The ACK Blog!

Dry Bags vs. Dry Boxes - How to Choose

2009-11-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of choices when it comes to keeping your gear dry and protected from sudden, unexpected impacts. With all of these choices, how do you decide? I’ll try to explain all of the features and benefits for the different choices that you will have to consider to help you make an educated decision.

The biggest advantage of a Dry Bag is that it is flexible. Its flexibility allows it to be stored in places that normally go unused and out of the way, like in the bow of your kayak or in front of your feet. The flexibility of the Dry Bag also means that you can stow larger, bulky gear in it, like tents, sleeping bags, and roll-tables. Dry bags are also light. If you empty the contents of the bag during a trip and no longer need the bag, it can be folded or rolled up and easily stowed.

There are two main disadvantages to most Dry Bags. The most popular and inexpensive Dry Bags have a roll-top closure. This means that all of your gear is loaded in through the top and the gear is stacked on top of other gear, meaning that if you need something in the bottom of the bag, you need to completely unload the Dry Bag to get to it.

The biggest advantage to a Dry Box is that it is rigid and can contain padding inside. This rigidity keeps its contents protected from impacts or crushing blows. Boxes can be lightly padded with a layer of foam or rubber or they can be filled with foam. Sometimes the foam is a block of foam that can be carved to fit specific items or it can be ‘Pick and Pluck’ foam. ‘Pick and Pluck’ foam fills the entire case and is perforated which allows you to remove small sections of it to make a custom fit for your items. Boxes with ‘Pick and Pluck’ foam are excellent for larger cameras or other items that are sensitive to shock. Dry Boxes also have the advantage of being quick and easy to open. Typically they have one or two latches on them so they can be accessed easily. This makes Dry Boxes a better choice than Dry Bags when you know that you will need to access your gear like a camera or phone multiple times a day.

Liter for liter Dry Boxes are more expensive than Dry Bags, so for cost efficiency a combination of the two may work best. Due to their rigidity, Dry Boxes are sometimes more challenging to store in smaller areas and their shape can make them tough to fit through some hatch openings. As well they can be difficult to stow in a backpack since their corners can press into your shoulders or back if not situated properly. Like Dry Bags, most Dry Boxes are not rated for submersion, they are meant to protect from splashes and short, shallow, quick submersions.

Make sure to read the specs for each Dry Box or Dry Bag before you choose one. There are options on the market to compensate for the shortcomings of both Dry Bags and Dry Boxes, but there is added expense to them as well. There are Dry Bags and Dry Boxes that are rated for submersion usually to 3 meters for up to 30 minutes, although there are boxes that are rated for deeper depths. Expect to pay a premium for these features but depending on what’s inside it may make the investment worth it. Dry Bags and Boxes can last through several seasons of hard use just make sure you keep them clean and stored properly so they are ready to go when you are.

This is a condensed version of this article, for the complete version click here

--Steve

Order Fullfillment Speed

2009-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

At ACK almost nothing is as important as getting you the right product in the fastest possible time. We continue to hold stock levels that are unparalleled in the Kayak Retail Industry but stock is only one factor in the equation. While product availability is great we have gone one step further in differentiating ourselves from others out there.

First, last month we released an updated cut-off for all accessory shipments, now allowing orders of in-stock items up to 5pm CST. We have worked with our shipping companies to arrange for late pickups and have streamlined our order processing to ensure that any in-stock order that is received before 5pm CST ships that day, two more hours of order time. Kayak order cut-off has been moved to 3:30pm CST, an additional hour and a half.

Today we are pleased to announce the addition of UPS as one of our shipping providers. We continue to ship using FedEx but with the addition of UPS we now are estimating the delivery date and choosing the provider based on the fastest delivery in order to get you your order even faster. This significantly increases the number of packages delivered in 2-3 days as UPS/FedEx have very varying maps for the 2-3 day window.

Additionally, since FedEx delivers residential on Saturday and UPS on Monday it allows us to cut off significant time on packages that would have shipped on FedEx and been delivered on Tuesday, they will now deliver on Monday via UPS.

