White Water Skirt

[runandjump2014]

I am looking for a new skirt for my kayak. My current skirt fits great but it lets water in between the skirt and boat. It is a Immersion Research Shockwave Bungee and I want to get a tighter sealing rubber with the extra flap to keep water out. What should I be looking for, brand/model, and where to not break the bank?

Thanks,
-Trevor

[Cowper]

Bob had some good input on skirts in this thread: http://forums.arkansascanoeclub.com/vie ... =3&t=23608" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All skirts leak some. Some kayak cockpits are shaped in a way that they will leak more than others, no matter what skirt you put on it. I don't know how much your skirt is leaking, or even if it is leaking past the rand, through a weak spot in the neoprene, or down the tunnel, but, I just didn't want you to spend a bunch of money trying or hoping for near zero leakage. You might improve on your current skirt some, but how much is sort of guess work and may cost you a skirt to find out!

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with getting a good "new" skirt for the river, and then retiring the old one to take the abuse of pool chemicals. I routinely rotate older skirts to "pool duty".

[gannon311]

Look at the bomber gear skirts!! I have had mine for 3-4 yrs and am very happy with the dryness. It's a rand and alite hard to get on the first time if u don't wet it. I can play at Rockport for hrs at a time and never have to empty. If u think the water is getin in around where the skirt and boat meet..... U can get some window/ door foam. Run it where the the boat and skirt meet!! Works great!

[TrentF]

Don't want to get this thread off subject but I figured this question somewhat fit this post. Is there anything a person needs to do to properly maintain there skirt?

[RomanLA]

I am looking for a new skirt for my kayak. My current skirt fits great but it lets water in between the skirt and boat. It is a Immersion Research Shockwave Bungee and I want to get a tighter sealing rubber with the extra flap to keep water out. What should I be looking for, brand/model, and where to not break the bank?

I've heard the IR Klingons are super dry, but a pain to put on. They're also a bungee skirt, so there's more of a risk of implosion. Take a look at your cockpit and see if there's anything you may be able to do to cut down on leakage. For instance, I put some strips of self adhesive foam over some screws on one of my boats that were causing leakage.

Don't want to get this thread off subject but I figured this question somewhat fit this post. Is there anything a person needs to do to properly maintain there skirt?

I just rinse mine after using them in the pool or saltwater. The pool is pretty rough on them and will fade them out fast.

[Ouachitoff]

For a rand skirt, I'd go with skirtworks or Immers Research Lucky Charm.

[sig]

We've been happy with our Luck Charm's.

[runandjump2014]

Thanks for all the replies. With the foam tape would it interfere with a rubber rand skirt? Can it be taken off without tediously working it with a knife? Also where can I get it?

[RomanLA]

Bombergear made a cockpit seal at one time, but I didn't see it on their web site. It looks similar to the self adhesive caulking you'd buy at a hardware store though. You can also buy sheets of foam and cut strips to cover problem spots from a local dealer or companies like...
http://salamanderpaddlegear.com/product ... icell-foam

I would say that it would be easy to remove, but I guess that all depends. I know the sheets Pyranha includes with their boats is a mess if you try to remove it. I'm sure it just depends on who makes it.

[gannon311]

In bought the foam at lowes. Think it was window seal or something. 3/4 wide by 1/2 thick maybe. It works best with a rand IMO. It will pull of if u pull... May leave light adhesive but can be removed with alcohol!