Portal:Equipment
From Wikipaddle
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Equipment
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Items in Bold are considered essential, items marked with an asterisk (*) are essential for a certain sport (as specified).
Contents |
Scope: Paddlesport
In "Paddlesports"
Rafting, various floating platforms, paddle-canoes, Dragon-Boats.
Not in Paddlesports scope: Sailing Craft including Sailing Canoes, Fixed-Oar craft including Sculling craft, Rowing Craft.
Water Craft*
A Water Craft is a rather essential piece of equipment for any paddle sport, and with the above exceptions of sailing and rowing, there's a lot of variety of forms and types to choose to choose from:
Some are Vessels (i.e. boats that contain the crew internally), and some are platform-derived forms. Platforms are not boats.
Platforms
e.g. rafts
e.g. sit-on-top craft
e.g. stand-on top craft : surf-boards
Vessels
Circular Forms:
e.g. coracles
Canoes:
Canoe Shaped Designs
The generic root for a whole family of boats is the Canoe Shape.
This basic shape is characterised in plan view (From above) by an elongated slim form that tapers to a point at both ends.
It is this shape that defines the sport of Canoeing.
Many nations know only their local form of canoe, but it is more useful to have international definitions.
International Canoe Federation
British Canoe Union
Inventor of popular sport of Canoeing was John MacGregor who derived an open-cockpit decked canoe.
- A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe. London: S. Low and Marston, 1866. First edition, illustrated. From Internet Archive.
The Canoe Shape encapsulates all boats that are canoes and that includes Kayaks. A Kayak is an Eskimo/Inuit Type of Canoe. The sport of Canoeing is restricted to those small canoe craft that are portable by the crew and are mainly human powered, although sails are occasionaly used, as also are small motors.
Kayaks
The Kayak is the name used to describe one of the two main types of canoe designs used in recreation and sport.
The origins of the Kayak are in the Inuit/Eskimo craft. The name Kayak means "The Boat of the Hunter, or Man's Boat"
Kayaks are Closed or open cockpit boats where the paddler sits with their legs in front of them and paddles (usually) with a two bladed paddle. There are several different disciplines of kayak, each with their own variations in boat design:
- ICF Olympic Flatwater (Sprint Racing) Kayaks"s
- ICF Olympic Wildwater (Slalom Racing) Kayakss
- Sea Kayaks
- Touring Kayaks
- Recreational Whitewater Kayaks (including: River Runners, Creek Boats and Playboats)
- Polo Kayaks
- Squirt Boats
- Surf Kayaks
- Special: The Jet Kayak
Manufacturers:
ICF Competition Canadian Class (C) Canoes
The ICF classifies this type of canoe as "C" for Canadian.
The Discipines in the ICF are:
Olympic Disciplines
Flatwater (Sprint Regatta Racing)
ICF Flatwater
Wildwater (Slalom)
ICF Wildwater (Slalom)
Other ICF Disciplines
Freestyle
ICF Freestyle
Wildwater (Descent) Racing
ICF Wildwater Descent Racing
Open Canoes
Commonly referred to as just "Canoes" or sometimes as "Open Boats", these are open-hulled boats paddled with single-bladed paddles by two to four paddlers, or solo. They can generally be split into two categories, although designs still vary enormously within each category:
Manufacturers:
Other Boats
This section covers anything that isn't quite a Kayak or a classic Canoe:
Clothing
- Drysuit
- Footwear
- Gloves and other hand-garments.
- Spray Top (aka Cag Top / Paddle Jacket)
- Spraydeck * (essential for Kayaking)
- Wetsuit
Manufacturers:
Paddles*
Because what's a paddle sport without a paddle?
- Kayak Paddles - These are two-bladed paddles.
- Canoe Paddles - These are single-bladed paddles with a handle at the end (also used by rafters, and sometimes Kayakers!)
- Other Paddles - This subsection includes anything that isn't a traditional "paddle".
Manufacturers:
Safety*
These items are all important safety equipment that paddlers should wear/carry with them:
- Buoyancy Aid * (Essential for all water-sports).
- Helmet * - Essential for any type of whitewater paddling, but always recommended for everyone.
Rescue
These are safety items that are not essential for all paddlers to carry, however there should be several paddlers within a group with these items. Many of them require Safety and Rescue training to be used effectively and this training is recommended for all paddlers as it is a steep learning curve to try and learn on the spot in a rescue situation.
- Ropes and Lines - This page covers Throw lines and other rope work.
- Safety Knife - These are used to cut ropes should the need arise. Any paddler with a throw line should carry a rescue knife on their person.
- Karabiners
- Other Rescue Equipment
Manufacturers:
