Events: Snow trip - gear summary

I was lucky enough to be taken up to the snow for my 40th birthday not long ago, by my mum, who kindly took my whole family up for a long weekend at the Falls Creek snow resort in the Victorian Alps. Snow, in Australia? Yes, it snows here. Sometimes, in a few places. When we went there was a base-cover of around 80cm and it was forecast to be between -3oC and -6oC, with 24cm sow expected each night, or thereabouts.

It was a 5 hour drive, including an hour on the shuttle-bus, as we didn't want to go through the hassle of snow-chains and on-mountain parking, as well as windy, icy mountain roads. Leave it to the professionals, I say, and have a nap on the way.

That said, when we arrive mountain-side, it was sleeting pretty heavily, and continued to do so for the majority of the day. We lost a bunch of snow cover and everybody got damp. Some more than others. That's kind of what I wanted to cover in this post. What I wore to stay warm and dry. What gear  I took.
 Now, I cheated to some extent in that I hired ski-boots, and the outer-layer jacket and ski-pants for when we actually went skiing, (my first time in 20 years, since I lived in Calgary, Canada).

However, I also packed accordingly, for the times I wasn't skiing, and I'm glad I did.

I've had quite some experience in cold climates, both Canada, the UK, Danmark, as well as holidaying and I know they key elements to not having a bad time are to stay dry and warm. Not always both, but if you are one, or the other, you can usually get by. Cold AND wet? You're going to have a bad time.

Here's my layered approach to a trip to the snow:
I wore as my base-layer, the Platatac fleece leggings, and DriFire long sleeve shirt. I don't have any fancy socks, but tend to get hefty heavy-duty socks from the supermarket and wear them to death These ones are Kirkland's,, from Costco. nothing special, but long lasting and don't get stinky.
I wore my Danner Striker ii GTX combat boots, which could do with a thorough polishing, but I hit them with a liberal coating of Kiwi boot waterproofing spray and they worked a treat, even when I stepped through slush up past the ankle. Be sure to open the laces right up if you're waterproofing boots, and get in around the tongue to ensure you don't miss any leakage points.

I looped the leggings foot-hole stirrups over my socks, so they didn't ride up, and I had full coverage from toe to belly-button. Tucking my shirt into the elastic waist of the leggings then carried that all the way up to my neck. No cold draughts.

For my outer layer, I took my snow-proven Propper Adventure Tech shell outer pants, which offer a wind and water proofing layer that I really appreciate. They don't have a lot of pocket real-estate, but I made do, and didn't either loose anything, or lack anything on my adventures.

Over the DriFire shirts, I wore the lightweight Propper windcheater which provided me a really good lightweight dry-layer, as well as having a good neck-seal. My one was a bit too shirt, so my super-long arms tended to poke out, but I had a plan for that anyway.

As my outermost top layer, I chose my Baubax multi-function jacket, which is a semi-hard shell with a hood and thumb-hole fitted wrist extensions. I'll be covering this in detail some time soon. It held the sleet off really well, although the cuffs and the wrist extensions got pretty sodden. They could do with a dose of waterproofing spray as well, I think.

As far as outer layers went, it was a spot on combination for what I was expecting, although had I wanted to stay even dryer, I should have packed my Hazard4 Poncho Villa but I erred on the side of less gear. I should have left out my spare 90's era snow-pants I got when we moved to Calgary, but I'll pack it next time.

For head and hands, I wore my Peruvian fleece caps, along with one or two Headsox to keep my neck, mouth and ears warm. I wore my dual layer, long wristed Condor Nomex gloves which I also gave a liberal waterproofing. That can of spray was an excellent addition and I can't recommend them enough. I think I shall trial a few different ones soon.

I wore a skiing helmet, to which I mounted my Contour Cam in its waterproof case. I gave the misty fogging Arena Flakjack goggles, with a smoky lens fitted, which remained mostly useable when I was skiing, but I needed to keep taking them off and wiping them off. The goggles really helped me have a clear and wind-free view of where I was going at upwards of 40kph downhill, who knew? I didn't hit ANYTHING this time. (I killed two aspen saplings at least, when living in Calgary).

