I’m looking for a half skirt for a WS Tsunami 120. I’ve looked at the Harmony Miniskirt and Seals Splash Deck. Does anyone have experience with either? Which is best? Any other brands? Thanks
Very useful
I’ve been using Seals mini skirt for several Summers. Good protection from the sun and paddle drips but it’s pretty easy to lean the kayak too much and get water in the cockpit. When it gets too hot for a full skirt the mini skirt is nice to have. Just push it forward far enough to get your legs out.
I own a Seal half skirt …
and it’s worth every penny I paid. I purchased mine at Austin Kayak and received 20% off by signing up for their newletter. Something like that.
New design
I too have a Seals half skirt, mostly used by my wife, and you can slide the whole deck forward and hook it over the front of the coaming to get your legs in and out of the boat. However, the new Seals design has fabric all the way around the skirt, so it won’t be able to be pushed forward in the same manner. It looks like you’ll have to remove the entire half-skirt to get out of the boat, which looks like a pain.
If I was buying now, I would get the Immersion Research Sun Skirt, which is similar to the old Seals design. IR gear is top notch.
Half skirt?
Do you only get half wet? Does your cockpit only fill halfway? Really, I could go on and on and on…
Not to mention half the price
… so what was your point?
that have their place
I don’t use them being mostly on the open ocean with waves, but it’s very easy to see value on a small, calm body of water where you can quickly seek shelter if things got rough. In such cases only flipping or rare splash gets you wet. Such folks can get by without a skirt but don’t want too much sun nor the mild annoyance of paddle drips. If you’re somewhere where an open canoe is safe then an open kayak can’t be too bad.
got one and …
…I would rate it good only as a sun shade for the legs,if your wearing shorts,and the Seals brand does have a handy zippered exterior pouch on it. it’s a PITA otherwise, U still have to pop it off and on to get in and out of the boat. It’ll probably be good for heavy dew or foggy mornings to keep your lap fairly dry while paddling. I’ve only had reason to use mine twice since i bought it. The “stay” doesn’t work all that great to keep the skirt shape.
1/2
I’ll tell you what, I’ll meet you half way…
Did someone get their
itty bitty feelings hurt?
Cockpit size
It depends on the cockpit opening on your boat but I’ve found it fairly easy to push the whole skirt forward enough to get in and out with the skirt in place. Mine has about an inch of nylon around the back of the rand and a nice beefy stay which works well, other models only have a bungee to secure to the cockpit around the back. It should be possible to enter and exit without removing the skirt with either style.
.5
Please…are you serious? Do you really think I’ll kowtow to someone who wears half a skirt? Who wears the other half?