Kayakin' Multitool.org Style!

[Grant Lamontagne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp1S-NZvi78

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp1S-NZvi78

Def

You do know, that, thats a kayak not a Uboat

Or did you spot a coastal command sunderland on the horizon

[Roadie]

Good work! Its quite a weird experience making yourself capsize, it never feels right! You do get used to it after a couple of go's though.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, it was a little obvious that I did it on purpose innit?   If I let the tape run a little longer you'd have heard my mother making fun of me for being such a horrid actor!

While it isn't hard to make it capsize, it really is something that you have to do willingly.  They really aren't that easy to flip accidentally.  For those who've never been in a kayak, imagine trying to make yourself fall off your bike.  In theory it should be pretty easy, but in practice it takes some doing!

Def

[J-sews]

Looking forward to your Falling Off A Bike clip! 


Question: will you be producing a whole series of these instructional videos, or just the two?

[Anthony]

haha the "Multitool.org How To Fall Off Of Your______" series.

If you planned on flipping over, why get your hat wet if you didn't have to?

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's a Tilley- it floats when you don't!

Def

[I'm Still Bison]

Falling off a bike isn't hard at all....I should know

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Push bike are quite hard to fall off of, motorbikes however are remarkable easy too

[jzmtl]

I was hoping for something more, um, dramatic.

Who's the chick at the end?

[Grant Lamontagne]

This one?



She's a friend of mine who offered to help us promote the Multitool.org shirts.

Def

[jzmtl]

Would that be the same one you left your tool at her place?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Nope- left the Ti at Tara's place.

Working at a bar I have lots of attractive female friends.   

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Nope- left the Ti at Tara's place.

Working at a bar I have lots of attractive female friends.   

Def

I demand more pictures!, or better still a video with all the girls saying in a breathy voice ''hello Mike''

[Grant Lamontagne]

www.Montes.ca

 

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

www.Montes.ca

 

Def

Thats no good, I've got to join facebook to see them , your just being bloody lazy again

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sorry- used to have some pics up.  Maybe we will again soon...

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Sorry- used to have some pics up.  Maybe we will again soon...

Def

Your at work tonight, get some then

[Grant Lamontagne]

Why not just come by and see it all for yourself first hand?

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Why not just come by and see it all for yourself first hand?

Def

It's a bit off a walk, but let me see how my evenings fixed...

[bobofish]

Your kayak is a cruiser, good for little lake journeys, but very unsafe for open voyages. It is designed to have good primary stability, and little to no secondary stability. Primary stability is what you use when just plunking along in the lake at a leisurely pace like you were doing. Problem is, if you tip just a little, the kayak will actually pull you down the rest of the way.
Secondary stability gives you the ability to lean into turns or wind, and take a lot more wave action, etc.

A good example of a kayak that has excellent secondary stability is essentially anything made by Necky. If you're ever in the market for another kayak, I highly recommend them.

I learned all this useless info when my wife and I bought a kayak at noon, drove to the coast to try it out, couldn't get more than 10 feet into the surf without tipping over like douchetards, and got depressed that we were total buffoons. We tried for a good six hours, to the great amusement of many at the beach. I should also mention that a few days later I was out on a little lake troutfishing with my buddy. He was in a raft, and I in the kayak with all the gear. I had it all layed out in front of me in the hull and had a swell time till we were packing it in and I was four feet from shore. I was just about to climb out of the boat and was handing my rod to my buddy on the bank when a car in the distance backfired, my friend twitched ever so slightly, and the twitch telegraphed through the pole and I dumped into the water with all my gear, only some of which I found.

We've both kayaked before, she on nice lakes in Europe every summer, and I on big fast (not white water) rivers and bays. We were certainly not experts, but not total rubes either! I did a little research, and sure enough, when I got into kayaks that were built with good secondary stability, I could lean the kayak so far that I could touch my nose to the water without going in.

What it is is a little mini keel running along the side of the kayak. Sometimes there is one, sometimes there are several depending on the purpose of the kayak. When you look at the bottom of your kayak, there's just one little bump of a keel running down the middle of the bottom. The necky looksha for example (if I remember right, it was too small for me, damnit!) has a normal keel just like yours, and two more mini keels on either side. One mini keel is basically between the deck and the main keel, and the other keel is halfway between that one and the main keel.

This secondary stability doesn't get in the way of eskimo rolls by the way, since in the roll the top of the kayak has none of these keels and has no stability built in; once you've turned all the way around you've built up enough momentum to counteract the keels as you're righting the kayak.

I spew these useless facts at you only because I think I remember reading that you were intending to do some ocean going in your kayak; very very bad idea with your kayak.

Another interesting twist is the Prijon Yukon. It looks like a hybrid of a white-water kayak and an ocean kayak, which is what your kayak is supposed to be but isn't. It's long like an ocean kayak, but with rounded nose and tail. Also, it has none of these keels I've talked about; the hull is essentially shaped like a banana. Interestingly, it also has very very good secondary stability, not quite as rock solid as the necky's, but what it loses in that it gives to you in crazy acrobatic maneuverability. It is in a nutshell a boat designed to take you down the Yukon straight out into the ocean.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That one is actually my father's "spare" kayak- he has a 14' Riot Tour Lite and I have a 17' Northwest Synergy.  That was his first kayak, bought from a friend when he upgraded.  My father got that one to see if he was interested in kayaking, and he loved it so much he went out and bought the Riot.

I have a waterproof digital video camera now, so maybe I'll have some better kayak vids to post soon!

Def

[bobofish]

Ever seen those kayak helmet cameras?
Of course it doesn't need to be a kayak helmet, but at the kayak shop you can get the same camera for the low low price of 50% more!

In all seriousness, I've seen some really cool pics and videos from guys that wore those when going down falls or rapids.

[Grant Lamontagne]

17' fiberglass kayaks and whitewater don't mix too well, so I don't usually wear a helmet, so I have no need of a helmet cam.  My camera is considered "rugged" which means that it will withstand a fall of 4 feet onto concrete and withstand immersion for short periods, and frankly, I plan to be immersed for only VERY short periods!

Def

[bobofish]

On the contrary, 17 foot kayaks mix very well with whitewater. The problem arises when you're in the kayak.

Actually that Prijon I was talking about is quite the whitewater machine. It's definitely not something for falls or tiny rivers, but if you've ever heard of the Rogue or Deschutes rivers, it excels in such places. I think it's actually 16 feet, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, back to the subject; nice tip, I'm sure it was just an expert demonstration of the first half of a radical new eskimo roll which you've somehow refined to involve multitools, SAK's or flashlights in some way.