I wore my Platatac Bravo hydration pack, with a 3L Source WXP bladder in it. I have a Blackhawk Side Plate carrier mounted to the bottom of my Bravo, as its hook-and-loop top makes it an excellent flat-pack pocket.

All in all, I was really pleased with my loadout, but most of all, I can't go without saying that my favourite bit of cold-weather kit was the SORD StormTrooper belt-fitted muff. Not only did it's pockets keep my needfuls (like my Manta emergency strobe, CLIF bars, and the like), they also were a place for me to stuff my gloves, and also just plain keep my hands warm. Warms hands mean good-times.

Review: Mystery Ranch - Removable Stick-it

I got in touch with my mate Tay Choon Mong at Hornest Singapore, my favourite stockist of the hardy and heavy-duty Mystery Ranch packs and products, after I saw that they had some accessories I had been hanging out for come in. You may recall I have one of the rare Mystery ranch "Asia Pacific only" 1 Day Assault Pack bags, which is a cross between the more mature 3 Day Assault Pack and the more recently released ASAP Pack.

I also have one of the Cinch straps, for comfortable wear and quick release of a pack whilst wearing a loaded plate carrier.

Great kit. The particular accessory that had come to my attention was the Removable Stick-It flap, seen here in Coyote, mounted to my black 1DAP. The Stick-It is a detachable beaver-tail that mounts to the bottom of a compatible pack to offer external storage when you've either gotten too much stuff, or just something too big for your pack to carry.

Built with 500D Cordura for long-haul durability, which I've come to expect from pack-makers, and fitted with mil-spec 1" webbing straps, Mystery Ranch have gone all out on the both the construction and the hardware. The buckles have a clip-in end, for fixing to MOLLE loops or other webbing on your pack, as well as a spring loaded friction lock for the working end of the buckle.

This kind of attention to detail as well as using better-than-standard fittings is something I love about Mystery Ranch. You pay for it, but it's worth it. The Stick-It attaches to its host pack with four press-stud closing loops of webbing, which feed back into the accessory by extra loops of MOLLE style webbing sewn into the Stick-It's interior. Those press-stud loops allow you to attach it to the bottom of any pack with MOLLE on its base.

I've put it on my Platatac Light Field Pack in place of its "Office" Admin Pack, or in fact as well as it. It also fits the Propper UC Pack, and the old standby the classic Platatac Bullock Echo, though the Echo already has a beaver-tail attachment built in.

The Stick-It has a couple of other interesting features. It is constructed to have expanding baffles in its Center line, in case of very bulky loads, with plastic inserts to stiffen the sides and carry the weight more evenly. You can really fit quite a lot into this, and is is the smaller of the two sizes offered. It also had a set of drainage grommets in its base, for those times you've taken a dip or been caught in a monsoon.

Another very forward thinking feature is the sheer length of the webbing for the attachment straps. This both lets you place the buckles anywhere from right at the back of the pack, to all the way at the front for quick release options of your over-load without shucking the pack propper. They also come with hook-and-loop keeper loops, to bundle the excess webbing up tight and out of the way for snag free utility.

The small Stick-It is perfect for stowing bulky times, like an Ops-Core bump helmet, a bundled jacket like the  Platatac Harry 1.2 Softshell or the like. It can easily cope with even larger items, as long as you're comfortable with the, sitting out over the top of its top lip. The construction is hefty, and I suspect the weakest point would be the clip on the buckle. I've never had any trouble carrying my every-day items, let me know if any of you try lugging a ammo-can with yours.

The Stick-It isn't usually available as a stand alone item, but can be found in the Mystery Ranch Gunfighter pack, or through Hornest.