We continue to evaluate other ways to increase the speed and service of everything we do, if you have suggestions, post on up comments.

--Peter

The Dam 5K & Collegiate Race

2009-11-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

I headed out to the check-in for the American Swimming Association’s 3rd Annual Dam 5K race that started at 7:45am on Saturday. I convinced my boyfriend to come along with me, so I loaded a Hobie Revolution and Hobie Sport into my truck, grabbed a couple of breakfast tacos and we were on our way to Lake Travis. We got there and unloaded the kayaks, checked in, and after a quick paddlers safety briefing, we were ready to launch! We didn’t have enough paddlers to assign every swimmer their own kayak, so we spread out and kept our eyes peeled for stressed swimmers and motorboats. Thankfully, most of the swimmers kept their line pretty well and none of them had to stop. I have to say how impressed I was that all the swimmers finished the race on their own accord, with the fastest swimmer coming in at 1 hour and 43 seconds. This was my first time as a safety peddler for a swimming race, but I have already volunteered for upcoming races. The swimmers and organizers were very thankful to the paddlers and showed their appreciation with yummy cinnamon rolls and t-shirts. It was a lot of fun to break into this community and provide a great service for these athletes. People were so impressed by the Hobie Mirage kayaks that we had a small demo after the races were over so swimmers and paddlers alike could experience first hand the awesomeness of the Mirage kayaks. Overall, it was a great experience and I’m looking forward to the next one!

--Kate

Camping and Climbing at Quartz Mountian

2009-11-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Last week a couple of friends, Steve O and Liam, and I took a long weekend up to southern Oklahoma for a few days of camping and rock climbing. Southern Oklahoma boasts some of the best granite slab climbing in the country and it’s practically right around the corner, just a short 6 hour drive from Austin. The three of us are all experienced climbers and campers and we were looking forward to weekend getaway. Our destination was Quartz Mountain, otherwise known as Baldy Point, an 1800 ft. slab of granite 75 miles WNW, of Lawton, Oklahoma.

The trip started out on Thursday morning with a fizzle, actually with a fizzle a dead battery. Since we were car-camping at a site just a couple of miles from Baldy, we pretty much left nothing behind and while loading the car the dome lights were apparently a little too much for a the 4 year old battery in the Armada, so after we filled the 56.7 ft3 of cargo space with everything that we could think of, loaded ourselves and tried to start the car, she didn’t comply. No big deal, a quick jump and we were off. In the back of my mind I thought that this might come back to bite us, but off we went. An easy, uneventful drive brought us to Quartz Mountain Nature Park and Camp Ground. We staked our claim at camp site #55 which was 75 yards from the dumpster but more importantly from the rest rooms, and quickly set up our tents. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and while the temperature wasn’t too cold, the wind was blowing 20-30 making it chilly. We got the fire going – thankfully we planned ahead and acquired several bundles of firewood prior to arrival at the campground since this park, like many others, prohibits foraging for firewood.

Learning #1: When the wind is blowing 20-30 a campfire is almost useless. The wind blows the heat in the same direction as the smoke, so if you want to stay warm you have to sit in the plume. Always pack a cold weather and rain gear, no matter what the forecast is…

We warmed up a pot of chili that Steve O’s wife had made, grilled some sausage and enjoyed a nice hot meal before retiring for the night. The plan was to get an early start on Friday so we could spend the entire day on the rock. Steve O and I retired were sharing a tent. Since there was just the two of us in a 3 person tent, we were able to keep all our gear in the tent with us and still leave plenty of room to ourselves. Being there were no space or weight constraints I brought along my Therm-a-rest Basecamp, the largest version of the self inflating mattress series for my sleeping comfort. I do have to confess that I brought along a sleeping bag that I had removed the tags from years ago and therefore I have no idea what the temperature rating is for it. The first night with the wind blowing and cooler temps I was very comfortable, but the subsequent nights I was way too warm and that made sleeping tough.

Learning #2: Know your gear and leave the tags on them when they are informational. The proper temperature rating for the sleeping bag would have made for a much better night’s sleep. Fortunately in this case, my rating was for colder temperatures that we experienced, if the opposite was true, I might have been much more uncomfortable or worse.

