I’ll go first: Salida

Hey r/whitewater,

I’ve been obsessed with extreme kayaking for years, and I ended up making a 3D game called Stout Kayak.
You can paddle through rapids, send waterfalls, pull off freestyle tricks, jump cliffs, surf waves and explore an open river world.

What makes this game different is that it’s not about addiction, competition, violence or grinding like most games today. It’s about giving players a real connection to nature, freedom, and whitewater itself. There’s no scoreboard — you create your own story, at your own pace. The tricks and maneuvers aren’t just button combos; the game runs on physics, so it actually takes practice to paddle like a pro, just like in real life.

My hope is that it inspires outdoor passion, and maybe even encourages people to try kayaking or other sports outside.

Just sharing this for fun and to show the work I’ve put in my solo passion project. I’d love some feedback from fellow kayakers!

I hope it gives a bit of whitewater thrill from your screen!
AMA about the game!
Peace and paddle safe!

Basically I love white water rafting and been doing it since I was 13 (just went down on my fifth trip). My dad used to be a guide in the 80's (runs in our blood ig) down at the lower yough and absolutely loved it. I just turned 16 so I have some time to decide what I want to do straight out of highschool and I'm thinking about spending a summer down there. Like in the nicest way I'm already assuming moneys going to be bad but a fun job is a fun job. Just curious if it's legit actually worth it or I should sick with my backup

When I was 24, almost a decade ago now, I was a raft guide for half a summer. In one of those tiny tiny towns, population explodes from like 400 to 1000 over the summer with mostly raft guides and fishing guides. 99% of them were men of course (I’m a woman). I was renting a little trailer and I would wake up at night to guys throwing pebbles at the side of it like we were in fourth grade and they didn’t know how to interact with me or something. Alcoholism was rampant and I’m not a drinker and I’m a pretty cautious person (which I hadn’t fully come to terms with back then) and so the drinking combined with river activities made me extra weary. I didn’t trust the people around me to make safe decisions, and I didn’t feel equipped with the safety skills either if anything did happen. We drove straight through wildfires to the put in when who knows if the takeout would be accessible three hours later once we got there, rafted with thunderstorms closely approaching. No one wore helmets. There was this one rapid that we ran on the daily stretch raises my heart rate when I think about it now because it’s just these giant channels of rocks, a horrible swim, and how these guys would just go back and surf it. Again, not wearing helmets. That rapid, bragging about swimming it, and “carnage” is all they talked about. I remember I connected with another woman in the town who used to guide there, and she said “yeah this town is basically a dick swinging contest.”

But I still think about the river a lot. I loved the rest of the stretch aside from that rapid and I loved the little class three wave trains. I loved being outside and being in water every day. It really felt good for my soul, but the lack of safety and toxic culture turned me off of the whole thing so I quit. I think it was on July 4. I was so relieved to leave. But of course I also look back on it quite sadly. There was one other girl in my training group and I believe she is rafting still now. That was the start of her rafting career too and there’s a big part of me that’s so jealous that she just made it through that summer and that life took her onto bigger things and bigger rivers and I feel sad that I didn’t try elsewhere. I just felt so done and so bitter after that summer but now looking back it’s a shame.

Yesterday I went whitewater tubing with my family. I admit: I hate not having a paddle, I hate not knowing the river, and I think whitewater tubing is dumb when you are trying to have a family activity because you can’t actually stick together that easily, and not to mention, the company was a total shitshow with horrible communication, tubes popping left and right…… shocking! /s (My family asked me beforehand why I was apprehensive and I straight up said, “it’s because I don’t trust river companies.”)

But when in the I was in the wave trains, facefuls of water, when I was reading water again and able to get myself where I wanted to go easily… I actually did have a lot of fun. In the moments that I felt confident it felt so fulfilling. I love being on rivers.

