"Keith Meredith" wrote in message
...
Hi

What kit would you advise a new paddler to spend money on?

Keith


Fantastic - a thread more than 5 posts long - now, what's the bit of kit
(apart from boat and paddle!) that you wouldn't set out without... and
please state discipline - sea, surf, whitewater, touring, etc.

Best wishes

Keith

"Keith Meredith" wrote in message
...

"Keith Meredith" wrote in message
...
Hi

What kit would you advise a new paddler to spend money on?

Keith


Fantastic - a thread more than 5 posts long - now, what's the bit of kit
(apart from boat and paddle!) that you wouldn't set out without... and
please state discipline - sea, surf, whitewater, touring, etc.

Does a bottle of water count? Seriously, having water is more important to
me than having a hot drink ( I always have one with me but I frequently
don't touch it till we are back at the car.

Otherwise airbags in all the boats. It really gets on my tits when we are
teaching kids and we have lots of rescues to do, and they have to do them
too, and the boats don't have airbags- almost invariably kids tend to swamp
the boats and it is a sod to empty them. At one point I had two instructors
and seven kids, and I had two kids in the water at the same time and another
two looking like going over. They had swamped the boats, and I was taking
way longer than I should have to empty them. In the meantime the kids were
grabbing at my boat and there was a strong possibility that they were going
to put me over as well. Fortunately another coach arrived on scene and
emptied the other boat. So airbags all round.

Flat water coaching, whitewater.

Ewan Scott

In message
"Keith Meredith" wrote:


"Keith Meredith" wrote in message
...
Hi

What kit would you advise a new paddler to spend money on?

Keith


Fantastic - a thread more than 5 posts long - now, what's the bit of kit
(apart from boat and paddle!) that you wouldn't set out without... and
please state discipline - sea, surf, whitewater, touring, etc.

Waterproof digital camera. Discipline - whatever I'm doing at the time.


Best wishes

Keith



--
Alan Adams

http://www.nckc.org.uk/

Keith Meredith wrote:

Fantastic - a thread more than 5 posts long - now, what's the bit of kit
(apart from boat and paddle!) that you wouldn't set out without... and
please state discipline - sea, surf, whitewater, touring, etc.

We had a gear evening earlier in the year, where the club training
officer was going through useful things to take on a (sea kayak) trip.
She asked folk to bring along a favourite bit of kit, and say why it was
a fave.

The training officer's own stated fave was a roll of plastic bags,
reinforcing that in a weekend of sea paddling you typically spend more
time camping, preparing food, packing and unpacking than you do paddling.

Mine was a pair of wicking underpants, as they dry out faster than they
get wet, at least if you're not wearing a wet suit. Very big comfort
difference, and no need to change them when you get out.

A new chap, who'd been out and bought /everything/ (including a P&H
quest, before he'd even been kayaking), took a VHF radio that had an
interlock to his GPS. Compare and contrast with dry pants and a roll of
ziplock baggies! ;-)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

My sidewinder cag - whitewater and surf. I'm not very good and go over
alot, and like to stay warm and dry!

Charlie.

"Keith Meredith" wrote in message
...

"Keith Meredith" wrote in message
...
Hi

What kit would you advise a new paddler to spend money on?

Keith


Fantastic - a thread more than 5 posts long - now, what's the bit of kit
(apart from boat and paddle!) that you wouldn't set out without... and
please state discipline - sea, surf, whitewater, touring, etc.

Best wishes

Keith