I woke up Friday morning and set a pot of water on my WhisperLite Stove. I love this little thing, boils water in 3 minutes and it will burn white gas, kerosene and even unleaded fuel. Admittedly I didn’t need to use the Whisperlite since we had a two burner stove and 9 cup GSI Outdoors Glacier Coffee Pot, but I wanted to test out my new MSR MugMate Coffee Filter and it had been a while since I had used the WhisperLite. The MugMate is a simple little gem allows you to brew a single cup of coffee right in your mug. It weighs virtually nothing, is reusable and stores inside your mug so it takes up no space. Place the filter in the mug, add coffee and pour water in the top. Let it steep for a few and voila, the perfect cup of coffee.

After coffee and breakfast we loaded up the gear and ourselves in the Armada, and, well, nothing. Dead battery again, I should have trusted my gut yesterday. Fortunately we were able to flag down a park employee who very graciously gave us a jump and then grudgingly made the 20 mile trek the Napa Auto Parts just north of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. The folks at Napa couldn’t have been nicer and we had the battery replaced and were at the climbing site within an hour.

Climbing at Baldy Point is fantastic and very accessible with a short 20 minute ride from the camp grounds. The parking lot is almost at the foot of the climbs and there is even a clean restroom in the parking lot. We climbed pretty much all day Friday and Saturday, eating lunch on the slab. One thing I noticed about Baldy is that in my opinion the routes are harder than they are rated in the guide book (Oklahoma Select) so proceed with caution and don't get yourself into something over your head. The climbing was exciting and very enjoyable and tested all of our skills. During one of the climbs on Saturday, I put my Klean Kanteen to the test as it fell out of my climbing pack and sailed 30 feet before bouncing 4 times on the granite. The bottle itself survived remarkably well with just a few very small dents in the steel, but the plastic sport top cracked. Note to self: Next trip bring the loop cap instead of the sport top.

After two strong days of climbing and beautiful weather we enjoyed steaks and fire grilled potatoes for dinner on Saturday night. Steve O set up a slack line in the camp site and we goofed around on it a bit, enjoying the last few hours before settling in for night. Sunday morning it was time to head back to Austin. The drive back was uneventful and safe. What a fabulous weekend. Not only was the climbing and the company great, but it was nice to just spend a few days away from the daily grind and enjoy nature for a bit. I've posted some pictures as well as our route on my SpotAdventures.com page for your viewing pleasure.

--Steve

Camping at Quartz Mountain

Stimulus Savings

2009-10-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

So, back in February of this year we launched a coupon code in this blog, it was a 10% off all accessories and was set to expire when the economy started started growing again. I am sad, but yet happy, to say that today the economy showed a 3.5% growth, while that is good news it also means the end to our coupon.

On a bit of a side note of pure happenstance, I had set this code to expire on 11/1/09, as if I was predicting today's release.

--Peter

Ivan's Trip To Matagorda Island with Lessons Learned

2009-10-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

I'll start out by saying, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray"....

My father and I have been fishing at Matagorda Island State Park in Texas several times a year since I was a kid. It’s one of our favorite spots to go and has continued to be the go to spot for our annual “father-son trip”. Years ago there was a ferry that used to run from Port O’Connor to the state park twice a day that was only $4, unfortunately it burned down. This resulted in a huge decrease in traffic to the park, which eventually led to it being transitioned into a Wildlife Management Area. Since the ferry burned down, we have enlisted the services of local fishing guides to ferry us and our gear to and from the island. The fee normally runs anywhere between $150-$175 round trip. This is probably a fair charge for services rendered but has always been hard for us to swallow having always before paid $4. With this in mind, I’ve always been looking for an alternative way to get out to my favorite spot to fish that was more economical. So one day at work (Austin Canoe and Kayak), I’m browsing through some of our laminated aerial photo card maps and see one for the “Port O’Connor Paddling Trail”. This is about a 12-mile paddle along the east side of Espirtu Bay through some barrier islands out to the campsite at Matagorda Island. “This I can do” I thought. I’ve done long paddles before, I have a map with GPS coordinates to guide me…I’m going to do this.

