stays put, and floats fine when I need it. For creeking I’ve been using the Astral Green Jacket. The Green Jacket is comfortable, with every safety feature I could ever want. It’s a great rescue PFD. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=21481 http://www.astralbuoyancy.com/products/men/greenJacket/index.php Dry gear: -For creeking I use the new NRS Revolution top, which is the most bomber top I’ve ever seen. It’s incredibly heavy duty material, and the seams are painted with a rubberized coating instead of seam tape. It’s dry and durable. I can’t imagine how long it’ll take to wear through this thing! For super cold water, I’ll use the NRS Inversion drysuit, which is SUPER breathable and comfortable. Great for warm-weather, cold water California creeking! http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=25842&pdeptid=1172 http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=22514&pdeptid=1174 -For safer river running and play boating, I use a NRS Flux top mated to a Mountain surf dur o ring skirt. The Flux is lighter weight, dry, stylish, and comfortable. There is no skirt on the market that performs and lasts like a Mountain Surf. My current skirt has lasted me 5 years, and has been used on 3 different drydecks. I have no idea what I’ll do once this one wears out if John doesn’t start making them again. The Drydeck that I currently have is literally DRY on my playboats. I can do 2 hours of playboating and not even need to sponge out my boat at the end of the session…my legs will literally be dry. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=25761&pdeptid=1172 -For squirt boating, I use a Skirtworks jimirim 2 skirt mated with an NRS Flux drydeck. Once again, BONE DRY. I can sink for 2 hours and have dry legs at the end. Skirtworks is the only company that makes skirts for the JimiRim 2. http://www.skirtworks.com/skirts.php -For warm days in warm water, I’ll use the NRS Stampede Shorty, which is a lightweight short sleeve paddle jacket. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=25694 Under layers: When it’s cold, I wear the NRS Men’s Wavelite Unionsuit Polartec. This one layer has kept me warm on the coldest of days, and is still comfortable when it’s warmer. I’ll wear this any day that it’s just a bit too cold to only have board shorts on my legs. When it’s a little warmer, I’ll wear board shorts with the Wavelight Shirt, which is comfortable and warm. Once it’s warm out, I’ll wear board shorts (usually patagonia or older NRS ones) with the NRS men’s Hydrosilk shirt (which is a rashguard) http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2641&pdeptid=2393 http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2637&pdeptid=2393 Footwear: -For playboating/general use, I’ve been using the NRS Shock Socks, which are really comfy and low profile, though I’ll most likely be switching to the Freestyle booties next. They stay on my feet even while doing swimming drills with students, are warm, low-profile, and durable. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=23051&pdeptid=1169 -For creeking, I use anything 5.10. I often even just use 5.10 tennis shoes. There are simply no other shoes that stick to rock like 5.10…it’s MUCH grippier than any other rubber. To me that trumps everything else for portages, rescue situations, scouting, and everything else creeking-related. http://fiveten.com/products/footwear Hands: -for river running and creeking, I like the NRS Mamba pogies. They are comfortable and warm. For playboating or squirt boating (where my hands are underwater a lot), the warmest things ever are the NRS Toaster Mitts. No other glove or mitten is even close. If I just need a little extra warmth (like colder water squirt boating), I’ll opt for the NRS Maverick gloves, which are thin, tight fitting, and really grippy. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2451&pdeptid=944 http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=24473&pdeptid=944 http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2454&pdeptid=944 Head: For most cold water paddling, I use the NRS Storm Hood under my helmet, which works great. For really-cold water squirt boating, I use a 3/5 mm neoprene diving hood ( http://waterproof.mwrc.net/en/product.php?product_id=33592 ) http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2029&pdeptid=942 Well, that oughta cover it! I hope this helps people get an idea as to some great options for gear! In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll list my sponsors here. I will say that I have bought gear from every company that now sponsors me, and that I have carefully chosen to work with each of these manufacturers. I choose to use this gear because I paddle 250-300 days a year, and this is the gear that I want to use–not because of any sponsorship deal. This gear has served me very well and I’m confident to recommend all of it to any friend and paddler 🙂 My sponsors are: Jackson Kayak, Murky Water, NRS, Maui Jim, AT Paddles, and Mountain Surf. Live from Golden, CO, Stephen Wright 11 Comments D on February 23, 2013 at 2:35 am What great do you recommend for sucking at kayaking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mu4CXVkLyi4 