Results 26 to 50 of 89
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08-20-2013, 10:01 PM #26
they've moved on to packrafts.
Did the last unsatisfied fat soccer mom you took to your mom's basement call you a fascist? -irul&ublo
Don't Taze me bro.
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08-21-2013, 11:10 AM #27
No pack raft here but i do have a thrill seeker inflatable kayak. Nice to have in the quiver, particularly for folks who have never paddled before.
watch out for snakes
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08-21-2013, 12:57 PM #28Hucked to flat once
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- Idaho
- Posts
- 11,000
I certainly paddle less. Gas prices are a bummer and I have a great mountain bike trail system a couple hundred yards away. I can spend five hours to paddle a river for two or just go ride for two hours. I can hit the play waves in town but that's still a 3-4 hour production vs just riding for two. If I do drive up to the river we take my raft now. It's more social and the dogs get to go.
Many of my friends have had kids too which has put a damper on things.
On the gear side, there was a huge jump in boats for about 10 years starting in the late 90s. There doesn't seem to be huge advances anymore and with SUPs on the scene, even more people are looking at other ways to be on the water.
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08-22-2013, 01:51 PM #29
I don't really know much about kayaking, but these guys are still like its 1999
Worth a view to see what the youngins are gettin into
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08-26-2013, 03:44 PM #30Registered User
- Join Date
- Jan 2005
- Location
- Bend, OR
- Posts
- 199
SUP to get the thrill and learning curve back, kayak 4+ and 5- to feel like you've still got it, and multi-day raft to get in the rhythm.
Although it always feels good to get the simplicity of living out of the back of your kayak again for a weekend.
Yeah, people get hurt and scared. But there will always be new boaters.
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05-27-2014, 06:56 PM #31
I agree that gas prices play a role. Also, in a bad economy fewer folks have the kind of time it takes to learn to kayak.
College students in the late nineties thought they'd find a good job regardless of grades and majors. I remember thinking how amazing one could live while working very little and mostly boating. A few months of heavy seasonal work would set me up for months of boating every day. There are a lot of local shops that have gone under since the peak of the short boat revolution, 2002 or so. Those shops employed boaters, but more importantly they supported a culture of paddling on a community level.
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05-29-2014, 08:59 PM #32Hugh Conway Guest
think it's bigger - been noticing many places that the "feeder sports" - flatwater kayaking and canoeing don't seem as popular as they once did.
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05-30-2014, 07:38 AM #33
There was a good article several many years ago(late 90s Outside mag?), it may be mentioned in here, of the death of kayaking. Although it seemed premature at the time its premise is probably true for any sport. Things spin up and spin down per the nature of people.
White water has always been fringe, talking to friends in the industry they say touring or sea kayaking carries the white water stuff. Far more people live on the coasts and will do the lower impact touring gig than go for the extremo killer death run.
I myself have been tempered with age and only do up to class 4 and often lesser steams that I passed by in my younger haste to tame the gnar gnar. Still boating but certainly less of it, luckily I have been able to fill in with other things.
Long gone are the days of composite materials, epoxy and endless sanding/grinding to achieve that supreme hull with which I could make luv to the water goddess. Nowadayz its more I drive by and wave but she does not notice, however there are glints of past glory and that old feeling comes back.
watch out for snakes
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04-14-2018, 05:01 AM #34Banned
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Posts
- 2,315
This is the boat I find myself in as well. Also had a kid who is now 8. I used to have no problem leaving my pretty wife for 8 hours to get a few laps on any given river or creek half a state away. At one point just before we spawned my wife (a CPA) told me "We" were spending more money on gas that anything else in life other than housing.
I still have gear and try and go when the local stuff runs, but that still only means a few times a year. It's a lot less fun when your gripped by class 4 stuff that used to be a mellow good time.
Miss it. Love it. Always felt like boaters were tribe. Hopefully when my boy is grown I still have the urge.
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04-19-2018, 03:46 PM #35Registered User
- Join Date
- Sep 2015
- Posts
- 164
I don't know, I'm in my mid 40's and I just got into it last season and since then several of my friends have joined me. I live in the SE and have friends that are instructors and it seems to be growing rather than shrinking at least around Asheville but again, I wasn't doing it 2 decades ago. I spend most of the winter skiing in Colorado and then try to get in a couple days paddling, MTB and at least a day at the MX track so it shares time with other sports. I guess it has replaced climbing as I rarely do that any more. My 9 year old is getting into paddling now so I'm sure I'll be doing it for years to come. My wife and daughter enjoy class I and mellow IIs in our IK so we get out every so often with the family.