Viking Hardware piece

Raiding season is fast approaching, and many of you are yearning for adventure, salt-spray on your faces and the chance to prove your honor and win glory such that your forefathers and old-fathers  will sing your name and your children will ask to hear the stories again in the long winter of next winter.

But where you might find yourself loading up with kevlar and lead-spitting black rifles, and hopping in and out of HUVEE or MRAP, crossing seas aboard a C-130 or C-5, I thought I might cast your minds back some 1000 years to another group of hard-handed and steely eyed warriors plying their trade, by blood, fire and steel, as well as actual tradeable goods, the Vikings. I wanted to tell you a little about their wargear, and why it worked so well for them.


Read the rest on Breach Bang & Clear ...

Wish Lust: Devtac Ronin mask

I saw some really cool masks in my thread and I got in touch with the owners, and got the low down on their line.

DEVTAC co. inc. Japan started in 2010 and was a subsidiary of R&D Trading and consulting company. Devtac stands for developing tactics specialized in Business consulting and strategies. They have recently expanded their business to industrial designing concepts and manufacturing.
Their location is in Japan, Shizuoka ken Hamamatsu Shi Enshuhama Kenei jutaku 3 chome 2-22-204 if you wanted to visit a storefront, but otherwise they can only be reached online.

Their masks are not commercially made, but rather are individually crafted.  That have some very special capabilities. These are carefully handcrafted pieces customized to fit your needs.

Firstly, the masks are only ordered directly from them through Facebook, Youtube or email.

The main frame of the masks are fiberglass, with hardpoints for adding both bolt-on armour, and accessories. For those in need of Prescription glasses you can order one here. The offer several different versions, starting with the kevlar lined versions:

DEVTAC KEVLAR LEVEL 2A

Kevlar set is $1350USD ballistics tested up to level 2a(unofficial).

DEVTAC BALLISTICS KEVLAR PLATES MATERIAL TEST

DEVTAC TESTS 1 Super 38 1400fps 100gr NIJ Level 3a rating, 9mm on mp5 1200fps and 45acp 980fps

DEVTAC KEVLAR LEVEL 3A 

$1480USD Ronin mask Kevlar level 3a with 7mm plates. The Kevlar back plate to make a wrap-around helmet is $485USD and separately sold. 

DEVTAC RONIN KEVLAR LEVEL 3A TACTICAL BALLISTIC HELMET! BULLET PROOF

The main mask has an ultralight nylon fiber mesh that is reinforced with special resin and is very flexible, it can withstand strong impacts. The open cheeks are designed for easier aiming with scope or iron sights without putting undue strain on your neck. The cheek has 3 built in neodymium N52 magnets on each corner on both sides so it is absolutely hassle free when you want to put on or remove the cheek plates as quickly as possible.

DevTac masks come in the following sizes:

regular long- men 180-195cm tall 95 kg in weight

Regular short - men 158-175cm tall , 60-80kg in weight

Wide long- men 180-200cm tall 90-220kg 

Wide short- men 158-179cm 90kg-220kg

All the lens frames are ventilated by built in AA battery driven micro fan and a speed dial down by the cheek, and by some very clever design to both vent, and circulate air, they offer fog-free vision, with around a 120 degree arc of vision. The polycarbonate lenses fit into a removable frame and can be popped out to replace scratched or damaged units.

A cover is available for paintball users to stop paint getting blown into the mask from eye-hits.

For those of you who don't tend to face ballistic threats,  DEVTAC RONIN MASK(fiberglass) with  7mm fiberglass plates are $ 480USD comes with 2 pairs of lens, clear and amber or your choice. Without the plates is $350USD. including everything. 

BACK HELMET with extender and plates is $195USD and $145USD without  plates, (as an add on), as with the kevlar version, this offers fully-wrapping head cover, and an enclosed shell, held in place with straps and magnets.

Additional options are things like a built in NVG PLATE with shroud: ($75USD-Fiberglass $135USD-kevlar) and even a MOHAWK helmet decoration for $69USD.