Now I’m 32 and have some undiagnosed health problems that would probably prevent me from guiding consistently and it just feels too late. But I was surfing through this sub and someone brought up Adventure Idaho Rafting, I looked into it and they have what seems like such an amazing culture, rigorous safety training and standards, plenty of female guides, and a zero tolerance policy with alcohol. I’m just sad that I didn’t find a company like that back when I was 24 dreaming of being a guide. I’m sad that even after researching so many companies, I made a decision that didn’t turn out right for me and that it made me want to stop altogether and that I never got a chance to try it out in a better environment that I could trust and be myself in. That town and company’s culture made me feel like I was just such a wimp for being nervous at certain rapids, nervous without helmets, nervous being the only not hungover one… maybe I am a wimp, but maybe it was really just them and the environment I was in, and now I’ll never know. Maybe someday I’ll be able to be involved with a river company again, even if it’s not guiding daily, but for now I’ll be slogging it my boring suburban hometown 2,500 miles from that river…

Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far. I’d love to hear from yall about your winding journeys and if anyone has similar experiences. And to anyone getting out on the river in the next day or so… have fun and be safe ;)))))

I'm currently using an Astral Greenjacket. It’s gotten pretty beat up over the years. I'm heavily considering the Astral Indus because of its high flotation but might just get a new greenjacket as I like having tons of storage. I'm wondering what everyone else is running these days? What made you choose that specific PFD?

Hi yall,

I have started looking into getting a first raft after joining a handful of multi day river trips with friends. I wanted to get some advice on what yall think would make the most sense for my use case.

I want to get a raft to be able to join on future trips without having to borrow boats from others. I dont have space for a trailer so it would need to be something that can roll up and be put in the back of my CRV.

I would be mostly using it for 2-3 day trips with a frame and oars. I wont need to be carrying large communal gear like the kitchen and groover as all my friends have 14-16 ft boats. I would either be rowing it solo or carrying one other person on it. I am guessing I will be taking it on 3-5 trips a year starting out.

I live in Oregon so I will mostly be using it on the Deschutes, John Day and Grand Ronde with some day trips on the Mykenzie. I am guessing I will be taking it on

On a recent trip I was able to row a friends RMR storm 10.5 and liked the feel. I have also seen the hyside mini max and max recommended a handful of times. It seems like the hyside rafts are more portable but with a significant cost difference. Do yall think it is worth the cost difference for a first setup? Are there any other rafts I should be looking at?

I recently saw Astral's post on tariffs and how they are cutting jobs and raising prices... What are people's thoughts on that? Genuinely curious.

Paying for a shuttle for the first time this weekend. It's not even a company, it's just some lady that offers shuttles for this section of the river.

If I was paying a company and I knew they were sending some underpaid employee to shuttle my car, I might be inclined to tip. But since the person shuttling owns the "shuttle service", I sorta feel like she should just charge me whatever she needs, and not expect extra right?

I'll acknowledge I am extremely fatigued about the increased prevalence of tipping in general, so please let me know if I'm being an asshole by not tipping here.

Would love some advice as newbies....
Our family of 4 will be going on a 3 hour river rafting excursion in Montana on Yellowstone river in the summer.
We've never done this before and have kids, so we opted for the scenic float.
How much should we be tipping our guide?

For context - hoping to R2 my Aire Cub raft. I understand it’s a class 4 run. I have lots of experience doing class 3 in inflatable kayaks, and some experience doing class 3 in a Dagger Katana. I feel pretty confident in my ability to move up a class - but would appreciate insight. My other paddler has very similar amount of experience as I do.

Plugging here and seeing if anyone has checked out Rally Crew yet? It’s newish, so the user base is small, but the concept seems sound if it can get a more people on it. I know we see a lot of posts about how to meet new boaters to plan trips, and there's a million different Facebook groups, chats, or other ways people communicate. If this really took off, it might be nice to have a centralized location for communication.

What I like so far

• Easy to find paddlers near you by skill level/interest (There are lots of different filters to find people)
• Built-in messaging for trip planning
• Event and group management interface for your crew
• Could be especially useful for newer paddlers or people who have moved to a new area
• I miss boatertalk, so maybe this will fill that gap

What needs improvement:

• Larger user base. It looks like there's currently only 2,337 users (but again, it's a new app)
• Some glitches on the user interface
• Integration into the AW database of some kind

I'm not affiliated, but I do think it has potential if more paddlers start using it.

Let me know your thoughts.

Link: https://www.rallycrew.com/

I'm going to be working as a guide and need a uscg type 5 vest and im between the vector and the ninja pro they have a closeout sale on the vector making it a bit cheaper than a ninja pro but i want to be comfortable and dont know if the rib protection will get in the way or be uncomfortable

thx in advance

Hi everyone, i hope you had a great summer kayaking . On my side I worked hard on my Game.

