Hey All,

I need to lean on some experience.

I've received a tandem kayak for Christmas. I'm usually a stickler for opening presents on Christmas Day, but when a 16foot kayak is delivered, it is hard to hide.

My son and I will be using the kayak on relatively calm rivers and lakes. Mostly in Ohio.

I have some time before I can get it on the water. I am going to take some classes offered by a local club. I figured instruction is first priority. I am also already First Aid and CPR trained.

I have no equipment for the kayak so I am looking for personal recommendations on everything I will need. From PFDs to paddles, I need it all. Money is an object, but quality is important.

What do you recommend?

First off, welcome to the wonderful world of being on the water! I am a relatively new kayaker myself, only being at it for about 2 years now. I have a collapsible one myself, that I can easily pack in my jeep.

As for tandem, I am not sure if there are specifics to different paddles. From my experience, and what I've read, you want a paddle that isnt too long (dont go to extremes either way), and you are looking for a touring paddle. A flat blade will likely work best for you (the paddles themselves will be curved, but the edge of the blade is flat). I dont recall the model I have, but it is an aluminum shaft, plastic blades, and comes apart in the middle via a button/hole configuration. I can also feather the paddle, which means I offset one of the blades when the paddle is put together. This is only if you are heading into a strong wind-as I am still a novice, I never feather the paddles-havent yet had the need.
PFDs, what I use is a vest with pockets-its designed for fishermen, and has a few nice pockets to put a PSK, knife, flashlight, etc in it. Also a nice place to attach a whistle. I recommend one of those. They also make PFDs specific to kayaks, with flotation cut away on the back bottom half, to aid in sitting in it.
Two other recommendations, though not necessary, would be a deck back, and spray skirts. Deck bags allow for conventient access to items like food, water, a camera, compass, etc-all right in front of you. A spray skirt could be a later purchase, but it prevents water from entering the cockpit, particularly in rough waters.
Some other things would be a bilge pump, and a sponge. when a kayak gets swamped, you will need to get the majority of the water out. And, its a cool water cannon . The sponge is simply to sop up water-not a necessity, but certainly nice.

Budgeting, go with the necessities first-paddles & PFDs. And, pick up a book. I got one a few years ago, "Kayaking, a Trailside Guide", that is pretty thorough. I learned a lot from the book. I do flatwater only, so I dont need to learn eskimo rolls, and the like-if I am doing that, I am in SERIOUS trouble. but, its a good idea to practice dumping the yak, and getting back in.

Lastly, have fun. There are FAR more experienced paddlers here, that I am sure will chime in. But, its all about getting out on the water. Have fun with it!

My advice as a kayaker:

1. Tether EVERYTHING! That way when you do eventually flip you won't lose your gear.

2. A cheap fishing PFD works, but one designed for paddling is way more comfortable.

3. Seat cushions and adjustable backrests make life much more pleasent.

I keep all my emergency gear in a multi-pocketed fishing vest which I wear over my PFD. If I go ashore I drop the PFD but keep the vest on.

-Blast

Stay away from feathered paddles. They will mess up your wrists. You are wise to get local instruction. If you kayak, you will flip the boat, even on calm waters. That's OK,because that's what the sport is all about. Just learn how to get out and back in again. An Eskimo roll is nice, but not necessary.

I would recommend a helmet, and even more important, neoprene. I like a Farmer John to keep my core warm, but allow freedom of movement for the shoulders. I imagine the water can be pretty cool in Ohio most of the year. Dress for the water temps, not the air.

Remember, you will get wet....

two words--Eskimo roll--

There is so much good gear around the recommendations are endless, my main point would be to test as much kit as you can without buying it first and then you'll naturally find what works for you.

I should have taken my own advice as I have several "back ups" of kit that I should not have bought (because I was too impatient)

Fun! first off, assume everything will get wet. Phone, toilet paper, everything.
Then go on group outings and learn from the pro's. A book or two is useful as well.

Well it depends on how long you are going to stay on the water, distances you are planning to cover, your ability to swim and seasons...

But lests go with basic first:
Life jacket must be of comfortable fit. Any other features are just features. I don't use mine except when in busy harbors or open ocean but I'm a good swimmer and local authorities dont care if you wear one as long as you have one. I prefer heavy duty zippers to snaps. Pockets on PFD are good for carrying extra stuff with you so if you go over you have the stuff you need.

Paddle. Spend extra money. Mine is Werner and is carbon fiber which is extremely light but very durable and I had mine for 9 years. Shaft is not round like most cheap paddles but slightly flattened giving me better grip. This is your primary tool which you will be using for long times and any wieght you can shave off counts. And in the end of the day comfortable paddle will not give you blisters.

I have a bailer made out of 1 gallon water bottle and bildge sponge which takes care of everything when I get water in my boat. Dont fall for fancy gear. There is no automatic/easy way of getting water out of your boat short of manual labor.

Basics kit: flare or signaling device, mirror, strobe and whistle
and this is where having good PFD come in: you can fit all this stuff in the pockets and have it on you. Cheap PFD dont have pockets.

