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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Factory direct sales
Posted By: Don Beale In Response To: Re: Dry vs Wet (M. Hamilton)
Date: Thursday, 5 October 2000, at 5:57 p.m.
Thanks Murray! Cant wait to get back to the lake!
I had an interesting discussion at the local paddle shop about factory direct sales, Whetstone in particular. It came up as a result of my questioning him on where they send thier wetsuits for repair.
Most of the manufacturers do not do factory direct internet sales, because the retailers will not support them. We spoke of price and quality issues, and the thought of buying products sight unseen from company unknown. I have conflicting feelings about that, I fully understand the need for local retailers to stay in buisness, but at double the price for a drytop it's hard not to look at Whetstone. Had I not had recommendations from users of thier product (thanks the Internet!) I wouldn't consider ordering sight unseen. It was an interesting discussion...
: Don, Congrats on your roll! Now it's just a matter of regular practice! On
: the subject of cold weather protection I have concluded that for me the
: best solution is a pair of Patagonia neoprene pants, or shorts, (depends
: on season) and a Lotus dry top with neoprene skirt band. I used to wear
: full dry suits, but I find them more confining and less pleasant to use on
: long trips. I do wear a Gore Tex dry suit when teaching surf kayaking, as
: I spend time swimming in the surf with students, and standing around in
: the water. For the ultimate protection there is nothing nicer. But, I find
: for paddling, and kayak surfing the dry top/pant combo allows for much
: greater torso freedom! I feel confined in a full suit and terrible in a
: farmer john/dry top combo. So to me it comes down to what you are doing.
: Once your roll becomes solid, as it will, then a dry top may be all you'll
: want or need. If you do paddle alone, even in protected waters and will
: spend a lot of time actually in the water then go for a full suit. If you
: go that route I think the Gore is nice! George Gronseth has some specially
: made for the Kayak Academy with reflective tape etc., so you may want to
: talk with him. E-mail me for his #, or visit his site. Search for George
: Gronseth's Kayak Academy - I never remember his URL.
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