spray skirt sizing

Does anyone know the US size equivalent to the UK R-5 spray skirt?

Try talking directly to a quality US
maker like Snapdragon, Seals, etc. They may know either the equivalency or they may know your boat or cockpit dimensions well enough to specify the right size. Also, plastic rim means a rubber rand skirt. Composite (“glass”) rim means a skirt with a bungee cord sewn to the rim of the skirt.

math
R5 is described as 98x53cm

For the SI challenged, 98x53cm is 38.6x20.9 inches

math
Thanks, that tells me what I needed

No faith in the current sizing scheme

– Last Updated: Feb-03-12 1:51 PM EST –

I think the currently used skirt sizing scheme is a pathetic joke. The spec should be that the outside perimeter be within certain bounds when stretched by a specified amount of force. That way women who are only capable of applying a certain amount of pull could select a skirt that they could install and safely remove without assistance. Recently I suggested that a woman purchase an XL deck skirt so that it would be easier to fit onto the boat (neoprene for whitewater). When the skirt arrived it appeared identical to my L deck skirt of a different brand.

sizing schemes
Seems to me some US companies have their own sizing schemes that are incompatable with everyone else. I see this as a disservice to the paddling community. The only reason I was asking in the first place was I read a UK review of the Perception Expression that mentioned it used an R-5 or N-5 spray skirt and was wondering about US sizes. Perception says it should use the same size as the Essence but I wonder about that with the lounge chair seatback and slightly bigger cockpit opening.

get custom
Some of the manufacturers will make you a custom skirt - you send in cockpit tracing, indicate where you waist should be, voila





IIRC Snapdragon does this.


Skirts Sizes, R-5
Are you sure that “R-5” is not referring to a boat (e.g. Dimension R-5) rather than a standard skirt size?



As far as I know every skirt manufacturer has their own sizing schemes. Most of them list the kayaks that fit their various sizes. Some will make a custom skirt if you measure or trace the cockpit.



Skirts are not easy to standardize because even if you get the deck right, sometimes the seats in different kayaks are not in the same location (fore/aft), and this effects the placement of where the top tube needs to be.



Greg Stamer

Expression/Essence
are both listed as size 1.7 on Seals Skirts’ site. Common size I think; my Capella, Zephyr, and Tsunamis (both highback seat and backband) all take 1.7.

R-5
Here’s the review, spray skirt info near the bottom.

R-5, N5
I found out that the R designation is neoprene and N is nylon.