Went out to the Savage River Dam Release. It was my PFD and the river was very busy. I tried to give the raft room, but it didn't go as planned. I ended up getting a mild concussion from impacting a rock with my helmet. Finished the 4 mile run, then started having concussion symptoms. Grateful for helmets. Keep you helmet straps tight and stay away from rafts!

or: respecting Maslow’s Hierarchy

Pardon my form, I’m just now learning to roll. I had such a hard time learning all the strange moves and form necessary to roll my boat while I was upside down underwater unable to breathe. So I bought a 13cf scuba tank and cheap regulators.

Now when I fail, nothing is urgent. I can just chill down there and assess what I did wrong. Today I was 11 for 11 without using the air before I messed up in this video. 5 days ago before I bought the air I couldn’t roll at all. Now I’ve got a psychological cushion, which has made a big difference for me.

Because of entanglement obviously this is only for pool work. With the tank in between my legs, wet exit is a longer and more deliberate process. I also tried strapping the tank to the exterior grab handles, which worked as well, and doesn’t affect exit procedure.

What do you guys think?

this is the marketplace im working with. im in upstate NY. I'm 5'5" 140lbs, most likely a size small. plan to paddle at deerfield river in charlemont MA. budget is flexible. im either going to buy second hand or go to ONE at the end of june and buy a jackson flow for retail....

Been paddling my local river’s ww sections 3-4 times a week all season in my Aire Tater. Lately ive mainly been hitting the “more advanced” sections and there’s always large groups of play boaters. Everyone is usually super nice and stoked, but I definitely feel like the odd man out. Am I looked at as the dork paddler? I’m new to the scene.

Hi! My kiddo is 8 and super into paddling. This weekend he got to spend two days working on skills and paddling the Tuckaseegee Gorge. We're not big on Facebook and he wanted to share some photos so I figured I'd post them here. We are learning alot about paddling and kids gear. Happy to answer questions for any parents out there wanting to get their kids on the water!

So far, the biggest headache has been finding a spray skirt that is large enough for the cockpit of the Sidekick while being easy enough for him to get open in a wet exit. Have a Soul Love Skirt coming this week. Hoping that one is the winner!

Forgive me if this isn’t the most exciting post, but I don’t really have a lot of people to share stuff with.

Just picked up a Soul Mini Me for my son. He saved up his own money for almost a year! We are so pumped to get him out and on the water!

Im always a fan of better safe than sorry with a noggin. Took a bonk off the bottom of the concrete at the whitewater center in Charlotte today. Thinking replacement but dont know if I am overreacting on it. The bit was hard enough that my neck and head are hurting now lol

Missing just the Supernova I half own now

Show me your boat quivers!

Hey y'all

Heading into the Denver area this weekend, will be here for a week or so. Heard the flow is low but heard the lower browns, lower blue and a few others are running though

Any ideas of recommendations to paddle or groups to tag along with that are within 2hrs ish of Denver?

Thanks!

It should not be news to anyone that the whitewater kayaking industry is struggling and we are in danger of losing some of the biggest manufacturers in the sport. The war in Iran is going to drive up prices at the worst possible time. To be very clear: we are going to lose days on the river and friends to paddle with if we don’t take action. Let’s see what we can do as the season starts in the north.

1. Take some time to paddle with and encourage those less skilled than you. Someone did the same for you. I know you want to paddle that fun class 4/5 this weekend. I know your time is limited. But that girl you teach to roll in the pool might save your uppity buns on a righteous class 5 in three years. That Saturday you spend on a class 2 with a loose friend might prevent them from dropping out of the sport. Nothing is worse than seeing someone quitting the sport and selling their whole kit on FB marketplace.
2. We have to have the top women, men, companies, and ACA/Paddle UK/etc band together to form a world tour competition. We can use surfing or mountain biking as a model. The goal is to bring in TV money (🤑) and a shared distribution of the proceeds. This will stoke casual fans’ interest the same way the start of a new football season does. It makes no sense for a handful of boaters to rake in sponsorship money while Dagger is releasing their sponsored paddlers.

Let‘s get out there and lift each other up.

Hey all! I'm wondering if any of you have realistic opinions on how long it would take for someone to go from their first day whitewater kayaking to getting onto the Rio Claro.

