Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

Re: Factory direct sales

Posted By: mike m
Date: Thursday, 5 October 2000, at 10:45 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Factory direct sales (M. Hamilton)

: Don, Don't know about Whetstone, but you can get a decent coated nylon dry
: top with gaskets from Kokatat for a little over $100. These work well and
: are simple. I actually cut the fancy collar with neoprene and velcro off
: my Lotus dry top. Just annoying! When it was Patagonia making the tops
: they didn't have that extra stuff. If you end up like me, heaven forbid,
: you'll find that all these products last only about a year. The fabric
: usually wears out in the armpit area and the seams become threadbare
: before the rubber seals go. To me that's reason to keep it simple and cost
: effective. Another trick I use is to wear very fine WOOL underwear under
: my drytop. Far warmer than the synthetics, so when you stop paddling you
: don't get that chill. Even if the wool is damp you can wear it dry whereas
: I find the synthetics to be chilly. Secret here is with high quality soft
: wool. Icebreaker from New Zealand and or Janus fron Norway. Still wear the
: Capillene etc., but in the winter/wet months the wool comes out.

I find that I have to buy factory-direct. The stores in my area just sell kayaks, and almost no accesories. Today, I went to Ft. Lauderdale to look for a new paddle, went to four kayak dealers. The first had zero paddles in stock, but could order. The second and third only had low-end plastic-type paddles; both said there is no demand for a higher priced paddle. The fourth had Voyageur paddles, low- to mid of the line. I did manage to find a hydration
system in one store out of four, but he only had 2 choices and they didnt fi properly

So I am going to go online and either by a Camelback from the factory or a Stohlquist and buy a higher end paddle from somebody

I would rather buy local, but what can you do!!!

Messages In This Thread

Re: Dry vs Wet
M. Hamilton -- Thursday, 5 October 2000, at 3:58 p.m.

Re: Factory direct sales
Don Beale -- Thursday, 5 October 2000, at 5:57 p.m.

Re: Factory direct sales
M. Hamilton -- Thursday, 5 October 2000, at 7:25 p.m.

Re: Factory direct sales
mike m -- Thursday, 5 October 2000, at 10:45 p.m.

Re: Factory direct sales
BruceK -- Saturday, 7 October 2000, at 4:37 p.m.

No risk at Whetstone
Brian Nystrom -- Friday, 6 October 2000, at 1:52 p.m.

Re: No risk at Whetstone
Don Beale -- Friday, 6 October 2000, at 11:19 p.m.

Re: No risk at Whetstone
Lee -- Saturday, 7 October 2000, at 2:28 p.m.

Agreed
Brian Nystrom -- Monday, 9 October 2000, at 12:18 p.m.

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