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04-19-2018, 04:16 PM #36
They all bellyak now.
Well maybe I'm the faggot America
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda
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04-19-2018, 04:41 PM #37
Yes, every Jerry is now paddleboarding. Many actually get up, paddle for a bit, then get tired and sit on the board for the rest of the time. It’s so hip.
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12-18-2018, 12:42 AM #38Registered User
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
- Posts
- 25
Kayaking vs. other Mainstream sports
It seems as other outdoors sports have become mainstreamed (namely climbing) kayaking has gone further into obscurity. If you think about it, going down a river in a plastic boat is inherently WAY gnarlier than skiing, climbing, etc.
For example, if you crash on skis, you may be broken, but you will come to a stop and may not die. If you swim out of your kayak and are unable to get to safety, you drown.
Kayaking is just inherently gnarly and is definitely not an accessible sport. Whitewater kayaking has a relatively small, regionally-specific community, lots of gear and training to get into and enjoy, etc. A sport like climbing requires minimum investment of money to get into, has a much larger, dispersed community, and is generally far more accessible with many gyms, classes, etc.
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12-18-2018, 11:31 AM #39
I boat far less than I used to, but still like to associate myself with the obscure little tribe, which probably likes being labeled an obscure little tribe.
Nowadays, I view it more as an alternative to hiking - running/floating a remote-feeling II-III without seeing another person is pretty awesome.
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12-18-2018, 12:22 PM #40
Personally, i don't boat anymore for two reasons: 1) we live in a location with a pitifully short and almost non- existent season without driving a long way. 2) i promised my wife no more hard class v when we got married.
I miss it.
Sent from my SM-G935V using TGR Forums mobile appNo matter where you go, there you are. - BB
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12-19-2018, 01:58 PM #41
This year with all the rain we have had the rivers were running all the time and often at flood stage or higher. It was tough to stand on the sidelines with a pinched nerve in my right shoulder.
Watch it flow I did.
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12-20-2018, 04:25 PM #42
I still get out, but moving to Utah definitely shortened my season. I do more fly fishing than paddling these days.
Montani Semper Liberi
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12-21-2018, 11:34 AM #43
Kayaking is hard. Most younger people ain't into hard stuff. That said, the young kids just get after it. Personally, solid class 4 is about where i am at. Mentally, I have a hard time enjoying anything above that anymore. It really is the first sport where the reality of being past my prime hit. I will always get out however.
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12-21-2018, 12:12 PM #44guy who skis
- Join Date
- Apr 2016
- Posts
- 1,066
I haven't kayaked in a couple of years now, though I'm still hanging onto my boats. The big issue was that I had kids when I was boating Class V (or V- anyway) with my regular crew, and when I couldn't get on the water as much, I didn't feel comfortable in the harder whitewater. It's not the sort of thing I like doing off the couch. Then paddleboarding made Class II-III fun again, and paddleboarding and river surfing took up that slot in the outdoors for me.
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12-21-2018, 12:20 PM #45
With stand up paddleboarding and kayaking jumping the shark, the obvious new rage will be stand up kayaking!
Go that way really REALLY fast. If something gets in your way, TURN!
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12-21-2018, 06:42 PM #46
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12-21-2018, 06:50 PM #47
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12-21-2018, 06:59 PM #48
you guys that are still into kayaking should chk out my little buddy wyatt_doyle on instagram or whatever media you use.
we're friends with his mom& dad and aunt and they just allowed him to start attending a kayak focused school to finish out his last high school year. his videos are awesome!
https://www.instagram.com/wyatt_doyle/skid luxury
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12-21-2018, 07:05 PM #49
Did kayaking fall back into the fringe?
I was hoping to get a playboat for the local rivers next spring, but with A.Kiernan’s recent passing, and the friends connections, my wife is not warm to the idea at the moment. The local rivers are still really active tho, and the tribe is strong but a bit reclusive outside of the guide’s circles.
Last edited by BCMtnHound; 12-21-2018 at 08:19 PM.
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12-21-2018, 08:16 PM #50
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