UCD Canoe Club
Boats and Gear => Buy and Sell => Topic started by: Lucy on December 12, 2008, 10:43:10
-
...to start trying to get my own gear.
hahah :D
So I'm starting with Santa.
What should I get...
I have wetsuit (thanks Kerry).
I have an alright spraydeck...it'll last me for the moment.
I have some thermals.
Kieran I have your booties. I must get them back to you.
So I need LOTS.
Paddles, booties, cag, helmet, Buoancy...Boat.
So I'm thinking of what to get first, I doubt Santa's gonna foot the bill for the lot. What will I get first and what kind should I get?
-
If ya dont have a nice cag i'd go for that....after then...
the first thing i got were my own paddles and i thought that they were very helpful and i still have them!! (despite begin ty-warps!! :O)
but everyone will prob give ya a different thing to buy first....i'd say any of paddles, ba, helmet, good cag would be a good investment.
-
oh and all the i-canoe and god's will prob eb having a good sale after xmas so i always wait till then and get the stuff that little bit cheaper than the week before:P
other people have a lot more experience of buying gear than me so i'd listen to them more than me!! :P
-
I think when you're buying gear, one of the most important starting points is getting yourself kitted out so you can stay warm on the river. From that point of view, a decent cag would be a good bet. It's worth spending a bit of cash on getting a good cag. Make sure you treat it well and it will last for quite a long time.
If you stay warm while out paddling, the cold water and cold weather doesn't sap your strength. Same for booties. Get a decent pair of booties, or neoprene socks and river shoes if that's your preference. Make sure you stay warm on the river, then start looking at bigger things like helmet, BA, blades and boat.
There'll probably be heaps of people who disagree with me on this next point, but I think spending heaps of money on a 'bling' fashionable helmet (sweet helmets etc) that doesn't actually give full coverage over your ears is a waste of money. There's no protection on those sort of helmets if you bash the side of your head/face. Get a decent, comfortable helmet that covers your head properly. It'll be a lot cheaper than some of the trendier brands and will do just as good or better a job. If you want to bling it up, slap stickers and paint on it. It bugs me to see people who have bought themselves really expensive trendy helmets and paid so much for them that they couldn't afford extra thermals, booties, BA etc.
With the strength of the Euro against sterling at the moment, buy all of your gear online from the UK. It will work out a lot cheaper for you, even with shipping included.
-
do u know any good english websites to buy off?? looking into buy one or two things myself....
-
Wooooh Lucy I'm getting gear off santa too!! ;D
I went to great outdoors and I got a sidewinder cag and with that they gave me a €50 thermal for free which I thought was very nice of them!! :) And I bought a super duper cool paddle! So I was i the same boat(hahaha kayaking pun) as you and that's what I went for! Oh and I also got a pair of booties too!
Then with my own money I think I'm gonna get a pro tec two face helmet....it's got ear proection, it's super stylish and it's only like €60 from i canoe or about €70 from great outdoors!
just leaves a BA............and a boat!! So hopefully i'll get a job soon!! :D
p.s give me back my hat!!!!! :P
-
..christ. Your Santa is friggin loaded. I don't think I'll be quite as lucky.
I'll give u ur hat when I'm good and ready.
-
How long'll that take?!!
Oh and my older brother is getting a laptop....which he need fo doing his masters nd what not...so I was just like...well I do really need kayaking gear! ::) worked like a charm!! :P
-
Asho has had my hat for over a year now.. Should I buy a new hat?
-
I got a sidewinder cag for €185ish delivered from www.wetsuitoutlet.co.uk (http://www.wetsuitoutlet.co.uk) and they delivered it in 2 days so I was pretty happy with that.
-
Luce, I would definately agree with slapper on this one, being and staying warm on a river is really important, makes you paddle better for longer as well. Some people might not agree that you need a fully dry cag for irish water.. but I think they're brilliant, and since i got my sidewinder i stay dry and warm for the whole trip, its fooking great.
-
i bought the helix dry top from icanoe for 175e and have found it brilliant so far.
http://www.i-canoe.com/Ladies+Water-wear/Helix+Drytop+Women%27s.html
seeing as you are buying your kit in installments i'd ask santy for a cag and/or boyancy first as you can still easily use club paddles and boat. helmets aren't (shouldn't) be too expensive you can get a protec ace helmet for 50e in i-canoe and it's just as goot as any of the sweet ones.
-
Well you can tell from the booties, that style doesn't suit you the best as you need help doing them up, the sock version might be better and they come in at around 30 euro and many different styles. Dry cag is a great investment, Reid do a very good costume fitted cag, siobhain, killian, benny and caoimhe and eoin have gotten something from them but don't know how long that will take.
