Gear Bagedited by Scott MacGregor 1 1 NRS
Creek Gloves Banging down a steep
and rocky creek bed, rarely does one finish a run without a bloody or bruised knuckle. The new Northwest River Supply (NRS) Creek Gloves should have creek boaters rubbing their palms in anticipation.
On the inside, the Creek Glove resembles typical 3 mm neoprene gloves with a leather palm and finger for grip and paddle feel. Where ordinary gloves get shredded, NRS has beefy Kevlar guards molded into the shape of your knuckles, pro- tecting the leading edge of your hand when closed
around a paddle. Additional protection is found on every knuckle up to your fingers. Beefs: The Creek Gloves are not overly warm and your hands must fit the shape of the pre-molded guards. So, durable with such bomber protection, the Creek Gloves seem in demand
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by a very small segment of paddlers—extreme creekers. Although, raking and cleaning up this fall I found they double as great work gloves. $75 US.
www.nrsweb.com.—Philip Kompass.
2 Galasport C1 Magnum
Galasport is one of the only canoe–paddle companies cutting unique shapes and experimenting with revolutionary materials. It’s not often in the same sen- tence we get to use the words unique, revolutionary, canoe-paddle… and Magnum. Galasport’s Magnum blade offers a great power to stroke ratio: a fine balance for today’s small-boat C1 paddlers. Compare the Magnum to a standard slalom profile and it looks wider and shorter and has almost no spoon. Their Demon freestyle model is convex, spooning backwards in a kid-drawing-seagull shape; great for biting on a reverse stroke but many paddlers found it dumps water on a forward stroke; the Magnum fits for all-round river and play perform- ance. It’s a bit of a secret, but whatever Galasport is doing with their GVAC tech- nology and mystery JRS material, it sure produces a tough, wear resistant blade, without the need for an alloy edge. When you order a Galasport paddle you’ll have a plethora of shaft options; this beauty is a black JRS shaft. 680g. $306 Cdn, $249 US.
www.galasportpaddles.com.
3 Nike Toketee Mid What Nike says it is: “Designed in collaboration with the professional kayak-
ers of Team Dagger for function in and out of the water. The Toketee Mid is a high-performance kayak bootie minimalist enough to fit in tight playboats, yet supportive and cushioned enough for rock and trail portages.” For the most part we’d have to agree. The heel is rounded to hug your foot without excess shoe to
get in the way. The sole is sticky rubber and it is pretty flexible and does allow you to cram into tight boats. The Toketee Mid is a spe- cialty kayak shoe without enough toe box protection for open boaters using foot pegs. Open boaters should try on a pair of ‘70s Cons. $89.95Cdn.
www.nike.com
4 Navarro Radiator Modetec
II Pants For 18 years, Vancouver based Navarro has been cranking out inex- pensive, no-frill paddling gear. A Navarro splash jacket or wetsuit was probably your first piece of gear (do you still have it?). But things at Navarro are changing. Under new ownership it’s updating its manufacturing processes (all still done in Vancouver), incorporating new materials and adding racks of new pieces. Take, for example, these Radiator pants with Modetec II, a unique neo- prene material that has a coating of titanium applied to its surface. According to Navarro, a double lined material with titanium alloy is 40 percent warmer than regular neoprene. For 2005, the Radiator will become the Regulator using Modetec III—now breathable. Swimming after my Pirouette S in my 80s teal Navarro farmer John I couldn’t have imagined breathable neoprene. Change is good! $100 Cdn, $70 US.
www.navarro.ca
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5 Forest Girl Paddlers’ Salve Sometimes magical things come from companies without Flash-powered websites and supermodel endorsements. One such thing is Forest Girl Paddlers’ Salve. In fact, if it wasn’t for Forest Girl, Sigrid Geddes, herself this miracle oint- ment would simply disappear back into Wilno Hills among the comfrey root, bees wax and sage from where it came. The label simply reads: “Relieves irrita- tion caused by paddling gear. Hand crafted with love and respect.” I don’t know about you, but that’s the stuff I want to be rubbing on my body. So far, we found Paddlers’ Salve heals: foot rot; gasket irritation; neoprene rash; and dry, weather- beaten chapped skin. 75ml container $14.95 Cdn. Forest Girl direct sigridged-
des@hotmail.com or
www.rapidmagazineinc.com/rapidstore.
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www.rapidmag.com
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