How to Pick a Kayak Spray Skirt for River Rescues

Video Transcript

"The spray deck is another key piece of gear. While essential for kayaking and especially in whitewater, it is extremely useful in river situations when avoiding rescues and avoiding becoming a victim yourself. When you hop into the boat, make sure that you put the spray skirt on back first and fix it around the cockpit rim all the way around so that there is no areas that can leak and show that the grab loop is out and is nice and tight. When picking a spray skirt, it is important to get a nice strong spray skirt with a good rim and often an enclosure bar. If you are trying to avoid situations, this piece of gear right here is going to stop a large amount of water imploding the skirt and pushing it into the kayak where the spray deck will rip off, your boat will fill with water and often in a situation you really don't want that to happen. So picking a good quality spray skirt is very important. This will also allow you the freedom of not worrying about your gear as that is definitely going to take some of your thought process when you are entering large rapids and it is going to distract you from the case at hand. "