N50 Neodymium magnets spaced around the back of the mask, and the front of the back plate to hold it in place. Each magnet has a 1.2kg pulling capacity, so are very sturdy. The cheek plates are also held in place by magnets, allowing the user to remove them in the field to give you a cheek-weld to a rifle stock or to improve venting. The crown, mouth and ear plates are bolted on, for stability, but have venting ports, with heavy mesh below that, to give venting access for when you need.

All parts are replaceable. The mask has 1 year warranty on electronics and 2 years on the frames.

Paint options depend on the availability of the paint for DecTac at the time. They also offer water transfer prints with Multicam and ATACS now available for $80USD per frame.


DevTac aims to provide Airsoft and Paintball PPE but their venture into kevlar lining might well make them a player in designing armour or use in more dangerous fields.

They offer the Ronin helmets in a variety of colours, with the flexible polymer base and nylon mesh inner, the plates and eye lenses, along with all the straps you need for a front-facing mask, or the magnet attaching options for the back-plate if you choose to go that route. One thing you'll need to keep in mind is that manufacturing is only done every 3-4 months or so, and slots are limited so DevTac ask that interested people make a reservation.

Payments are through wire transfer, and Western Union and pre-order needs a down payment of $200USD for airsoft version and $500USD for ballistic version. Shipping is 45.00$USD (kevlar version is 65$USD) Japan Post, EMS or SAL worldwide flat rate. Extra pair of lenses are $27USD.

--------------------------------

SAMURAI MENPO MASK 

Basic price is $115USD it includes magnets and garter straps and triglides with no metal bolts.

$145USD will include the metal bolts and holders and leather straps. 2 years warranty.

Shipping is $35USD, and is sent via EMS Japan Post and takes 4-7days

They ask for a downpayment of 50$USD for the menpo.

The DevTac masks are most excellent to look at, and if the field-footage is to be believed, they do the trick. I'd love to get my hands on one, for shear bad-assery, let alone armoring my head.

Review: Arena FlackJak goggles

I picked up a set of goggles a while back which I have added to my gardening, crafting and disaster preparedness kit. It's been a whiles since I have had a big set of goggles, my last set being a paintball mask, as I've made do with safety glasses or my much loved (and currently broken) Barz Optics goggles glasses to protect my eyeballs, in a way that my slim glasses just don't.

High speed fragments, harsh chemicals, dust and smoke in the eyeballs are just no fun and will ruin both your day and survival odds, which is why I look for ways to protect mine.



These are the Arena Flakjak goggles as seen under my Ops-Core style bump helmet This is the kind of setting they are specifically designed for, and you can see by the sleek fit, they really marry nicely with the brim of the helmet. They even fit my glasses reasonably well, although there is always a little skew one way or another when nose piece shares space with nose frame.

Arena state that their goggles feature what they call Razorback technology, which deals with fogging, particulate and moisture, by providing the a good airflow rate with a really interesting ridged vented filtration to create non-fogging conditions behind the lens while preventing debris like sand, moisture, and flying debris to enter the goggles.


The lens itself as well as the anti-fogging coatings, features OptiWide geometry which really makes for some really good optical clarity and distortion free peripheral vision to at least as far as I can see clearly with my glasses on, and only reduces my overall angle of vision by about 2cm or so at each side.

The lens material is ballistically designed for maximal eye safety exceeds Z87.1 - 2003 Plus standard and meets MIL-STD-662F (as related to .22 caliber, 17 grain, Type 2 fragment simulating projectile) standards. Which means my assertion for using it for for yard and craft work is probably spot on. Power tool fragments are not your friend.

One really nice feature of the goggles are the Buckle Management Retention Fastener (BMRF). This system allows for both quick and easy strap replacement, but also sturdy fitting both over a helmet, and against your bare head. The fits are quite different, and the rotating fastener really allows for this.

The modular buckle system also provides the goggles to integrate with a variety of helmet platforms, I tried it with my bump helmet, but also my Pro-tec Classic helmet and a couple of the hard-hats I have laying around.