Reply D on February 23, 2013 at 2:35 am What gear do you recommend for sucking at kayaking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mu4CXVkLyi4 Reply Stephen Wright on February 23, 2013 at 4:38 pm D, Any boat can be used to suck at kayaking, it just takes dedication and lots of hard work 🙂 Stephen Reply Larry on February 23, 2013 at 11:06 am Which boat would you recommend for big water boating? Grand Canyon, Ottawa, etc. Reply Stephen Wright on February 23, 2013 at 4:35 pm Larry, Great question! It depends a lot on your skill level, and what you want to do on those rivers. Most folks on the Ottawa use a playboat, and then eventually get comfortable enough to run almost any big-volume river in a playboat. The JK crew took playboats down the grand and loved it. If you want a playboat that’s also forgiving downriver (for a playboat), I’d go with the 2013 All Star. The design goals of the 2013 all star are exactly that: to make a very forgiving playboat that’s incredible on waves. BUT if you’re not too interested in vertical play moves, then you might be better off in something more like a Zen. The Zen has a GREAT surfing hull: It’s mega fast and I could spin it on several waves on the Ottawa, and even clean spin/grind it on corner wave. With good technique it’s possible to do more tricks in the Zen (blunt, helix, etc…) but it’s certainly not easy for that. The Zen would be more stable than a playboat, much faster, and would allow you to do some creeking if you wanted to. It’s a great downriver boat. Hope that helps! Thanks for the read! Stephen Reply Gregg on February 25, 2013 at 6:47 pm “Paddle: AT2 SL 196, zero degree feather.” Hey I saw this “Zero degree feather” that is the offset in the paddle blades correct? Could you please explain the reason for your choice and why everyone else it seems chooses 30 degree or more offset, and why the manufactures dont even offer Zero degree paddles except as custom order? I’ve been using a cheap old paddle with zero offset, I do have another cheap paddle of same brand with 45 degree offset and hate it..I’m currently looking to buy a premium paddle I was hoping used but finding Zero offset is near impposible.. I just dont get it why any whitewater kayaker would want thier paddle blades twisted asymetrical left and right, my understanding is it solely for wind resistance for the blade thats up in the air.. Is that the sole reason? if so it seems stupid, we arent eskimos paddling into 20mph wind 15 miles across Prudhoe Bay, it makes sense only for a flatwater kayaker maybe… Thanks, Gregg Reply Stephen Wright on February 25, 2013 at 9:16 pm Gregg, I agree 100%. I’ve been using zero degree twist paddles for 6 or 7 years now and I’ll never go back. But I do know of plenty of good paddlers that use lots of different angles on their blades. My primary reason for liking the zero is that rolling and bracing feels exactly the same on both sides, and I just keep whatever hand is pulling tight, while letting the other hand be looser during strokes. I haven’t found any downside in whitewater. I think that many brands will custom make you a zero degree paddle. AT makes them for me, so I assume they’d make them for others as well. I think that EJ imports the lightning paddles, which look good too and JK used to have some zero feathers. Lots of paddlers actually use zero, but most paddle manufacturers are behind the times in terms of catching up and offering it standard. Hope that helps!!! Stephen Reply Gregg on February 25, 2013 at 10:33 pm yeah thanks Stephen that helps knowing some of you pros favor Zero offset, I think that settles it for me I’m not going to go force myself to get used to 30degree offset when I prefer zero.. Now I just need to find a good paddle…I love the AT superduty’s how they feel in my hand I’ve played with several but have never seen one in Zero offset, finding one used aint gonna happen… do a bro a favor man and before you break or totally wear out your current one sell it to me and hit that sponser up for a new one please…email me privete if interested. Thanks Reply Seamus on March 1, 2013 at 2:47 pm We met once on the Black – Inner City Strife – great wave, unfortunately gone due to change in river morphology after a high spring flood. Anyway, I see a reference in your posts to running the Grand Canyon in a playboat with the Jackson Crew. I am doing the Grand this coming Novemeber and hoping to run it in an Allstar. Their is some resistance to me doing this from the rest of the team I plan on paddling with. Is there a JK blog post about the Jackson Crew running the Grand in play boats? I have looked, and couldn’t find it. I am looking for ammunition to convince my paddling crew that a playboat is not insane, and won’t slow the trip down. thank, Seamus Reply Stephen Wright on March 1, 2013 at 4:14 pm Seamus, I was bummed to hear about ICS for sure! Here’s a quick write up that I found. I know that there were more, but here’s Nick’s write-up: https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/blog/2010/08/17/the-grand-canyon-2/ Stephen Reply Tom on June 18, 2013 at 12:46 am How do you keep tennis shoes clean? Reply Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