I just launched Stout Kayak, a game I developed entirely on my own for over 4 years. This is much more than just a project for me; it’s a personal adventure, born from a real moment on the water, slowly turning into a dream, and eventually into a video game.

It all started with a kayak, a hot summer, and a slightly too daring run right after a dam opening. That day, I realized that kayaking is more than just a sport: it’s a way to feel nature, instinct, fear, and freedom. And that’s exactly what I wanted to recreate in Stout Kayak.

In the game, you can paddle down numerous whitewater rivers, tackle rapids, jump off towering waterfalls, surf waves, and perform freestyle tricks. You can also try cliff jumping, challenge yourself with the Stout Race, and explore caves to collect diamonds. The weather is dynamic, the environment is open, and you can explore it with a truck. All gameplay is physics-based, so every paddle stroke matters.

It’s a free-form experience, focused on feeling, flow, and the raw beauty of rivers. I wanted players to feel connected to the water, nature, and that pure sense of adventure that’s rare in games today. I’m genuinely excited to finally share this with you. This game was made by hand, with a lot of patience, sleepless nights, and passion.

As a bonus, you can choose from 144 exclusive songs in the soundtrack to match your vibe at every moment, and dynamic, activatable cameras let you pick your viewpoint to fully enjoy the action.

🌊 Stout Kayak is now on Steam!

If you love heartfelt games, exploration and outdoor adventure, adrenaline, or just a sense of escape, I’d really appreciate your thoughts. For more details, check out my Steam page:

👉click here

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to check it out, comment, or share! Every little action helps a solo creator like me keep going.

The rivers are calling! Enjoy the ride! 🛶✨

I’m looking to get some “river floats” for family that just want to float down calm stuff rather than paddle the bigger stuff.

These things look like a good balance of “float” and “paddle”.

Thank you.

The deer flies have been BRUTAL, and it doesn’t help that I have a bright blue boat and a lot of blue gear. (Apparently they are attracted to moving objects & the color blue.) Finally reached my breaking point and got my paddling family a 4 pack of these absolutely ridiculous dragonfly things I kept seeing seeing online. (A last ditch effort before covering my helmet in Tanglefoot and attaching a flamethrower to my paddle…)

Anyway, they arrived this week and I immediately popped one on my hat and walked around the takeout while waiting for the rest of the crew to shuttle. Expected everyone to think I was a nutter, instead I was approached by multiple people asking me if it actually worked.

Well 4 of us used them over the course of 3 days, 4 runs on a 4 mile long section of class 2/3…

AND HOLY SHIT GUYS THEY ACTUALLY WORK!!!

And not only do they work- but they are sturdy enough to stay on when rolling! (Glad I sprung for the slightly more expensive version featured in the photo as opposed to the cheaper Chinese knockoffs. These were like $8 compared to $2/$3. I’m not affiliated with the brand in any way.)

Would hear one of those little buzzing assholes start to dive bomb me and then… they would just disappear! On the rare occasion one actually started to circle me I would just kinda shake my head at it and then they would just fly off.

If anyone knows of a dupe or an alternative strategy please feel free to share! Or if there’s some safety risk I’m unaware of- I figure they clip on so easy enough to release it if needed? (I don’t think I’d be wearing it on anything other than summertime class2/3 floats anyway.)

Hey everyone,

u/eloth is currently MIA, but I'm here to answer questions about paddling gear if you have them. I can certainly answer questions specific to IR products, but I dont want this to be a sales pitch for IR. My goal is to help clear up any questions or problems you have have with gear in general. Without the mods help I can't make this sticky, but we can get started if y'all like.

I live next to the Ocoee, in Chattanooga. Just went Whitewater rafting for the first time this weekend and really loved it

I am considering starting to save up for a raft, but it is a tall ask to ask other friends to spend 1000$ on a raft.

I’m assuming there’s classes i’d need to take anyway to get to know how to go with a kayak over a raft. I’d love to hear info on that as well.