On the helmet front, mine cost 125 euro new, Thank you Connor. It is a very warm helmet and I feel very happy with it. However if I got a major knock tomorrow I would still buy it as It offers full coverage. Check the internet, I know a few in trinity have had sucess with a company over there. Looking at cheaper helmets the wsr helmet looks very good and karen and evan can tell you about it.
Paddles the gala range seems very solid paddle and is relatively cheap.
-
Lucy,
you've been lucky enough to be able to borrow some pretty good gear off various people for the past while. Surely you'd have figured out whice pieces of kit make a difference ???
If you're lucky enough to be able to get a shiny new cag for christmas go for it, but dont forget there are more affordable things like thermals, neo socks & a skull cap. They also make a massive difference & cost less. If you find yourself still trying to borrow thermals for a river trip it means you need more or better ones.
If you're buying a helmet go for the best you can afford. The more coverage the better. I'd should really get a better helmet now i can afford one... just waiting for the new seasons colours ;)
-
whoa, thanks guys. Keep it coming.
As for the awesome gear I was borrowing. I wasn't paying any attention to what it was, as far as I was concerned I was warm and comfy and that's all that mattered. ha.
-
Just thought I'd explain the reasons for what I got..... Think a good cag is probably the best thing to get first, cos I've worn a dry cag before and the difference is huge...keeps you really warm, and when you take it off at the end of the day(a bit of a struggle!) all of your thermals are still dry which is class!
The reason I went for a paddle aswell is that having used good paddles a couple of times the difference I noticed was huge. It really can make a difference to your paddling, where as once you have a helmet or a bouancy aid on it doesn't really make a huge difference wether it's a club one or your own. Obviously I'm not exactly hugely experienced but that's just what I've found!! ;D
-
If your willing to pay for top notch for great quality termals then you should have a look at this company
http://www.fourthelement.com/thermal_protection.php
They are aimed at divers but I don't see why you couldn't use it for Kayaking. I don't know if GOD's do them but there's a dive shop beside Ringsend bus garage that do them, or if you want you could give me the money and I could get you one in the Kilkee dive shop when we head down!
-
To dip slightly aside for a mo' I was pricing a helmet from a uk site. I thought to investigate how much shipping cost for a boat was. Myself and Karen were slightly suprised.
Item Qty Price GBP £ Value GBP £
view Prescription RX - Dagger
Styles: Colours: Sky Blue, Size: 6.7,
1 £599.00 £599.00
Item Total
GBP £
£599.00
Courier Service
Delivery - Courier / Our Van Carriage Charge
GBP £
£1150.00
Total (inc VAT)
GBP £ £1749.00
-
That's because they're using a courier instead of a haulage company like DHL. You could probably get it a lot cheaper if you arranged for one of the big companies to collect it on your behalf and then to deliver to you.
I just checked wetsuit outlet and they seem to charge a flat rate delivery charge of £6.95 even for a GT
-
Niall I saw that myself today. I found a site that charges £52 for shipping a boat to Ireland from the UK
-
Why would they even bother pricing something like that? I found a site that I like the look of, http://www.desperate-measures.co.uk/ It doesn't have a proper online ordering service (you have to ring them up) but they seem to have a good range and ok prices (including for delivery)
I don't know why I bother - I'm not even in the market for a boat..
-
Yeah, don't you have a GT already?
-
Yeah, you want it?
-
Not this f##king post again. Just get some streamers and a bell. They're the most important to buy first because <insert own personal opinion here>.
-
I find the best steamers are to be found in Cleveland.
-
Most important of all is the go-faster-stripes.
You wont have to listen to people on the back screaming 'PADDLE HARDER!', it's already done by the stripes!!
-
Hey Luce- before i went to Uganda i ordered some gear off www.kentcanoes.co.uk- I didn't have to pay for postage cos my cousin brought it over to Ireland for me but it still should work out a lot cheaper than going to GOD's especially since the sterling is so brilliantly crap at the moment!!
Oh and i definitely agree with Clarkey. Go-faster stripes are probably the most important bit of gear you'll ever own if you wanna be a shit hot boater. I'd get them- even if you don't have a boat. Just stick them to yourself
-
But take them off at night or Emmet might stop trying to pace himself ;)
-
if you put go faster stripes across a boat does it make you capsize?
-
Nope, but i find putting a Diarmaid in a boat makes it capsize
-
yeah but if you strap me to the underside you'll never capsize.
deep water only. bring me a snorkel.
-
Thought I'd open this one up again instead of starting a new thread... ;D
I'm looking for a cag, and not sure whether to go for a fully- or semi-dry one. I'm not really able to afford the sidewinder at full price, but is there any reason why something like this...
http://www.i-canoe.com/Unisex+Water-wear/Drytops/Stohlquist+Freeplay+Drytop.html
...wouldn't be as good? Or maybe the Helix that I-canoe also have?