I set about quickly making packing lists and trying to find someone to accompany me for the weekend. Apparently many of my peers don’t have the same flair for last minute, untested, long paddles across ocean bays that I do, and I was unable to find anyone willing to commit their weekend to what in my mind would be a challenging adventure. So it looked like I’d be going this one alone. As the day grew nearer I was studying my route more I realized that it was possible to put in at Charlie’s Bait camp, about halfway along the coast between Port O’Connor and Seadrift, and there was a straight shot to my destination across open water that was only 7 miles paddling distance. As I was leaving straight after work on Friday and had a 4-hour drive down to the coast, I wouldn’t be entering the water until between midnight and 1 o’clock in the morning. With this in mind the shorter paddle began to look more appealing even though it was across open water. The weather reports said that the wind should have been less than 20 mph, so I figured the swells wouldn’t be too bad. I knew that I was entering a bit of a hazardous trip when I started out and thought I had done most things I needed to prepare myself. I had my cell phone and GPS unit, with all points already plotted, in a Pelican 1060 dry box. In hindsight I think I would of preferred to have them in a waterproof soft case like an Aquapac so that I could of manipulated the buttons without taking it out of the case and risking getting it wet. I had my Scotty 360 light, as well as a Princeton Tec Fuel Headlamp. I also had all of my clothes and sleeping bags packed into an assortment of dry bags. I, of course, also had my whistle and PFD which are required by law. My last little trick for signaling in an emergency situation is something I learned about from my time in the Marine Corps that we called a “buzzsaw.” You take a chemical light stick and tie a 3 foot piece of string to it and after it is activated you spin it around over your head to signal a rescue team, it’s very effective for aerial spotting.

I started out about 12:30 at night as intended and the wind was blowing a little bit harder than I had expected but it wasn't too cold and I wasn't real concerned. I had a borrowed Tarpon 160 that I was paddling for the first time and was about 2.5 miles in and getting out into the center of the bay when the wind started to really pick up and the swells were getting bigger. I was having a really hard time staying on course with the wind and was tiring out much quicker than I had anticipated. I'm in pretty decent shape and have done some long days of paddling before so I was surprised how quickly these types of conditions were wearing me out. My progress began to slow even more and I noticed that I now had standing water past the scupper holes in the foot well of the kayak. This had me more than a little concerned so I opened up the center hatch and looked down to the horror of seeing the kayak filled over halfway with water. I knew enough to recognize that I was in serious trouble at this point. Between the waves and the wind which was now gusting probably 35+ I knew if I got turned sideways and got just a little squirrelly I would be rolling over. I grabbed a water bottle and cut the top off of it to use as a bailing cup. My problem was that I had to alternate between scooping out a few cupfuls of water and then paddling again quickly to straighten out. A combination of this routine and stress began to really take its toll on me and I wasn't making any progress at this point. Over the next two hours I only made about 2 miles headway, as I had to repeat the bailing process several times as I continued to take on water. I was still about 3 miles from my destination when I realized I just wasn't in a condition to make it and I needed to figure out something different. I looked on my GPS for the closest land and luckily it was about 1.5 miles and in the direction the wind was trying to blow me. I limped in that direction completely exhausted and finally managed to literally wash ashore like a piece of driftwood somewhere along the barrier island for Pringle Lake. At this point I was soaked and most likely in stage 1 or 2 hypothermia. I grabbed my dry bag with my sleeping bag in it and got up above the tide line and stripped down to nothing and crawled into my sleeping bag to warm up. I probably passed out for an hour or so. Let me tell you what a relief and comfort it is to have the assurance that you have a dry place to sleep and dry clothes to put on after being cold and wet.

I woke up feeling much better, put on some dry pants and pulled my kayak up farther from the water. I have a Crestone 2, two man backpacking tent which I can luckily put up in about 5 minutes, which I did, tied my kayak to it in case the tide came up and then crashed inside of it again.