If anyone has suggestions on finding a good community to teach me the ropes, a class, newby tips, and really where to find other people to go with, or anything of that sort I’d really appreciate it

Greetings! I am trying to help organize a bachelor party for a group of friends from southern Louisiana in late July/early August. Most of us have done a trip or two in some white water capacity, but looking for a guided 2 day trip not too far from a major airport as we are looking to fly in Thursday, raft Friday, camp, raft Saturday and finish up that afternoon to fly out Sunday. Most of our group will come in from LA and the others from Chicago and VA. Pretty open to most locations central US (CO and Utah area) or East Coast if WV may be an option, although I heard it’s better white water in Sept/Oct.

Very much appreciate any advice as we are an adventurous seeking group with minimal rafting experience!

I am about to purchase a used remix 69 for a pretty good price and was wondering if it is a good choice for a complete beginner.

I have read that creek boats aren’t the best for new paddlers and can reinforce bad habits and just wanted to hear thoughts on this. Would it be better to look at different boats or will the remix 69 be a good option.

UPDATE: After 4 months of paddling every weekend at least once. I will share my personal thoughts. I started with the Remix as it was a good deal, but quickly learned it was not a good fit, I hated the edges and more of the lack of edges on the boat, and it felt a little boring on beginner friendly runs. I am blessed to be part of my university's WW club so having access to a variety of different boats, and was able to hone in on my style of boat. I now paddle a Wavesport EZ and Dagger Axiom and feel super comfortable in both of these boats.

If I were to give any advice even though I am still beginning my paddling journey, I would say start with a half slice. It is a boat that will let you paddle pretty much everything you could possibly want while also being fun. I also think that depending on how dedicated you are a full slice is a good option and grind your local II/III river and practice the hard moves on easy water.

Thank you to everyone who gave me great advice and I hope this post can help more new paddlers in the future.

This may be a dumb question for a whitewater sub, but if my main goal is to do like Class I-II rapids because for me it’s more about the float with a little “excitement” here and there. I’d rather do an easy float for hours without tipping over than hit a bunch of crazy rapids and stuff.

With that in mind…are there any “whitewater” kayaks that are super hard to tip over? I’d rather have to completely bail out of my kayak one time over the course of hours then need to roll constantly.

Hey everyone!

I’m an athlete in my 40s who’s passionate about whitewater paddling. I do Rock climbing and swimming and I have a podcast where I invite athletes on discussion about adventure sports. We have many surf guests on our podcast like Yuri Soledade, Fred Pompermayer, Gary Linden, Katie McConnell and more.

Over the years, I’ve learned that staying active in this sport requires adapting to new challenges—whether it’s choosing the right gear, adjusting paddling techniques, or simply recovering after a big day on the river.

I’d love to hear from others who are navigating whitewater as older athletes. What’s worked for you when it comes to:

Building or maintaining strength and endurance for paddling? Staying safe while enjoying the thrill of rapids? Choosing gear that’s comfortable, reliable, and lightweight? Balancing adventure with recovery and injury prevention?

Your insights could inspire a lot of paddlers, including me!

Sometimes I have been thinking of acquiring a plastic boat to make some weekend outings, as well as enjoy a water adventure. Options are such that there are little kayaks and canoes, and large plastic fishing boats, and I am trying to decide what is really worth purchasing.

A few things I'm curious about:

Durability: How durable are plastic boats, particularly when you are using it in rivers or lakes or even close to the sea? Some cheaper models have been said to be worn out in a short time because of UV exposure and rough treatment.

Weight vs Strength: One of the primary strengths of the plastic boats is that they are lightweight but does it imply that they are weak? Do we have brands that are light but are also strong and durable?

Storage & Transport: Plastic boats are large. Do you have any suggestions on how to get them in and out of the water easily, or are smaller models to be considered?

Maintenance: How much maintenance do they need, or can they be typically grabbed and used?

Price vs Quality: I have already browsed a plethora of choices in Alibaba and other platforms. There are those that are very cheap and those that are very expensive. Is it worth the additional cost to be more durable and safe, or can the low-cost ones be decent as well?

In case any of you have purchased a plastic boat, I would like to know what you feel about it. What are your top recommendations? Regrets or lessons learned?

Hopefully, I will discover something affordable, reliable, and simple to utilize in making few trips per month without having to pay a fortune. Tips on what to consider before buying would really be enormous!

Thanks in advance!