Gear Reviews
A collection of blog posts that have reviewed various paddling gear, kayaks etc that I have tried over the past few years. Feel free to contact me if you want me to write about any other products.
Customizable flex carbon fiber paddles
The never ending quest for the perfect paddle. I have a bazillion Greenland paddles; okay not a bazillion but I do have 14 Carbon fiber paddles and 6 wooden ones. If you blindfolded me and handed me one I bet I could name the paddle within a few minutes. Each paddle...
Adanac Paddle Art
Jill Ellis is an artisan. Describing her as a paddle maker would be a serious understatement of her craft. For full disclosure I have been a fan of Jill’s for several years. Jill has advertised my book and DVD for free on her website, and I have included her amongst...
VI Paddles
VIPaddles is run by Randy Millar in British Columbia. Last month he contacted me and asked if I was interested in reviewing one of his Greenland paddles. I of course replied favorably as I love to try out every and any skinny stick I can get my hands on. I had heard...
GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition
I recently upgraded to use the new GoPro Hero 3 Black edition video camera for filming rolling. This new model is substantially smaller than previous GoPro models. It also comes with a plethora of new modes of operation. Two features were of particular interest to me....
A Lumpy Greenland Paddle – Part 2
Really it isn’t fair to comment too much (yet) on using the new Lumpy Greenland Paddle; the lakes are frozen. There are, however, swimming pools, and it was in one such swimming pool at the Brooklyn Center Community Center that I was able to spend a couple of hours...
A couple of cool products
About a month ago, while I was replying to a comment on my business page on Facebook, I noticed that the profile picture for the commenter had a really cool looking kayak rolling image in it. I clicked through to the profile and saw that it was a picture of a paddler,...
A Lumpy Greenland Paddle – Part 1
Last year I reviewed a number of different Greenland style paddles, and it was my publication of these reviews that caused Bill Bremer of Lumpy Paddles to contact me to see if I would review one of his. Previously, in August 2011, I got my hands on the first piece of...
GoPro Cameras and Kayaks
Many people have sent me questions about how to video themselves rolling, so I thought I would share what I am currently using to mount and control my cameras. To record video I use two GoPro HD Hero2, usually statically mounted on the bow and stern. I also use a...
Initial impressions of a Joe O’ cedar GP
My first Greenland paddle was made by Betsy Bay. Betsy Bay paddles have a distinctive shape and construction method that sets them apart from more the traditional carved shape Greenland paddles. Since starting with the wooden paddle I have exclusively used Novorca...
Stumpy Lumpy – Transition Paddle
Bill Bremer and I have been conversing for a while about building a prototype learning aid. The commonly adopted name for the aid is a Transitional Paddle. Bill has called this the Stumpy Lumpy due to it looking like a shrunken version of a Greenland Paddle. Bill...