D on February 23, 2013 at 2:35 am What great do you recommend for sucking at kayaking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mu4CXVkLyi4 Reply
D on February 23, 2013 at 2:35 am What gear do you recommend for sucking at kayaking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mu4CXVkLyi4 Reply
Stephen Wright on February 23, 2013 at 4:38 pm D, Any boat can be used to suck at kayaking, it just takes dedication and lots of hard work 🙂 Stephen Reply
Larry on February 23, 2013 at 11:06 am Which boat would you recommend for big water boating? Grand Canyon, Ottawa, etc. Reply
Stephen Wright on February 23, 2013 at 4:35 pm Larry, Great question! It depends a lot on your skill level, and what you want to do on those rivers. Most folks on the Ottawa use a playboat, and then eventually get comfortable enough to run almost any big-volume river in a playboat. The JK crew took playboats down the grand and loved it. If you want a playboat that’s also forgiving downriver (for a playboat), I’d go with the 2013 All Star. The design goals of the 2013 all star are exactly that: to make a very forgiving playboat that’s incredible on waves. BUT if you’re not too interested in vertical play moves, then you might be better off in something more like a Zen. The Zen has a GREAT surfing hull: It’s mega fast and I could spin it on several waves on the Ottawa, and even clean spin/grind it on corner wave. With good technique it’s possible to do more tricks in the Zen (blunt, helix, etc…) but it’s certainly not easy for that. The Zen would be more stable than a playboat, much faster, and would allow you to do some creeking if you wanted to. It’s a great downriver boat. Hope that helps! Thanks for the read! Stephen Reply
Gregg on February 25, 2013 at 6:47 pm “Paddle: AT2 SL 196, zero degree feather.” Hey I saw this “Zero degree feather” that is the offset in the paddle blades correct? Could you please explain the reason for your choice and why everyone else it seems chooses 30 degree or more offset, and why the manufactures dont even offer Zero degree paddles except as custom order? I’ve been using a cheap old paddle with zero offset, I do have another cheap paddle of same brand with 45 degree offset and hate it..I’m currently looking to buy a premium paddle I was hoping used but finding Zero offset is near impposible.. I just dont get it why any whitewater kayaker would want thier paddle blades twisted asymetrical left and right, my understanding is it solely for wind resistance for the blade thats up in the air.. Is that the sole reason? if so it seems stupid, we arent eskimos paddling into 20mph wind 15 miles across Prudhoe Bay, it makes sense only for a flatwater kayaker maybe… Thanks, Gregg Reply
Stephen Wright on February 25, 2013 at 9:16 pm Gregg, I agree 100%. I’ve been using zero degree twist paddles for 6 or 7 years now and I’ll never go back. But I do know of plenty of good paddlers that use lots of different angles on their blades. My primary reason for liking the zero is that rolling and bracing feels exactly the same on both sides, and I just keep whatever hand is pulling tight, while letting the other hand be looser during strokes. I haven’t found any downside in whitewater. I think that many brands will custom make you a zero degree paddle. AT makes them for me, so I assume they’d make them for others as well. I think that EJ imports the lightning paddles, which look good too and JK used to have some zero feathers. Lots of paddlers actually use zero, but most paddle manufacturers are behind the times in terms of catching up and offering it standard. Hope that helps!!! Stephen Reply
Gregg on February 25, 2013 at 10:33 pm yeah thanks Stephen that helps knowing some of you pros favor Zero offset, I think that settles it for me I’m not going to go force myself to get used to 30degree offset when I prefer zero.. Now I just need to find a good paddle…I love the AT superduty’s how they feel in my hand I’ve played with several but have never seen one in Zero offset, finding one used aint gonna happen… do a bro a favor man and before you break or totally wear out your current one sell it to me and hit that sponser up for a new one please…email me privete if interested. Thanks Reply
Seamus on March 1, 2013 at 2:47 pm We met once on the Black – Inner City Strife – great wave, unfortunately gone due to change in river morphology after a high spring flood. Anyway, I see a reference in your posts to running the Grand Canyon in a playboat with the Jackson Crew. I am doing the Grand this coming Novemeber and hoping to run it in an Allstar. Their is some resistance to me doing this from the rest of the team I plan on paddling with. Is there a JK blog post about the Jackson Crew running the Grand in play boats? I have looked, and couldn’t find it. I am looking for ammunition to convince my paddling crew that a playboat is not insane, and won’t slow the trip down. thank, Seamus Reply
Stephen Wright on March 1, 2013 at 4:14 pm Seamus, I was bummed to hear about ICS for sure! Here’s a quick write up that I found. I know that there were more, but here’s Nick’s write-up: https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/blog/2010/08/17/the-grand-canyon-2/ Stephen Reply
