It’s been a while since I’ve had to buy a decent spray skirt and I’m not up on what’s good and what’s a waste of time and money. I’ve had some bad ones and don’t want to make the same mistake again. I’ve looked around the net and have not been attracted to anything except maybe the Seals Mariner or Tropical Tour in size 1.2 with a waist size of XL or XXL for a P&H Quest http://www.sealsskirts.com/sprayskirt_tr.html Can anyone give advice on fit and quality on these or something better?
The Mariner looks awesome.
I have the Seals Extreme Tour Neo, but would have bought the Mariner if it were available at the time. My Extreme Tour leaked like crazy until I Aquasealed the seams and learned to hike the suspenders up higher. I’ve had no issues with it since, and really like it. It’s surprisingly cool for a neo skirt, I credit the breathable fabric.
Seals
I’ve seen them and they look very well made. I’m more of a fan of just a simple neo skirt without shoulder straps or pockets or anything though. Most of the time I’m paddling, I’m wearing a wetsuit so breatheability of the skirt isn’t a concern. I have a Bush Sport that came from Great River Outfitters a few years ago (back when they were in MI) which has held up well, and will probably replace it with a similar Snap Dragon when the time comes.
Snap Dragon
I love mine.
I have had several others, and this one costs some bucks but is by far the best I have used.
Grayak put me onto it about a year ago.
Cheers,
JackL
Have a Snap Dragon
but it’s very basic 59.00 and very ugly aqua, non breathable and noisy crackley nylon. I know they make good skirts, what model are we talking about.
Seals, Kokatat, Snapdragon
are all good makers of sprayskirts.
Have a “Sea Tour”
– Last Updated: Sep-13-05 12:12 PM EST –
Neo deck with coated tunnel. When it wears out I will get one of the upscale models with a breathable tunnel. The coated fabric is a real sweat producer in most any temperature.
Jim
Snapdragon, that is
Glacier Trek Breathable
Glacier Trek Breathable
Supratex/Sympatex
http://www.snapdragondesign.com/images/products/trekGlacierTreksympatex.jpg
I also had this one before - Sea Trek
Supratex/Nylon - Same deck - but a one size nylon tunnel/draw cord and suspenders. Also good.
http://www.snapdragondesign.com/images/products/trekSeaTourNeoNylBlk.jpg
For more hardcore use (these are pretty tough already) they have the same models with reinforced decks.
Fit list here: http://www.snapdragondesign.com/fitList.asp
Call them - they’re very helpful. If you have trouble finding a certain model/size they can see what they shipped recently to help you track one down. They will also do custom skirts for hard to fit/homebuilt kayaks.
Ditto on above…
Between my wife and I we have a Seals Tropical tour 1.2, a Kokatat Offsore Deluxe, a Snapdragon basic neo, and a Wildwasser pocket neo/supratex. You can’t beat the Snapdragon for a 100% neo skirt. For a 100% breathable deck I highly recommend the Seals. If I had to choose between the Kokatat and the Wildwasser for a neo/nylon type deck I would choose the Wildwasser every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Most of Wildwasser’s stuff is made in-house in Colorado and Landis is one heck of a guy. Their neo is much more supple, and the tent-style stitch design they use makes for the most comfy decks on the market. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably buy as much Wldwasser equip as possible. You owe it to yourself to check out http://www.wildnet.com I have no affiliation with Wildwasser, but I was so impressed by them when I picked up my new boat a few weeks ago that I ended up loading up on new goodies while there. I’ll post in-depth reviews after a few months of testing.
Snapdragon
I have two. The first one, bought in 2002, is still going strong. It is neoprene deck with a large coated nylon tube and suspenders. Very comfortable because the tube can be worn under OR over the PFD, depending on paddling needs and weather conditions. It’s a good touring skirt but lets a fair bit of water in if you want to do much rolling–the bungied top of the tube does not seal out water, so you must rely on your PFD worn over it for that.
I bought a 2nd Snapdragon (custom-made) for my S&G kayak. It too has a neoprene deck but instead of the large tunnel and suspenders, it has a coated nylon lower tube with a generous neoprene-and-Velcro band at the top. This top seals out water much better than the suspendered skirt does. When I replace the first skirt I will get another one like this, to fit the other kayak.
Either way, they are durable, secure skirts, well worth the approx. $100 for each. I see no need for the expedition models, based on the history of my first Snapdragon, which was used on a month-long Alaskan camping trip in addition to many shorter trips and day paddles.