Jumping into any new sport or hobby can often be not only daunting but downright confusing. If you’ve never rowed or paddled before, your first time nestled within the bowels of a kayak may leave you feeling sort of a fish out of water. Especially if you haven’t yet received any kayaking tips.
Here at the Journey Junkies, we pride ourselves on providing you with the ideas and know-how on the way to experience your favorite outdoor actives in the best ways possible.
Whether or not you’re looking for a single-person kayak or a two-person tandem model, and for tackling class-IV rapids or simply paddle across a glass-smooth lake, there are some key kayaking tips you ought to take under consideration before pushing off the shoreline. In this guide, we’ll re-evaluate everything from paddling techniques and stretching to equipment care and proper attire. Follow these guidelines and you’ll get the utmost benefits provided by kayaking.
Dress for the Water, Not the Weather
Regardless of whether it’s a chilly near-winter morning or a hot midsummer afternoon, dress for the water. For instance, if you’d normally wear a wetsuit in those waters, wear one kayaking. If it’s more board shorts appropriate water, a well-fitting swimsuit will suffice.
Invest in Waterproof Storage Cases for Your Stuff
There’s nothing that will ruin your kayaking adventure quite returning to seek out your expensive smartphone is now water damaged. While press-and-seal storage containers will work just fine for your food and wallet, we’d recommend investing in something more sturdy to store your electronics and clothing. These dry-bags from REI are highly recommended.
Learn Kayaking Safety Practices
If you’re taking place white waters, we’d highly suggest you touch up on safety practices from expert outfitters like Colorado's Raft Masters. or kayak sellers like Wisconsin-based Ocean Kayak - such as to be aware of winds that can impede your return to shore, or what to do if you capsize. A fast flip of your kayak can suddenly put you during a life-or-death situation. And each decision counts.
Rent at First
You may love kayaking so much you'll want to invest in your own, which will range in price from some 70USD for a rubber inflatable to a roto-molded kayak of polyethylene resins costing around 250USD to a basic model up to more than 1,000USD for a more rugged whitewater kayak. But for the first several outings, go for rentals while you get a feel for the activity and see how much you like it. For a single seater It will range in cost from 10 to 25USD (40-45USD for an eight-hour day), depending on location, and companies renting out lake, river, and ocean kayaks (often as well as canoes and stand-up paddleboards) have become increasingly widespread in the past decade, and also provide helmets and life vests.
What Do You Need to Go Kayaking?
Apart from the kayak itself, counting on the sort of kayaking trip you're looking at, you’ll need certain supplies.
- Paddle: The characteristic double-bladed paddle is of course essential to keep the kayak moving. And when choosing one you’ll need to consider the width of the kayak as well as the dimensions your own torso. There are sizing charts available but as a rule of thumb, torso width over 28 inches will use paddle lengths of 200 centimeters and above. An incorrect size will leave you struggling to move your kayak effectively and running out of steam sooner.
- Lifejacket: a personal flotation device - usually deriving its buoyancy from a foam core - is be a critical piece of kit that you simply should have when engaging in many water sports. A lifejacket or life vest should fit comfortably snug, meaning it fits well without feeling too tight or too loose.
- Bilge pump: a small, simple, and inexpensive hand-operated pump or bailer is important just in case you need to quickly drain water from the interior of your kayak.
If you want to learn more about kayaking as well as fishing, you can visit Globo Guide.com.
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