I awoke the next morning no worse for the wear, luckily my kayak hadn't tried to float away and it was a beautiful morning. I was alive so that means it was time to go fishing ! I still had about a 4 mile straight shot, 6 or so paddling miles to the slip at Matagorda so I didn't fish as much in Pringle lake as I would of liked. The water clarity there was great and I was able to paddle up on quite a few reds in shallow water. I had several follows on a Spook Jr all the way up to the kayak and a few blow-ups. I brought in 2 or 3 undersized reds but nothing else. I did see more stingrays around there than I've ever seen in one area before so if you're a wader watch out. I was relieved to FINALLY make it to Matagorda! There were a couple of sailboats in the slip and a group of 3 guys camping there. After setting up camp, I saw they had quite a few fishing poles in their camp so I wandered over to see if they'd had any luck. They'd had none at all other than 1 or 2 undersized the whole weekend. The tide was higher than normal, but I think the main problem was the water clarity it was just dirty. Not only that, but way to much floating grass all over, and that's a pain with any type of lure. I tried for the rest of the evening with everything I had, top waters, spoons, soft plastics, cut bait on the bottom, live bait under a popping cork…nada! I was regretting not spending longer in Pringle sight casting to reds.

Mosquitoes were bad as usual, but not as bad as I've seen them sometimes in the past. I brought along a Thermacell and it was the first time I've had a chance to use it, and wow, it worked great. If I walked outside of my little area of protection I got slammed by mosquitoes but around my little area there was never more than one mosquito buzzing around. I had brought a little bit of food and busted out my little Bugaboo cooking set and my MSR Whisperlite stove which really puts out a hot flame from such a little package and fired up a little dinner for myself. After a little warm food in my stomach it was time to hit the sack for the night.

I was still pretty tired and slept later than I had intended the next morning and didn't get back out onto the water till about 9:00. The water was still really dirty and I didn't have much luck for the first hour. I have rarely been skunked fishing along the channel that runs into the slip there for trout but I was having no luck. I headed to a little shallower area mostly sandy with a little bit of grass patches when I noticed quite a bit of bait working in the distance. I had a Norton bull minnow on one rod and a live mullet under a popping cork on the other. I cast the live bait over and the bait continued to boil on the surface and was surprised I wasn't getting any hits on it. I got a few little bites on my plastic but no sets. More and more patches of bait started getting run to the surface all around me so I switched over to my trusty spook junior and that was the ticket. I immediately began getting blow-ups on it, and would stop reeling do the little "wounded twitch" and bam! Fish on! It probably pulled in a couple dozen mixed of undersized reds and trout. I had gotten out of my kayak at this point and was just standing in a sandy patch when I look down and there are probably 5 or 6 reds swimming around me. I couldn't believe it. I reeled in and was thinking to myself surely they are going to spook at any second...I was able to actually just put my pole out and jig the top water across for about 2 seconds and got to watch one of the reds rocket up to the top of the water and snag it. It was a pretty awesome experience. It was getting later and I knew I had a long paddle back so much to my chagrin, right in the middle of the bite, I had to pack it back to the campsite. I did end up with 4 keeper trout, but I'm pretty sure I could of gotten my limit had I stayed. Surprising side note, I never got even a nibble on the live bait which was kicking the whole time I was out there and it was continuously surrounded by bait hitting the water...any thoughts on that? The guys at the other camp were also packing up and had a boat chartered to come pick them up. I was about loaded up myself when their ride arrived and took them away, they hadn't made it very far when they turned around and came back...I had assumed they forgot something but much to my surprise they came back for me! They generously offered to give me a ride back to Port O'Connor! I was thrilled to not have to paddle my way back across that after my experience two days before. I have to give Captain Bob there in Port O'Connor many points for his generosity for the ride and he even had his wife load me up in her truck and drive me down to Charlie's after we got back! Its nice to know there are still people in the world who show random acts of kindness to strangers.

Ok. So time for some lessons learned....

1. If you’re doing a long paddle trip or headed away from shore in an unknown kayak check it out first. The leak ended up being from a botched front hatch, which I would of figured out had I done a good inspection or done a water test on it before I had set out.
2. I had waterproof gear and didn't wear it...after you get wet it's hard to stay warm...
3. Don't go alone
4. Wind can come up at any time and it’s usually going to blow in a direction you don’t want it to.
5. If you haven't done something before, doing it at night probably isn't the best idea.
6. Get a kayak with a rudder if you’re going to be paddling long distances in the wind.

