Immersion Research 2010

11 responses so far ↓

• 1 Frank Harris // Jan 29, 2009 at 5:18 pm

  Hi IR,

  Is this spray skirt waterproof around the stitching join? As I have one that is similar design by CanoeSports (when I complained to the supplier they told me that nothing is waterproof!? which I don’t believe) and it has always leaked and I have had enough but would prefer not to go to an al neoprene skirt for sea kayaking in my Dagger Halifax. What cockpit size would suit my Halifax?

  Cheers,

  Frank

• 2 John Weld // Jan 30, 2009 at 9:58 am

  Hey Frank,

  The Dagger Halifax is kind of an usual boat- not many were made, and I seem to recall that it had a very small cockpit rim- small enough that we would probably need to custom-make a skirt for that boat. To be sure though, if you can give me measurements for your rim I can answer that question definitively. Measure the width at its widest point and length. Both measurements should include the rim.

  If we do need to make custom skirt, our price for a custom touring skirt for a composite rim is $140. This is for a bungee-style skirt, and would be all-neoprene, although that price would allow for some modifications, like a fabric tunnel.

  This brings us to the issue of dryness. To make a long story short, you can make neoprene to neoprene seams completely dry, because you can butt-glue the edges together. You can also make fabric to fabric seams dry because you can sew and seam tape them. But it is very, very difficult to make fabric to neoprene seams dry. You can’t butt-glue fabric, and you cant get a dry seal by sewing and taping neoprene. This might be what CanoeSports was referring to.

  Having said that, we like making skirts, particularly custom skirts (because it’s interesting), and we wold be glad to help you get what you want, given the physics of the situation. If you would like to discuss this, please feel free to write back, or give us a call at 814-395-9191.

  Thanks for the note and the interest,

  -John

• 3 Frank Harris // Feb 1, 2009 at 5:06 pm

  Hi John,

  Thanks for your informative response.
  The Halifax is still sold in Australia and has a cockpit size 86 X 48 cm (http://www.dagger.com.au/seakayaks.htm ) which should suit a standard skirt?

  Cheers,

  Frank

• 4 Sapien // Feb 1, 2009 at 5:53 pm

  Hey Frank,
  I have one of these skirts and am 99% sure the size Large should fit your kayak fine! I have a Tsunami 140 with a slightly larger cockpit than yours, the Supratex surround is very stretchy but also very snug once in place, so it accommodates a variety of cockpits. The seams are all fully taped/sealed with some kind of space-age fabric tape, I don’t know what it is but it’s really well constructed. I would not hesitate to buy this skirt again!

• 5 John Weld // Feb 2, 2009 at 10:21 am

  First of all, thanks Sapien for your post- and you are correct- our “large” cockpit size is what we would suggest for that rim dimension. So, back to the original question of dryness. The Excursion skirt has a combination of both fabric and neoprene, which requires that the neoprene is sewn and taped. This isn’t 100% dry, but for many customers- like Sapien- it is perfectly adequate. If you want 100% dry, though, you will have to go with the all-neoprene skirt, like the Shockwave or Openwater. Finally, I should point out that there are many occasions where a poorly designed cockpit rim (we see them all the time) are to blame for leaks as well. On these tricky rims, some skirts by chance work better than others, and sometimes nothing works at all. Anyway, I hope this helps. I realize that this is a lot of information, but as long as boat manufacturers make 1000 sizes of rims, we will have fit and dryness issues…
  -John

• 6 Frank Harris // Feb 2, 2009 at 11:34 pm

  Thankd John and Sapein for you insight.
  I will go with the all neoprene Shockwave.

  Cheers,

  Frank

• 7 Sapien // Feb 3, 2009 at 12:29 am

  I’ll post a question of my own — what skirt size might you recommend for a Dagger Approach 10? it’s listed as a size 2.2, which would be XL, but the cockpit is 38×21″ max at the outer edge of the coaming, which would fall into XXL.

• 8 John Weld // Feb 3, 2009 at 9:28 am

  We actually just started making a XXL Shockwave skirt for that exact boat. In fact, they haven’t even gone into production yet. However, we can make you one as a “custom” skirt here at IR for $140. When they are in production, they will retail for about $120, but it’s going to be a few months before they are here. We usually turn out custom skirts in 2-3 days after we receive the order.
  Let me know if you are interested,
  -John

• 9 Lisa A. Daujotas // May 29, 2009 at 10:45 pm

  not a good day. Level 4 ACA training with my new 14.o Carolina Perception Aralite. Bought the xl as instructed and no way did that work. It seems I actually needed an xxl but that is not what your chart indicated. Very frustrating, found my self in tears trying to make something work so I could participate in the class.
  I trust an exchange will be made for me in hopes of getting what I need.
  Lisa

• 10 John Weld // Jun 1, 2009 at 9:13 am

  Hi Lisa,

  I want to apologize for this- an XL skirt won’t fit on the new Carolina rims. We will certainly take care of this. You will need an XXL skirt to fit that boat, and it will make a world of difference. I don’t want to make excuses- because at the end of the day this is our job to know these things- but I’d like to say that we originally made the XL excursion to fit the carolina 14. Keep in mind that this was because Perception put a completely new rim shape on that boat from the previous Carolina. Now I see that they have a new Carolina 14 with a completely new rim shape on it. It’s not bad enough that boat companies change rims from one boat design to the next, but they change rim designs on the same model. Its really almost impossible to keep up with it. Its a hassle for us, because we have to anticipate that there will never be common sense in rim design; it’s a hassle for store owners because they have to stock all of these different size skirts, and of course, it’s a hassle for the customers who ultimately spend the money on a skirt that doesn’t fit. OK- I’m off my soap box.

  Give us a call here at 814-395-9191 and let us take care of this.

  -John

• 11 Lisa A. Daujotas // Jun 22, 2009 at 8:56 am

  John – you rock and I want to thank you for talking care of everyone of my concerns and assisting me with customer service that is sorely lacking in so many places.
  You are a company that has earned my loyalty!!!

  Lisa

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