It’s really no joke when the tunnel seems to shrink the same amount as your PFD and your paddling tops… 
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Seriously though, folks. I own 4 Snap Dragon skirts. Two Breathable Glacier Treks and two Ocean Treks. I’m in good shape as far as skirts go but if I needed another skirt I wouldn’t hesitate buy or recommend a Snap Dragon skirt, regardless of their business situation. They made good stuff.
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Odd. In nearly all other areas of commerce, when a highly desirable commodity becomes suddenly unavailable, the value or price usually climbs.
Even more incentive now to make the old one fit, just looked at it, it’s got 5 years of abuse left, which I probably do not have. 34" compared to 38" sucking it in. I can fit the skirt but my interal organs are not happy. Company definitely got 2020"d (spelled f ----- d).
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Glad to hear about your feedback on the Glacier Trek, that’s what I picked up - but the flirt version… i don’t like’em sitting up so high.
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Thanks for the information – bummer news, though. I have loved their products, have SD backbands in two kayaks and one of their nylon sprayskirts is my favorite among the half dozen I have owned over the years and it fits the 3 kayaks I paddle most often. I jumped on a search for the dwindling stocks and snagged the usual $170 Glacier EXP Breathable for $120 from this Ebay seller: they still have mixed sizes of tunnels and decks.
Olympic Outdoor Center in Port Gamble, WA, appears to have a lot of stock of SD left also. (Note: their site won’t load if you are using Safari browser – I had to switch to Chrome.)
I have put SD backbands in a couple of my boats. Those boats are gone now and with the backbands.
How long do spray skirts usually last?
Depends on materials, quality, and use hard to quantify in years. If you’re doing rescue practice and pulling hulls on your combing it would cut down on the life. I have neoprene ones from Snapdragon rinsed well after use and some waterproofing now and then. They still look and perform like brand new after 10 years. Probably have 4 or 5 for my different size cockpits all Snapdragon’s. Seals makes good products also.
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My favorite skirt (before I got a Snapdragon) was the one that came with my first Feathercraft kayak, bought in 2002 (Fethercraft made all their own accessories for the boats)/ But about 6 years ago it started leaking like it was completely not waterproof, not the seams but the coating failed. Other than that I have not had one fail. But I did want a neoprene deck skirt for rolling practice so I’m glad I snagged the Glacier one today. I had been planning to get one – them closing down forced me to get off the stick.
I kept the Feathercraft and it just occurred to me I can rip the stitching out and use the old deck to cut a new one and re-assemble it – even have some neoprene I could use or could make it coated packcloth like the original.
Thanks to you both, that’s helpful.
SD skirts are excellent products, and the company’s service excels, too. In addition to stock products, I bought a custom-sized skirt for a S&G kayak and a special order or two for an unusually small cockpit.
When I sold my last sea kayak, I included both the old skirt (still in good condition) and a never-used one, both made by SD. That paddler will get many years of use from them.
However…think about WHY they might have ended the business, people! Look at who most of the paddlers are now: SUP boarders. No skirts needed.
As for 2020’s much-touted unexpectedly high demand for kayaks, I betcha most of those sought were rec kayaks, whose owners rarely use skirts.
R.I.P.
I’m sad to know that another fine kayak-industry company has closed shop.
Wow, just realized I bought 8 SD skirts over the years, plus 5 backbands.
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When you figure out what and who works you stick with it.
And rec yaks no skirt. I have enough to last my days and a lot longer. Maybe they could sell the name and patterns.
Lots of changes both planned and supply line initiated appearing throughout the paddling industry. An example would be Stohlquist no longer making drysuits or apparel aside from neoprene. Hence why I stocked up on the $500 EZ suits at the Store. Sprayskirts, paddles and PFDs are going to experience waves of scarcity throughout the year.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
845-229-0595 main
845-242-4731 mobile
Main: [www.the-river-connection.com]
Store: [www.the-river-connection.us]
Facebook: [fb.me/theriverconnection]
Instagram: Instagram.com/marshall.seddon
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What/how do you waterproof your skirts? I have used Aquaseal on holes, but am not aware of a way to waterproof the general area for when the skirt just starts dripping through the material. Love to hear a solution.
303 Fabric Guard should work - I use it on the Sunbrella on my boat all the time and it makes it completely waterproof.
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Yes, you are right on the shift to SUP’s crowding out kayaks. A friend and I spent a week at Lake Tahoe 5 years ago. There was a large outfitter down the block and I stopped in there our first afternoon to see about kayak rentals: turned out they had completely stopped not only renting but stocking them! But they had a pile of accessories in bins beneath a big sign “All kayak items on sale”. I picked up several brand new skirts, a Kokatat, a Snapdragon and a Seals – all had an original price tag ranging from $99 to $175 (the Kokatat, which had a Goretex tunnel and combo neo deck). I always carry a compact tape measure in my bag and all of them seemed within the range that would fit one or more of my boats. I took them up to the counter and asked “how much?” “Twenty bucks each” was the answer. They also had $60 sets of flotation bags for $10 each. They just wanted the stuff gone. I bought all three skirts and two sets of Harmony float bags (I have mutiple SOF and folding kayaks) for $80, got them to give me a box from their back room, walked to the post office up the street, taped it up and mailed the whole stash back home for $20. As it turned out, the nice Kokatat didn’t fit any of my boats that well so I sold it for $100 to a guy with the right size coaming who was delighted with it and that covered my entire expenditure. So essentially I got two new higher end skirts and 4 float bags for zip.
Since then. whenever I travel I scout for paddlesport outfitters and have snagged similar bargains to outfit my motley fleet from places phasing out serious boats.
On one hand I like finding a bargain but it does kind of bum me out that the sport is waning to the extent it is. Not that I am surprised, having worked in the outfitter biz during the mid 70’s to early 80’s when cross-country skiing, backpacking and rock climbing were massively popular to a level not seen since. We literally had customers fighting over slim stocks of XC skis during the winter of 77-78 when a dockworkers strike in NY stranded our season’s shipments of them from Scandinavia. Even during those years I saw multiple excellent companies with great products disappear or morph into something unrecognizable (Eddie Bauer used to sell expedition quality alpine arctic and tropical clothing, not tee shirts and hoodies for preteens.)
One of the dilemmas of living long enough is that many things you’ve loved but took for granted eventually wane, if not vanish. I suspect the events of the past year have accelerated some of that.
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So true… so sad…
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UGH !! really! In my opinion they made the best sea kayaking spray skirt on the market the (Ocean Tour EXP) Good thing mine is still going strong. I recommended Snap Dragon products to many friends over the years and everyone loved them.
Looking for a new neoprene cockpit cover any good ideas ?
Immersion Research seems a likely replacement tonight
But what a bummer hope someone picks up there line.