Kayak gear manufacture, Kayalu recently sent me a new stern deck light system that is about to hit the market. The Kayalite Stern Light is a 360 degree white light perched on top of an 18 inch ABS plastic pole. It’s designed to allow other boats to see you while out on the water at night.

Most deck lights on the market attach to the boat with either a giant suction cup or by strapping to the back of the paddler’s lifejacket. Both are good designs but they do have their flaws. The suction cup works great on fibreglass boats but doesn’t stick to plastic models at all due to the rough surface. The lifejacket light works fine but really can only been seen by other boaters if they happen to approach you from behind.

What makes the Kayalite system unique is the method by which it attaches to the kayak. The design uses a bungee and hook system so it will attach to either an eyelet or bungee on the deck of your boat. Once the light is clipped on and the bungee is tightened down, the unit is held snug to the boat. The large base helps to prevent the light tipping over. In fact, other people have reported rolling their boat with the light staying put!

I love weather. That’s why I was excited to finally get my hands on and review the Kestrel 2500 Wind Meter.

The Kestrel 2500 is a small waterproof weather station that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s designed to accurately measure wind speed, air or water temperature, wind chill, barometric pressure including pressure trend and altitude.

I recently upgraded my camera from a splash proof digital point-and-shoot camera to a mid-level DSLR. The advantage being that the quality of the photos go way up but sadly, SLR’s are absolutely not friendly with water.

There are a couple of different waterproof cases on the market for SLR cameras that are marketed towards divers. The acrylic cases are fantastic as they protect the camera and are able to withstand the pressures of SCUBA diving but the kicker is that they start at around $800 and quickly go up from there in price.

The things is; kayakers don’t need a hard case specifically designed for deep water pressure; we really just need a case designed to keep the camera dry yet will still protect the camera from the accidental dunking. That is why I got excited when Aquapac sent me their Waterproof SLR Case to test out.

Anybody who has gone on a canoe or kayaking trip will understand that keeping your navigation maps dry is super important. After all, you want to (eventually) find your way home and having wet maps makes it a touch more difficult.
 
There are many different ways to waterproof your gear. As an extremely poor outdoor recreation student back in the mid 90’s, I couldn’t afford to purchase topographic maps for trips so I would covertly photocopy the maps at $0.05 per page at the local library then attempt to waterproof them with sheets of sticky, clear vinyl shelf liner that I purchased at the dollar store. It worked ok, but not much longer then that weekend’s trip.

Of course there are much better methods of keeping your maps/charts dry then pasting them together between two sheets of mac tac.

This fall North Water released a brand new spare paddle holder for sea kayakers called PaddleBritches. It's easy to see where they got the name from as they look just like a pair of doll pants.
 
Like other North Water gear on the market, it is a well designed and well thought out product. It's made of 1000 weight Cordura so you know it is super tough. Installation was very easy and it only took me about 10 minutes. There are several sewn "belt loops" that you thread deck lines through making it impossible for surf to wash it off your deck. The openings have stiffeners so it is easy to retrieve or store your paddle while you are out on the water. A nice little feature is a large sewn reflective loop that enables you to quickly stow your primary paddle. You could also use this loop to temporary stow a fishing rod or a Greenland paddle when you need to go hands free for anything.