Or is it better to go for a semi-dry and suffer a bit more :D :-\
-
Semi-drys are fine for boating but if you can afford the dry top, go for a dry top. It's more comfortable if you're doing a lot of playboating. By all accounts I can see nothing wrong with the one you've linked to. Stohlquist normally make good gear but I've never tried their cags. If you get onto Colm in i-canoe and tell him what you want and what you can afford, he'll help you out. He's very customer friendly. Also, try out the Palm Switch cag. It's much cheaper than the Sidewinder and almost as good (though it doesn't have nearly as much reinforcement). I paddle with one because of the price difference and think it's pretty good. Cags don't last much more than two years so get a cag that will suit the next two years of your paddling (=cheaper for me). You can get them with Aquatherm neck seals as well that are much more comfortable than latex seals but I don't know if they stock these in Great Outdoors.
-
As killian said the life span of a cag is two seasons, three if you really mind then. Don’t expect it to last longer, u will just get bitter when it dies.
To make a Simi-dry cag a dry one costs 40 euro to but a seal in. (www.mdac.ie, can probably get it in Dublin somewhere) with use they will probably let water in but that is the real cost difference.
Shop around and find which one is the right length for your arms, doesn’t weigh too much, u can move about it, doesn't try and chock you, and brings out the colour of your eyes. The same as u would any other piece of clothing u plan on being seen in public in.
It your somewhere with a paddling shop stop in to say hello and try everything on. (free tea) Then you will know what u like and will spend your money well when u have it and be informed.
If you’re not comfortable in any gear on dry land it will only be in your way on the water.
I have a IR Simi-dry cag, I find it's doesn't try to kill me when I put it on. That is why I like it, but mine came with a bring it back when it leaks and I’ll put a latex seal included reassurance (a cag prone to leaking but touch wood) It would be perfect if it would stop ripping on Kerry fences. :( I blame that on it being blue.
Isn't shopping fun ;D ;D
-
..rowan...get your own thread!
-
I'll sell you a cag that's been used maybe 8-10 times in total, dry and in cool blue (because let's be honest, image counts)
Nookie G2 Dry Cag, one of Nookie's better dry cags with chunky arm protection with kevlar and foam padding in the arms, this means no more unexplained bruises at the end of the day - It's actually fantastic
This has only been worn about 8-10 times, so it's exactly what it says on the tin. A pretty much brand new dry cag. I got it under a warranty replacement about the start of the summer.
Review here (http://www.double2d.co.uk/?p=42)
now only €160 ovno
Conor.
0879527919
-
Lucy, I'm terribly sorry for hijacking your thread...well, not really ;D
Anyone except Conor: I can get a Sidewinder for €173 from Wetsuit Outlet in England. Is that a better plan than Conor's (kind-of-second-hand) Nookie?
-
Palm, or Sham?
Eh? See what I did there, sowing the seeds of doubt and all! It was so subtle you probably didn't even notice it on a conscious level but now you'll never look at Palm gear in the same way The cag that I use is a palm sidewinder, the nookie cag is comparable. but you would not have any offical warranty rights (nookie do give a lifetime warranty, not just a one year warranty),so you'll just have to blag them, I cashed in this warranty after two and a half years with no proof of purchase and a previous model and they had it back to me far faster then palm did, brand new cag no quibbling after I sent them some pics.
Nookie warranty experience: 10 day turn around :)
Palm Warranty Experince: Send cag back - don't hear anything for about five weeks - ring shop, shop hasn't a clue - ring again - no clue - get quite annoyed - call in and make shop pick up phone to Palm - Palm have no clue - walk away in disgust, after giving them two days for resolution - finally get call back - they've lost my cag :o - shop replaces with new cag -new cag delaminates within five days - return new cag - starting to see the humour in this - repeat as above without losing it this time - two weeks later - have original cag returned to me >:(
8ish weeks, two cags, lots of phone calls, one trip to Italy with a last minute cag, crap service. Never buying from Palm or the shop in question again.
I rest my case.
-
Funny how the small print almost negates any of the second half of that post. :D
I'm still considering...
-
I have it, no needs to spend money until it completely falls apart, more. I do have a drysuit that works way better though.
Next cag will be a kokatat, they're the business by the looks of it...
-
You're really not a very good salesman Kylie
-
I'm passing off gear Evan, I'm not gonna bullshit them about it. Sales are work...
-
oh. I well... just got as far as slapper john's post, (forth one) and thought I might mention that I can be your UK rep and get you cheap deals at the moment. SKC are reps for Kokatat, Lendal, johnson outdoors, nickwax, so no promises but if you let me know if your interested in any of their gear, Pm me and i'll talk to the guys and see if they can put it on their orders..... but no promises just yet!!!
PM
-
i think the club will try to organise a grer talk soon enough (it depends on who is available and when). if you arent in any huge rush you might like to hold off and be able to make a more informed decision at the end of it all...