One really important feature of any goggle is the lining and seal. The lining of these are made of the VS Foam, which is a proprietary goggle foam designed to wick moisture away from your face. The surface is comfortable, and the body both compressed enough to make for a good seal, but also not so soft as to over-compress.

I recently took them out for a running test which gave them a pretty good test of the fogging as well as the fit.

The certainly fit very nicely, were stable and very comfortable, but after about a km in, at 12kph, they began to fog up, and stayed that way, on or off, for the duration of the run.


I suspect that in a dry environment, they would probably work out pretty well, or perhaps if there had been more of a breeze, and a third party de-fogging treatment might well prove effective. It was a shame to find how fogged they became, as I can imagine in a hostile environment, or undergoing other strenuous activity (as I'd also found this to happen whilst doing some grinding and drilling and home) that this could be quite a risk to be aware of.

Still, I'd rather have some goggles than NOT have some goggles, and these will certainly have their place in my preparedness kit, to be sure. 

Wish Lust: GUTS HM1 helmet mount

I stumbled across a very cool Kickstarter project, which marries three of my most favourite things: Helmets, lights and preparedness!

This one comes from a Firefighting crew, rather than my more usual geeky or tacticool sources, and I have to hand it to them, when it comes to getting it done, on very little, our First Responders are often at the pointy end of state and federal budgets. I'm very happy to promote this really cool idea, and hopefully get a very cool looking tool into their hands (and mine). Or rather, our of their heads, and hands, and ONTO their heads!

This is the GUTS HM1 fully adjustable helmet mount for lights and tools, by Kris Nagy, Ed Machen & 3LS

 It is a bolt on bracket, that non-invasively mounts to the side or front, above or below the rim, of standard fire helmets as well as hard-hats, but probably also to bump helmets without rails, or even sporting helmets....



The GUTS HM1 is designed to accommodate AA, AAA or CR-123, sized flashlights, small tools or video cameras. Essentially any item that that range in size from ¼ to 1 ½ inches in diameter. and allows the easy fitting and removal without tools, in the field.The body of the bracket is made from aircraft grade aluminum, with two stainless steel ¼ inch set screws to secure the platform to the helmets front or side brim. The strapping is the really exciting part.

The QuickStrap™ is made from ARA- Shield and fire retardant Hook & Loop both are NFPA rated materials. These are the same NFPA fire retardant materials used in firefighting bunker gear. The rubbery property of ARA-shield® grips and keeps your equipment secure even when it gets wet. The strap anchor point is reversible. This feature allows the user decide the best way for them how to tighten the strap, by pulling up, or downwards, whichever suits the user.

3LS are offering the GUTS HM1 in either "clear" silver or anodized in red or black.  The entire system weighs 70g (2.5oz) so would be no burden to most helmets, especially if you're already used to fitting lights or cameras to your head.

I really hope these guys make their funding goal, and perhaps some of YOU out there can help ...

Review: OpsCore style bump helmet

Here's another item that falls into my laser-tag/MILSIM collection that spills over into my equippedness kit.

I'll get it out there right away, that this is an OPSCORE style knockoff. If the good folks at Ops-Core want to send me the real deal, I'm all for that, but right now, this will do me.

I really wanted to get a helmet that I could mount my Contour GPS cam to directly, as both the sticker and hat-rigged rail methods I've tried haven't been overly comfortable when doing a 20km mud-run or two
but I had a good expereicne with the helmet-cam's at IRL-Shooter: Patient Zero so I wanted to go that route.

What you can see here is the side rails, mimicking the ACH-ARC Kit to which I have fitted a proper Ops-Core Picatinny rail adapter, on top ow which I have mounted my Strikemark Contour Cam adapter. The ACH-ARC Kit and the FAST Helmet rails facilitate all manner of accessory attachment, from lights, to a face-plate armour, goggle straps and headsets.

