Best Paddle Jacket
PacLite Paddling Jacket by Kokatat
A jacket for paddling can be pretty simple. With a spray skirt and a PFD pulled over it, there’s not much point in having pockets because you don’t have access to them. Pockets also create unnecessary bulk under your PFD. If the jacket is made of breathable fabric, a front zipper isn’t needed for ventilation and nonetheless would be a source of leaks around the neck. The PacLite jacket is a simple garment that goes well with paddling. The only pocket it has is on the left upper arm. The neck and wrist seals are made of a rubberized fabric and are snug against the skin. They can be tightened with Velcro. The seal at the waist has a bungee cord with a locking slider to adjust tension. It’s not immersion wear, but it keeps the rain and spray out. The sleeves are attached to the body of the jacket at a higher angle than that used for an ordinary jacket and have a gusset that runs from wrist to waist that provides plenty of slack for raising your arm. It eliminates bulk and keeps intersecting seams out of your armpit when your arm is lowered. The design provides a wide range of motion. The seams are all sealed with tape fused to the inside of the fabric. The PacLite doesn’t have anything you don’t need. It’s simple and it does the job.
$174
Kokatat
www.kokatat.com
Best Footwear
Mukluk by Chota
Chota’s Quicklace Mukluks have retained their 2005 Readers Choice title as the best kayaking footwear. What’s not to like about Mukluks? The knee-high boots keep your feet dry at the water’s edge and in water deep enough to float a kayak, so if you want to keep your kayak off the rocks you don’t have to trade an unscratched bottom for wet feet. The sole is thick enough to protect your feet from sharp rocks without being so stiff that it makes it difficult to operate your kayak’s rudder pedals. The rubber panels support your ankles for walking over uneven ground and the neoprene keeps your feet warm even if they do get wet. With the Quicklace system you can quickly cinch up the Mukluk one-handed, even if your fingers are cold and numb. The elastic laces lie snug against the neoprene and pose very little possibility of snagging on a wet exit. There’s a popular myth that says if your feet are cold, you should put on a hat. Go ahead and put the hat on, but better still, get off on the right foot by making sure your feet stay dry and protected from the cold. The Quicklace Mukluks are a great way to do that.
$118.95
Chota Outdoor Gear
www.chotaoutdoorgear.com
Best Dry Bag
Kodiak by SealLine
Keeping track of your kayaking gear is much easier when you can see what’s in your dry bags. The Kodiak dry bags have translucent TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) windows that make it easy enough to
identify what’s inside without making any personal items too obvious. The seven sizes of Kodiak dry bags come with 7-, 8-, 9-, 11- and 13-inch diameters—well matched for common diameters of round hatches. The bags have welded seams and simple roll-down closures. The Kodiak’s nylon fabric, in either blue or bright yellow, has a slick surface that helps the bags slip along inside the kayak as you push cargo into place. Purge valves in all but the two smallest sizes of the bag let air bleed out, so the contents can be compressed, allowing you to fit more gear into your kayak. The one-way purge valves are composed of a flap, open-cell foam and mesh fabric. They lie flat and don’t protrude into the inside of the bags. The Kodiak bags are made of environmentally friendly PVC-free materials.
$19.95 to $39.95
SealLine
www.seallinegear.com
Best Tow Belt
Sea Tec by North Water
You may not often have occasion to tow another kayak, but it’s wise to be prepared to do so—whether it’s to keep a struggling paddler from falling behind, pull someone out of a dangerous situation or get an
incapacitated paddler to shore. Most of the time, your towline will just be along for the ride, so it should be unobtrusive. The Sea Tec tow belt puts 30‘ of floating ¼” cord in a wide-mouth bag that is easy to load with the towline and easy to compress into a slim roll. The business end has a stainless steel carabiner and a float and the rescuer’s end has the towline anchored to a quick-release belt. Since the Sea Tec towline is belt-mounted, the work of towing can easily be shared by handing the belt over to a fresh paddler, regardless of the kayak outfitting.
Simple and sturdy, the Sea Tec tow belt is out of the way when you don’t need it and simple and effective when you do.
$124.95
North Water
www.northwater.com
Best Deck Bag
Baja by SealLine
The Baja is a repeat winner from our 2005 awards. Its popularity among our readers, like the bag i
tself, has held up well. Deck bungees are fine for temporarily holding gear on deck, but I’ve lost some gear to waves washing over the deck, so anything that I don’t want to lose (and that includes energy-bar wrappers that I feel obliged to dispose of properly) goes in a deck bag.