If nothing else hopefully my story helps you think a bit longer before setting off on a trip of your own. I'm glad I did the trip and encourage other people to try expeditions that push the limits a little bit. Just take the time to do it correctly and safely!

Camping and Kayaking - Part 3

2009-10-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain and more rain. The April showers are 6 months late here in Austin, but well received. Hoping for a small break in the rain at the end of the month for a Camping/Climbing trip in Oklahoma so I can test out some of our new gear. Check here in early November for details from that trip. Here we go with Part 3 of Camping and Kayaking, the final segment of this series...for now.

Stove/Cook Set: Keep the kitchen simple and compact and you’ll find that you spend a lot less time cooking and more time enjoy the scenery and your family and friends. An all in one system like the MSR Reactor Stove System is great for quickly boiling water. You’ll find a plethora of dry foods out there that only require water and taste great…mmm freeze dried ice cream sandwiches- they’re good, I swear. So if your camp site doesn’t have a grill or allow open flames or you don’t feel like carting prime rib along, try one of these. You’ll be surprised. If you want a little more versatility but still want to stay simple look at something like the Whisper Lite Internationale Stove (lets you burn white gas, diesel, or unleaded) and a cook set like the GSI Bugaboo Camper Cook Set. Of course if space isn’t as issue, go all out with the real stuff and use the Pioneer Enamelware Camp Set…I still have a set of this from Boy Scouts, it lasts forever.

Dry Bags/Dry Boxes: There are probably a thousand different choices for keeping your gear dry. One thing is for sure, a Ziploc baggy and garbage sack are a disaster waiting to happen. If you value your gear, especially electronics, invest in a couple of dry bags. There are ones that are specific to electronics like SealLine Waterproof Electronics Cases and others that are more universal like the Baja Bags and Tuff Sacks. Dry Bags also work excellent for organizational purposes. Several smaller Dry Bags in different colors can help you keep your gear organized in your pack or kayak as well make it easy to sort out when you get to camp. There are various versions of Dry Bags like the See Bags that are made with clear or opaque materials that allow you to see what is in them without having to dig around or empty them. In some cases the materials that make up the clear or opaque Dry Bags is lighter duty so check the specs on these and make sure they are suitable for your situation.

Kayak Cart: I know this is not necessarily what you would consider camping gear, but I like to think on them as wheelbarrows. For those camp sites that are 100-300 yards away you load your yak on a kayak cart, pile on all your gear and wheel it out to the site- voila – one trip.

I know some or all of you are going to come up with items that I overlooked on this list or that you may think are more important, and that’s great, because my biggest goal here is to get you thinking about how easy it is to take your kayak camping with you, or your camping kayaking with you. Comments are always welcome and encouraged or you can send an email to customer@austinkayak.com.

Camping and Kayaking - Part 2

2009-10-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I have finally recovered from the Demo Weekends. Thanks to everyone that helped with the events. We had some so-so weather for the San Marcos and Houston events, but everyone trudged along. Continuing on with the Camping and Kayaking theme, part two of this three part series follows:

Fire and Water: Fire, Man’s greater discovery. Fire makes everything better. Fire cooks your food, keeps your warm, and can add a romantic touch in the right situation. A simple lighter usually suffices, but as a backup you can’t deny the utility of simple Swedish FireSteel . FireSteel will spark in any type of weather and altitude. The best $12 bucks anyone could spend. Water is a no-brainer. You need a water to transport it and a way to treat the water if you run out of your Evian and have to drink from the bayou. There are chemical treatments as well as ultraviolet systems. Both are equally effective, but the ultraviolet systems are faster and over time become more cost effective. Chemical treatments like Aquamira Water Treatment Drops are fast and effective as well as easy to pack, and take 20 minutes to treat a liter of water. UV systems like the SteriPen Classic Safe Water System allow you to filter and purify a liter of water it in about 45 seconds. Lamp life on the SteriPen is 8000 cycles, so in English that would mean about 2,000 gallons or 36 fifty-five gallon drums of water.