Fancy stuff:
-rivers go one way so compass is less of the importance but good on the ocean,
-knife is good like Gerber Shorty (cheap and last forever),
-tow rope which I have for last 10 years and never used except for shelter building and towing my tired friends,
-kayak skirt is nice to have in the rain/white water/ocean but if doing day trips why not get a little wet but it is a life saver in cold weather
-dry bags are nice to have as well if you are doing extended trips or need a spare change of clothes but some of my friends were double bagging stuff in garbage bags and it works just as well
-small waterproof case like pelican where I put my water sensitive stuff like my car keys, phone, camera, etc etc... This is a real peace of mind especially if you just want to play wet all day and not worry about anything.
-map protective case if you buy expensive topo maps
-if you do a lot of wet stuff aka carry boat over shallow water, frequent in/outs, paddle on wet days than get some kind of wet shoe or sealskin socks


And of course basic stuff like sunscreen, hat, fak, water... ANd camping stuff if you are planning to camp.

Blast, that statement seems contradictory to my simple brain; you're wearing the PFD on top of the vest, correct?

You really need to store everything in waterproof bags. As mentioned, it can be important to keep basic survival gear on your person (in the vest) so that if you become separated from your kayak and gear you can at least build a fire to warm yourself and signal for help if you are injured.

No, he means he has the PFD on, then puts a standard fishing vest on OVER it. Likely a fairly large size. That way, one would have access to everything one needs. In fact, I may try that out this spring!!

You can get PFDs with enough pocket space to keep essentials with you when you dump - one less piece of gear..

I prefer having my survival gear in the vest because I also spend a lot of time ashore exploring and don't want to transfer all my gear from the PFD pockets to some other container/pockets. I just remove the PFD from under the vest and I'm good to go poking around land.

-Blast

Thank you all for your advice so far. I appreciate the small tips learned over years of experience. Please keep those coming (I just washed out a gallon milk jug from the recycling bin for a bailer).

Paddle and PFD are definitely the first purchases. What do you use? What do you recommend?

I will need PFDs for me (XXL), DW, and one each for DD and DS, ages 2 and 7 respectively.

I will also want two paddles. Mine will do most of the work, but the other will be mostly used/carried by my son so I will want a fairly decent one and an inexpensive/cheap one.

Thanks for the help given and to come!

I'm a whitewater rather than flatwater kayaker, but some things still carry over! Werner makes great paddles. I'd recommend heading to a local kayaking store, and demoing paddles. There's no way to know what will be comfortable without trying it out. I use a 30-degree feather on my paddle, which is what I found most comfortable.

If you're going to be paddling anything class II or higher in difficulty, definitely buy and wear a sprayskirt and a helmet. Unconscious and underwater is a bad combination!

When you tether things to the boat, make sure to use short tethers. Long lengths of cord or rope in the water can lead to very bad situations. I also carry a knife clipped to the outside of my lifejacket, just in case a rope ends up tangled around me.

Have fun on the water!

I don't tether anything to my canoe except small items like the small stuff sack that carries my camera and phone. My philosophy is to pack in as few big, bulky items as possible. Emptying a canoe is much quicker if you don't have to untie your luggage first. The few big, bulky stuff sacks are easily spotted and retrieved by our paddling buddies.

To tether or not to tether... without paddling buddies I may decide to tether everything. Like AndrewC said, if you tether get it tight so it won't snag.

No experience with kayaking (well, tried it a few times - great fun!) but I gather storage space is rather limited - not only in volume but also in the shape that can be stuffed in there.

Waterproof bags... are not really that nescesarry, at least not all over all at once unless you have the money for it. Decent waterproof bags are rather expensive. Get something good waterproof bags/containers for your electronics and your spare clothes, sleeping bag and perhaps some other things you'd really like to stay really dry in a survival scenario. The rest of the gear (assuming you'll be packing camping gear) can tolerate a bit of water without being a treath to your existence. If you line ordinary bags with some heavy-duty garbage bags you've just made yourself some pretty water resistant bags that will float. That'll do it...

Something else that may be worth looking into is float bags. If you don't have sealed bulkheads, you can use an inflatable bag to take up volume inside the kayak. That way if you capsize, you have FAR less bailing to do!

i'm new to the sport - will be mostly open ocean, no surfing, in a sit-on-top.

oars - rental shops may let you try different paddles - in hopes you'll buy them there. for me, i second the werner line. didn't go with carbon fiber, but do like the unround shaft and ability to 'feather' the shaft.

pfd - researched on line for the style i wanted - number of pockets, zippers, lash tabs (those square things that one can attach things to semi-permanently like a knife (nrs copilot) on the front and strobe beacon on the back), etc. then went to different stores to try them. strangely, a women's kokatat fit me the best of all of the ones i tried! i'm just average build, so go figure.

re: pfds. i spent more than a lot of other pfds i saw. i figured my life was worth it.