The 19-ounce vinyl bag has welded seams and is supported by a stiff plastic insert so you can easily get your hand on gear stowed inside the bag. There is plenty of room inside for the equipment and supplies you’re likely to need during a long passage, but the bag has a low profile. On the bottom of the bag are two Velcro-faced straps that slip under deck bungees to hold the bag in place. I’ve punched through waves with the bag on deck and while I can feel the kayak decelerate when green water coming over hits the bag, the Baja stays put. SealLine’s ZipLips come together over the zipper when it is closed and a flap on the bag goes over the ZipLips. The combination is very effective in spray but isn’t entirely waterproof, so equipment easily damaged by moisture needs additional protection inside the Baja’s main compartment. A mesh pocket on the outside holds a few items that can tolerate a dunking.
$89.95
SealLine
www.seallinegear.com
Best Specialty PFD
Guide by Kokatat
I’ve been using a Guide vest for several years now and there’s little that I’d do to change it. The shoulder straps, the
paired straps on each side and the waist belt combine to give the Guide a secure and comfortable fit. The foam panels are comfortably distributed front and back, situated down low where they provide the most effective use of their 15.5 pounds of buoyancy. The arm openings are large enough to provide chafe-free clearance for paddling. There are two pockets on the vest front: a top loader on the right that works well for a VHF radio and a side-loading pocket on the left that I use for a laser signal, keys, whistle and small flashlight. Inside the zippered front there is a small pocket that I use to carry a general purpose knife. There are two attachment points. The one on the front carries my rescue knife and the one on the back takes a strobe. I’ve added two Kokatat accessories on my Guide: a towline and a back pocket.
The Guide is sturdily built and equipped with a quick release belt, so it is listed as a Type V PFD. I’ve used my Guide almost exclusively for several years now and it shows no signs of wear. It will be with me for several years to come.
$210
Kokatat
www.kokatat.com
Best PFD/Best Woman’s PFD
MsFit Tour by Kokatat
The MsFit Tour is designed to fit women, but it has found favor among male paddlers too. Each half of the front of MsFit Tour is built around two panels of foam that meet each other along a curved line. The panels lie flat alongside one another until the PFD is buckled and zipped around a kayaker’s torso. Then the seam at the side causes the foam at the center to bend around the curve of the foam at the side. The resulting contour
provides a more comfortable form-hugging contour. Adjustments to the waist belt, the shoulder straps and the paired side cinches bring the MsFit snug without creating pressure points or gaps. The arm holes provide plenty of clearance to prevent chafing during paddling.
The front of the MsFit has two side-opening pockets for gear, a top-looading pocket sized for a VHF radio and an attachment point for a knife. A second attachment point is on the back at the left shoulder. Broad strips of retroreflective material are sewn front and back.
The foam floatation you need to keep you afloat is necessarily bulky. A good PFD like the MsFit Tour keeps the foam from getting in the way of paddling and gives you a place to keep gear for paddling and for that time you may have only the PFD keeping you afloat.
$142
Kokatat
www.kokatat.com
Best Sea Kayak Outfitter
West
NRS
www.nrsweb.com
800-635-5202
Southeast/Gulf Coast
Saltwater Sports
www.saltwatersportsflorida.com
239-262-6149
Midwest
Living Adventure
www.livingadventure.com
866-779-9503
Best Sea Kayak School
West
Body Boat Blade
www.bodyboatblade.com
360-376-5388
Southeast/Gulf Coast
Sea Kayak Georgia
www.seakayakgeorgia.com
912-786-8732
Canada
0.Naturally Superior Adventures
www.naturallysuperior.com
800-203-9092
Best Tour Operator
West
Blue Waters Kayaking
www.bwkayak.com
415-669-2600
Southeast/Gulf Coast
Saltwater Sports
www.saltwatersportsflorida.com
239-262-6149
Midwest
Living Adventure
www.livingadventure.com
866-779-9503
Northeast
Atlantic Kayak Tours
www.atlantickayaktours.com
845-246-2187
Canada
Naturally Superior Adventures
www.naturallysuperior.com
800-203-9092
Best Sea Kayak Shop
West
Alder Creek
www.aldercreek.com
888-285-0464
Southeast/Gulf Coast
Sea Kayak Georgia
www.seakayakgeorgia.com
912-786-8732
Midwest
Rutabaga
www.rutabaga.com
800-472-3353
Northeast
Chesapeake Light Craft
www.clcboats.com
410-267-0137