I have a Manta strobe mounted by a sticky loop-field, because when I am out adventuring, I want to be able to be found if i get washed out to sea, fall in a heap, or whatever.



The front of the helmet has a VAS_Shroud mount where I could fix NVG or the like, if I had that kind of rig. Currently I am sporting a  KayRank Tactical helmet rank plate by Jerald Kubicek.  I wear that rank plate for roleplaying purposes only, I don't hold this rank in any official capacity (and more power to all the real E-7's).

Inside the helmet are a set of adjustable pads, with hook-fields stuck around the inside to allow custom fitting.  The chin and head straps follow the H-nape style  and gave me a pretty secure fit, once I adjusted it to sit on my head, and policed my hair with a HeadSox tube.

Once I had, it was pretty comfortable, I have taken it out kayaking, running on my Sky-Walker kangaroo legs, and lazer-tagging. I will be not only be wearing it for all my adventuring in the future to stave off bumps and knocks, (but as it it only a rigid polypropylene plastic, and not something I'd trust my life and health to.

It is not a substitute for a bike-helmet, or in any way or shape ballistic protection, but will save my noggin from crawling around under pipes and beams. The ends of the bolts that affix the rails and straps poke in the helmet about 1/4" and i think that could do with some grinding down, too, for safety.

Otherwise, a fun addition to my kit a great place to mount my cam, lights and gear, oh, and somebody wake up Hicks.

Review: Aquayak - Snapper Pro

I was driving past a series of shops recently, and stopped at a set of lights and looked over and there it was, my local Kayak shop. I felt it was time, given the water only five minutes down the road from me and the fact that I haven't really covered any sort of transport caught my mind. I have used kayaks before, mostly in lakes and rivers in Canada, in the Rockies.

I dropped them a line after looking over their website and I was delighted to be offered the chance to trial a couple of their models. The first is the Snapper-Pro, the fully kitted version of the Snapper.

This is a 2.7m (8'10") long ‘sit-on-top’ kayak with a range of features, including coming in a range of colours, all in their propriety 'alkatuff polyethylene' material, which holds a UV certification for maritime plastics. Pretty impressive. 

The hull is deeply molded and 0.8m (2'7") a the beam. It also only weighs 18kg empty (just under 40 lbs). I lugged it out of the shop, lashed it to my vehicle (more on this later), drove it home and looked it over before taking it out on the water.
I wanted to get a closer look at the hull cross section that had been hinted at on the website. It did indeed have a very interesting profile, and I was keen to see if this unique low-drag underwater shape that provided the speed and tracking through the water without the need of a complicated rudder that they advertised.

The last kayak I had used was a "sit-inside" type, you traditionally see, and required "eskimo-roll" survival training in the event of capsizing. On the AquaYak boats, you just climb back on like a surfboard.

Here is a cross-section of the hull, sitting as a display in the shop. The polyethylene hull is both spacious and well reinforced with supporting pillars scattered throughout. The pillars seen here actually form part of the self-draining system the boats share, as scupper holes that allow sloshed in water to drain back though the boat. The hull is around 6-8mm thick, and has most of the major features molded right in, with very few cuts or holes drilled into the body.


   

The kayak has a capacity of 120kg (265lbs) and as long as you keep in mind the operator (for me, that's 85kg, leaving 35kg of gear haulage) however, after handling it in the water, I wonder if that might be a very conservative rating. There are three storage ports built into the hull, fore, central and aft. The turn-lock sealed ports allow you to store a variety of gear in the hull, away from the worst of the elements, and keep your center of gravity low at the same time. 

 

For the fishers our there, the central port comes fitted wit ha removable, drop-in bait bucket, all the better for catching the fishes with!

 

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't have any trouble moving it around, even on my own. I keep a couple of karate-belts i have collected over the years in the boot, which make for excellent roof-rack ties. The smooth edges of the hull laid right on the roof of my car and I lashed it through the built in safety lines. Getting it up and down was a pretty simple exercise, the biggest trouble was doing so in the high gusting winds I had on my paddling day. I have roof-rack rails, which aided in lashing, and I could, if i needed, have put a specialized kayak carrier on, but it didn't really need it.