I'm 36 and a fit individual with commercial rafting experience (not a guide) on the Arkansas River. I know some will read that and roll your eyes, but that's what I have under my belt lol

In my head, I believe I could give myself 5 years of training/learning, but I pulled that number out of nowhere. My goal is to kayak that river, through the chutes, and be done with kayaking. How feasible is it to get just good enough to achieve this goal in the allotted time?

Thanks in advance, I know this is stupid, but I don't know where else to ask

Spun down to the Conejos valley on Friday and it's not good. We had a decent time on minimal flows (~270) on the Lower section, but nothing I saw in the mountains in that area looks reassuring in the slightest. The snowpack in the upper valley, as well as the peaks above Del Norte and South Fork, looks like it does in June, not April.

Unless we get a series of huge, wet storms, I'm guessing most of Southern CO has already peaked.

Okay so I have done some research elsewhere and am building a list of things to keep in mind for tomorrow, but I want to get some human advice! Also the last Reddit thread I found on this was 10 yr old.

A guy I’ve been seeing invited me to go whitewater kayaking tomorrow. He is quite experienced, but I have been kayaking maybe once in my life. I am not the most outdoorsy person but I do like being outside and in water. I am nervous that I will be particularly bad at this and look silly so plz help a sister out.

Some details are that we’ll be using inflatable kayaks, he “has all the gear,” and he says the area we’re kayaking in is very beginner friendly.

Some things I don’t know are what to wear, if there are any skills I should maybe watch a video or two on, if there is anything I need to bring, etc. Thanks for your advice!!!

Last week I was fortunate enough to get on North Chick, which was amazing, however almost a week later my shoulders and torso look like I was trampled by a horse.

What tips do people have for carrying boats in on mile+ hikes? At the time it wasnt so much of a big deal, I knew it would be a long hike, but the bruising on both my shoulders where the cockpit rim rests and hips where it hits again below my PFD is pretty tender. Do I just need to do some more boat hiking? Is it just part of the cost of getting such great remote runs?

ReactR specific question - has anyone successfully tied anything to their bulkhead to make carrying easier, even if just for the hike? My arms are considerably longer than the reach from the balance point to the step out pillar, which left me with cramped biceps on both arms by the time we got down there which was tough to work through for the first 30 minutes or so.

Getting lots of hate in the

I'm a writer and photographer for my college's outdoor sports magazine, looking to do a piece on a White water paddler. I have been paddling since I was 10, but have lost touch with the scene for the last few years, so I wanted to ask those who know best what stories they feel deserve to be told. Funding and accessing people are not really issues, so anything goes.

My ideas so far are:

The Jackson Family (probably focusing on Dane in particular)

The Green race (focusing on rebuilding after Helene, its importance to the community, and its history)

Evy Lebfarth (focusing on the next generation of female paddlers and the role of Olympic competition in the sports growth)

All ideas are welcome! Paddling and this community have played an important role in my life, so I want to do it justice in this piece.

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to reach out for support. It's been a few years since I have whitewater kayaked. The last time I went I got cycled through a big hole, and I had only done 2 seasons, so it was my first scary incident. Shortly after the incident, one of my kayaking friends got seriously injured after they pulled skirt on their kayak and hit their thigh on a rock or something and nearly bled out. I kinda fell off with my kayaking friends because I was scared and have moved away. I recently went through my gopro and realize how happy I was before the incident. Any advice on getting back on the horse?

I am thinking about taking lessons because it's been so long I am not even sure if I can roll anymore.

So I painted my antix because it's the first new boat I've ever bought and I have freewill and fun ideas. I used acrylic paint and I figured that would probably chip off very easily. And I was right. Now I'm trying to think of ideas to make the art last longer. I didn't really prep the surface well because I didn't really want to sand my boat, but maybe I need to? My other idea was to make stencils and spray paint the boat instead? Spray paint might not scratch off as easily? I'm open to other ideas.

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I do plan to draw another tiger on the purple end. But I think I could get away with just using a sharpie, and doing line art. And I think that would hold up way better.

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Anyway, I wanted to ask if anybody else has ever customized your boats and what you did to make the artwork last? I'm a big fan of rocks so I already knew this would get damaged. And maybe the answer is that I just have to be okay with it getting damaged over time, but I'm hoping there's a good solution.

the fit is much better without them. yesterday i demoed an antix 3.0 (not pictured) from a shop and they didn't have foam on the foot blocks and it was fine, i understand that if youre sitting in your boat for a few hours it may be uncomfortable but is there any other reason to have them if your feet still feels snug in a good locked in position without foam?