Coolers: Food and drinks MUST stay cold. Yeah, the Styrofoam one from the ‘Snappy Mart’ works just fine, but boy does it make a mess when it gets inadvertently crushed by your x-camping buddy who uses it as a camp chair. A good cooler, like the Yeti Roadie, packed properly and opened infrequently can hold ice for days, sometimes weeks, even in the hottest environments. For a less rigid cooler there are soft-sided ones like the NRS Dura Soft Cooler. Not quite as insulated as the hard-siders but still keeps ice for a day or two. We kept ice in our coolers from start to finish in The Grand. After 15 self-supported days - the margarita’s tasked fantastic on day 13 when we were sure we could spare the extra ice.

Camp Chairs: If you are hiking any distance you don’t want to carry a bulky camp seat, I recommend the Therm-A-Rest Trekker, it turns your Therm-A-Rest Sleeping Pad into a comfy camp chair and takes up virtually no space. If you don’t have far to travel then a camp chair like the Crazy Creek Classic Camp Chair is simple, sturdy and comfortable, just tougher to pack. Those chairs in a bag are great but are no fun to hike, so reserve them for the shortest trips.

Sleeping Pad: Get the biggest one that fits your tent. Why not, they don’t weigh a lot and strap to the outside of your pack. The Therm-A-Rest Base Camp is super comfy and keeps you well insulated from the ground. As mentioned above, these will double as your camp chair so you get a two-fer.

Look for part 3 in a few days. Comments are always welcome and encouraged or you can send an email to customer@austinkayak.com.

Steve

Camping and Kayaking - Part 1

2009-10-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

A Three Part Series

How do you camp from a kayak you ask? Well I have a little bit of experience here. I spent 6 days sea kayaking along the coast of Baja a few years back and a couple of years before that I spent 15 days, albeit rafting, traveling 245 miles down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. These kinds of trips take a lot of planning and the logistics can be tricky to say the least, but these are the extremes. Realistically, what most of us do is drive to our State Park, local river or coastal refuge and spend a few days at ‘Base Camp’ while taking short jaunts out on the water either fishing, exercising, bird watching, or just sight-seeing from our yaks can canoes. For trips like these you really shouldn’t have to worry about packing light and tight since you’re probably car camping or at most hiking a few hundred yards from your vehicle to the campsite. There’s no shame in car camping, I imagine that 99% of the folks that camp, car camp. I could probably Google this and cite a source or two, but I’m sticking with my gut. So car camping and kayaking it is. There are probably a dozen items that every ‘car camper’ needs to make the outing easy and relaxing. Here’s my list and reasoning:

Tent: Save yourself some weight and expense and get a 3 season tent unless you know you are camping in the winter. The Kelty Yellowstone 4 is a great example of an inexpensive, easy to use, feature filled tent. One suggestion I have would be to make sure the tent has at about 30% more room than you think you need. In other words if you normally camp as a couple, get a 3 person tent. That way if the weather turns foul you can store you gear in it easily without cramping your space and since you aren’t hiking it very far the weight isn’t as big an issue. On an outing in the Cascade Mountains, during some really poor weather, I spent a day and a half in a 2 person tent with an over-sized tent-mate and 6 days worth of alpine gear. Not a lot of fun.

Back Pack: Many destinations that offer camping and kayaking also offer great day hikes. A small day pack or a hydration pack is a necessity. Something like the Camel Bak Rogue Hydration Pack is perfect for a short 1-3 hour hike. The Rogue holds 70L of water and has room for snacks and maybe rain gear. Need more space for more gear, check out something like the Kelty Red Wing 2650 Back Pack. The Red Wing offers enough capacity for longer day hikes and also has a reservoir sleeve so you can add a hydration bladder if you desire. While in The Grand, we hiked every day. My favorite pieces of gear were my water bottle and my CamelBak hydration pack. Make sure the pack is big enough to hold your rain gear.

Rain Gear: Even if you are in the warmer climates, you’ll still want a rain shell with you. