Touring/Recreation Kayaks

Schwag the Halls! PL’s Random Schwag Sampler from 2016

What all gear did we get our hands on this year at the Paddling Life offices? Read on for schwag we put through its paces paddling, aprèsing and all places in between.

Industry Mourns Loss of Innova Kayaks Founder Tim Rosenhan; IK pioneer leaves long-lasting legacy

The close-knit paddlesports community lost one of its most passionate members when Innova founder Tim Rosenhan unexpectedly passed away Oct. 24 at age 68 in Twisp, Washington. “Tim was truly passionate about getting people on the water at an affordable price by importing a quality European-made inflatable,” says Larry Laba, owner of SOAR Inflatables...

Year of the Fish Kayak

Remember when all the new kayaks used to come out in the whitewater category? Now it’s in fish kayaks, with a slew of companies unveiling new fish kayaks this year to better land lunkers and consumers. PL offers a sneak peak at this year’s line-up…

The World’s Smallest Kayak?

Honey, I shrunk the boat! With all due credit to Jackson Kayak for its kid-sized Fun1 line, now that he has a child of his own who else but longtime boat designer Corran Addison would design an even smaller kayak for his kid? Read on for a step-by-step photo sequence of the glorified foamie getting built…

Gear-o’rama: Paddlesports Gear Roundup!

What does five days of hob-knobbing with the top players in paddlesports at the annual Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in Salt Lake City get you? Red eyes, sore feet, a couple of Utah-beer, bloated-belly hang-overs and the following rundown of a few products you’ll see on retailers’ shelves this coming season…

New Prowler Big Game II Fishing Kayak from Ocean Kayak

Latest fishing kayak from Ocean Kayak boasts a host of advancements.

Portable Kayaks from Folbot Designed for Hunting & Fishing Sportsman

After 80 years of producing foldable kayaks for the active paddler, Folbot has renewed their focus on hunters and anglers in 2014 with the launch of the “Sporting Life” Kayak with Reeltree Camo and Outriggers.

New Dry Suits Coming from Level Six

Ottawa-based paddlesport apparel maker Level Six is introducing two new drysuits at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in Salt Lake City, building on more than eight years of research and Olympic paddling experience to perfect the designs.

New Sea Kayaker’s DVD Guide to Rolling

In what is billed as the new standard in how-to-roll DVD’s, “This is the Roll,” provides technical demonstrations on some of sea-kayaking’s hardest moves. World-class instructors Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson demonstrate and teach the three most important Greenland style rolls for open water paddlers: The Standard Roll, the Reverse Sweep and the Storm Roll.

Fluid Sit-On-Top Whitewater Kayak Hits Markets in 2012

The fear of being trapped in a closed-hull boat with a spray skirt is a barrier for may entry-level whitewater paddlers. Fluid hopes to eliminate that fear with their new sit-on-top whitewater kayak. Designed with hull characteristics similar to their top end whitewater kayaks, while providing superb stability and confidence, this new boat may make the difference for whitewater enthusiasts interested in learning to kayak.

Wilderness Systems Earns a Hat-Trick With Third Consecutive “Boat Brand of the Year” Award

Wilderness Systems remains king with third consecutive "Boat Brand of the Year" award. The entire outdoor retail community descended on Salt Lake City, Utah to celebrate at this year's Outdoor Retailer Summer Market.

OR Paddlesports Preview

Once a year, industry bigwigs gather in Salt Lake City for the annual Outdoor Retailer tradeshow, where those lucky enough to attend can ooh and ahh over paddlesport manufacturers' new designs for the upcoming year. For those smart enough to stay on the water instead, here's a quick PL sneak peak of what the tradeshow cronies will see...

Spotlight: Ocean Kayak Founder Tim Niemier

Tim Niemier, 59, has always thought outside the box...or cockpit. It was in his garage in Malibu, Calif., in 1971 that he indented a surfboard hull to create the world’s first sit-on-top kayak. By the time he sold Ocean Kayak to Johnson Outdoors in 1997, nearly every kayak manufacturer worldwide had a sit-on-top in its line. Forty years later, the visionary’s light bulbs still burn at his Wild Designs firm as he tries to get more people out on the water...

Current Designs Gets New Look

Current Designs s getting more current. At least, that'sthe premise behind a new brand identity, logo and boat graphics...

Super-size Me

Paddling Life is on hand at this year’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market tradeshow, to bring you not-in-the-industry folk up to speed on what’s going down. First installment: a look at products for the stockier set. Turns out that Morgan Spurlock, whose 30-day McDonald's diet documented the fast-food industry, isn’t the only one going super size. Paddlesport exhibitors are also banking on beefier consumers by churning out products that excel for XLs. Following are a few tipping the scales.

The Bamba: Fluid Kayak’s New Fishing Kayak

Kayakers might soon be catching a whole lot more fish, thanks to a few Kiwis. After months of R&D, New Zealand's Fluid Kayaks has placed their dedicated fishing kayak into full production: La Bamba!

Hog Island Unveils New “Green” Sit-on-top Kayak

A small drift boat and kayak company in Northwest Colorado is going Hog wild. Tapping the burgeoning rec kayak market, rotomolded driftboat manufacturer Hog Island Boatworks has introduced a new eco-friendly sit-in-top kayak made from 100 percent recycled plastic...PL checks in.

A Very Convenient Truth

Al Gore is not the only global warming crusader. Three sea kayakers are in the middle of a mission to the world’s most desolate place, Antarctica, to call attention to rising-thermometers as well as Antarctica's first self-supported kayak expedition...

Hottest Gear at OR

The Outdoor Retailer Trade Show showcases new adventure products of all types, from the eminently practical to the downright esoteric, and the expo this August was no exception. PL sifted through the maw of hardware and came up with a list of schwag paddlers will be going ga-ga over from the upcoming fall sales through the end of the next season.

The Guru of Garage Storage. A PL Profile on Talic’s Tim Tucker

With a company name honoring his great, great grandfather Nicholae Talic, a woodworker from The Netherlands, Tim Tucker is changing the way paddlers store their boats...

What’s New from Canoecopia!

What started as a weekend sale 18 years ago in the land of cheese curds has grown into the industry’s largest consumer show. Held the second weekend of March every year, once again Rutabaga's Canoecopia offered the season's first glimpse at new gear to hit the water this season. PL was on hand to sniff out some of the goods...

New Inflatables from Hobie Cat

The MirageDrive system will have your feet moving for these kayaks.

Jackson Rec Tripper Review

PL looks over the Jackson Rec Tripper line and gives you an inside look at Jackson Rec's new outfitting package for '08: the Day Tray.

Folbot Edisto Set To Make Waves

New Folbot packages for '08 set to please nature enthusiasts, photographers and anglers alike.

Latest news

Green Race Cancelled Due to Helene Flooding, Halting 29-Year Legacy

Last year’s Green Race winner Kaelin Friedensen will have one more year to bask in his victory over second-place...
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Win a New Stealth or Covert 1 Piece Straight Shaft Paddle from Werner Paddles

Enter daily for your chance to win this sweet Stealth or Covert carbon paddle from Werner Paddles.  

Which Old Witch? Halloween Witch Supping in Colorado

Like Dorothy, you’ll be hearing plenty of cackling “Yeees, my pretty…” at Colorado’s Chatfield Reservoir this Halloween, as a...

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10 Kayakers Rescued from Potomac (4 By Helicopter)

Call it getting in a little over your head—with...

Put This on Your Bucket Paddling List: Death Valley

Proud of how many places you’ve paddled? Act quickly...
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Year of the Fish Kayak

Remember when all the new kayaks used to come out in the whitewater category? Now it’s in fish kayaks, with a slew of companies unveiling new fish kayaks this year to better land lunkers and consumers. PL offers a sneak peak at this year’s line-up…

Paddlesports Vets Launch New September Paddlesports Show

My, how the currents change. With Outdoor Retailer announcing a shift in its Summer market tradeshow dates to early June by 2018, outdoor industry veterans Sutton Bacon and Darren Bush have formed a new tradeshow, Paddlesports Retailer, to service the specific needs of the paddlesports industry...