 

Here's where I went, a little sheltered bay on Port Phillip Bay. You can see that it wasn't a very clear or fine day, it was drizzling on and off, a strong wind was zipping in and there was a bit of chop. There was also a fair bit of a hill to portage the kayak over. All part of the test I wanted to give it.

 

 I got the Snapper-Pro off the top of the vehicle, put on my vest, and helmet,  grabbed the paddle and trotted down the hill to the beach.

 

   

Getting it down on the beach, I unfolded the padded seat, and latched it to the loops bolted to the hull with the brass clips provided. With two forward, and two behind this padding fitted in nicely to the deeply molded internal seat. Webbing straps form each of these four points  and allow you to customise the fit and feel of the seat. I opted for a slightly lent back approach, because i'm so tall. I sat in it on the sand to adjust, then got ready to push off.

 

 

 

 

 It wasn't overly cold, but with the wind, even the bit f spray I got would be chilly, so I dressed for the occasion in my Platatac Microfleece half-zip top and matching Microfleece Sniper pants under my North Face pants and Paleo Barefoots.

I knew I wouldn't stay dry,  but I wanted to stay light, and warm.

Pushing off, I moved through the shallows, and was amazed at the very shallow draft the kayak had. in barely more than ankle deep, I was floating just off the sand, and with a gentle push of a paddle, I was afloat.

Paddling out into the bay, it took me a few minutes to remember how to coordinate arms to hips, to ensure stability, and not to dig too deeply when on the shoreward side of waves. 

All along  the rim of the Snapper-Pro is a safety line, a heavy cord, mounted securely to the  hull by a series of hard plastic loops. There are also two drag handles, fore and aft, to assist with hauling and climbing back in, should you go over. You can see here that my feet were right up to the front of the cockpit, as I have really long legs.
It wasn't uncomfortable, but an extra few inches would have made a difference for me.
One thing that I hadn't anticipated was the scupper holes letting water into the cockpit, and right into the seat of my pants. As I say, I had anticipated getting wet, so this wasn't a problem, but just be sure that you bear this in mind. For those with shorter legs than mine, there were a series of channels in the sides to act as in-situ footrests, which was a really cool idea.
I found that I could access the center port with no difficulty, but the fore and aft ports were moslty out of reach.

The kayak was very stable in the water, and responsive too. I haven't paddled for 15 years, and quickly found myself zipping over waves, from end to end of the little bay, against the current, against the wind, and across both. It was only when I over-paddled and over-balanced that I had any troubles controlling it. 

You can see over my shoulder, the elastic cargo netting,  which I left empty for my trails, but would fit a decent sized pack, like my Platatac light field-pack or a child quite happily (obviously, you don't put the child under the straps). You can also see the aft drag handle. Both the inter-hull cargo compartment, and the external cargo compartments in the aft and between my knees, so there is plenty of space to haul cargo, or passengers. Bear in mind the weight limits, and get your bug-out -kit waterproofed!

I had a couple of tumbles whist finding my water feet, and found that I could quickly (if not easily) haul myself back on board.


Not only did the kayak handle well, and was easy to right, haul and lug, it was sturdy and stable. I feel I could have fished happily off it (using either of the two built in rod-holders in the aft) although I would need practice to get my cast coordinated so I didn't dunk myself.

I had a real blast with this, and I think I will be trying to include more watercraft skills in the future in my planning.I also took a bunch of Contour Cam footage, and have included it below:




http://contour.com/videos/watch/aquayak-snapper-pro-1


http://contour.com/videos/watch/aquayak-snapper-pro-2


http://contour.com/videos/watch/aquayak-snapper-pro-3-dunkings


http://contour.com/videos/watch/aquayak-snapper-pro-4


http://contour.com/videos/watch/aquayak-snapper-pro-5-hauling