There is lot of plastic out there from 20 plus years of kayaks and canoes being made this way. Luckily the properties of the polyethylene material give it a massive lifespan, but at some point boats get written off or folk will want to retire their craft and so the question pops up – what then?
Our Dagger Europe kayaks have made some small inroads with the Fiesta model, the first 100% post production waste re-cycled kayak; but that’s just the tip of the ice berg.
We were recently approached by Engineering graduate and Waste management Consultant Beth Ripper who is study kayak lifespans and she’s just sent out her findings. Read all about it here.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have chosen the Palm Atom Jacket for use in their training period in the run up to the Volvo Ocean Race starting late October. Currently training in Cascais, Portugal this video shows some of the extreme environments in which our equipment has to perform.
I have been in California for the past six weeks enjoying one of the craziest seasons in history. A record snowpack has meant a super long and late run-off and the paddling has been nothing short of amazing! We have hit most of the classics from The South Feather to West Cherry as well as a few of the lesser known drops hidden away in the Sierras. I have been rolling with the posse’ from River Roots and Bomb Flow and the content we have collected is epic!
For the duration of the mission I have been wearing the new Atom dry top and Stikine thermal ‘bunny suit’ along with the now trusted Amp vest and the performance has been spectacular. The new breathable fabric on the Atom performs super well in and out of the water and is really comfortable to paddle in. It keeps the cold, snow melt water out but lets your skin breath when hiking on the exposed granite here in Cali. I can’t recommend this top enough, it is easily the best dry top I have ever used.
Anyway, here are a few pics from the travels – more to come!
On a mission!
BB
Line up the 50 footer, lose the paddle, close eyes & hold on!
HIGH speed testing on Tenaya Creek.
The intimidating Heath Springs 2 on the Royal Gorge of the American.
Now in its third year, the big demo day brings together a wide range of manufacturers and paddlers and we will be showing Dagger, Wilderness Systems, mad River Canoe, Islander sit-on-top kayaks plus the new Infinity inflatable kayaks – in fact as many boats as we can fit onto the trailers!
Kicking off at 10am the event runs to 5pm and the shop will be open to six for you to get any goodies you want. So if you’ve not seen any of the new Palm range up close yet this is your chance.
The new 2011 Palm paddle jackets have arrived at your local Palm Equipment dealer! With over 2 years development, team testing and refinement they’re our most technically advanced jackets yet.
The Palm Team have been itching to get their hands on the final production jackets for a while now. And, when the first shipment arrived earlier this month who were we to argue!
Gear for Women
Rosie Cripps introduces the Aqua Jacket
The next day it was off to west Wales to make full use of the spring tides at the awe-inspiring Bitches tidal race. Joining us on the top wave, and sporting brand new Atom jackets, were Palm paddlers Finn Burrows and Nick Horwood. Check out the video below:
Gear for Whitewater
Nick Horwood & Finn Burrows introduce the Atom Jacket
Check back here or our Facebook page over the next few months as we introduce more of the team of paddlers that make up Palm.
Avon and Somerset police recently arrested and charged a man from Western-Super-Mare in conjunction with the theft and sale of stolen Palm Equipment products.
An alarm was raised after Palm premium apparel items, including £500 plus Stikine and Torrent immersion suits, appeared at unusually low prices on the on-line market place E-bay.
Recognised as a non authorized seller, the Clevedon company informed the police and the subsequent investigation led to a raid on a home and subsequent arrest of an ex employee.
Commenting on the theft, Palm Technical Director Bob Slee observed “We keep an eye on sites like E-bay for anomalies in our product sales. This case sends a clear signal to would be thieves that e-bay is not above the law and action will be taken to protect companies like ourselves and those who sell legitimately on the site.’
He added a note of caution for buyers “Sadly those who have bought the suits are in possession of stolen goods and technically they should return them. We have all the product batch numbers so will be able to track and retain any that are returned or appear elsewhere.’
It’s the weather report every kayaker waits for, and every non kayaker dreads…. A Heavy Rain Warning. Earlier this week, the remnants of a slow moving easterly cyclone and a cold and wet front roaring up from the Southern Ocean collided over the North Island of New Zealand. This was bad news for Easter holiday makers but it was good news for us. As per normal when heavy rain is approaching the cell phone lit up, plans were hatched and a restless night ensued…. The rain arrived as predicted and it was game on. Our destination for the day, The Wainui River…
I had been itching to get on the Wainui after missing the first descent several years earlier due to food poisoning that I picked up the previous night from drinking a large number of dodgy beers… Or something like that! Since then there has been a number of descents and the reports filtering back have been all good! Stories of epic slides and big drops were more than enough to wet the appetite…. Finally, on Tuesday, it was my turn!
- Only a kayaker knows the feeling! The moment we live for…. rolling off the lip of the big one.
- Inside the beast… About 50 feet into the freefall and preparing for impact!
- Tucking in and hanging on….
- This drop in the middle of the Wainui is about as good as they come… Who says kiwis can’t fly.
- Pretty stoked, and a little dazed and confused!
- Watching Simon take his run.
- Jamie taking flight.
- Big old air boof on little brother.
- Airing it out on little brother.
- The other end of a 30 foot boof… This would explain the stiff neck!
- Simon styling it!
- One epic slide after another…
- Letting gravity do the work on another rowdy Wainui slide.
Simon Mayo’s Monday programme on BBC Radio 2 featured Palm’s marketing manager, Paul Robertson, talking about the differences between canoeing and kayaking. Nice one Paul!
Check out the interview on BBC iplayer (skip to 18 minutes)
The annual Adventure Paddlers Weekend on the Dart provides Team Palm with an ideal time for a get-together. It’s wonderful to get the chance to all meet up, go for a paddle and have a couple of glasses of wine together.
Palm also brought along all of their exciting new gear. I was eager to see the new ladies gear after helping in the development process. I can’t wait to get out in the new buoyancy aid and cag – they are so comfy!
Janette modelling the new gear: rigid with excitement.
Big up to Simon Westgarth for organising APWE and massive thanks to Palm for great team support and providing us with lovely accommodation!
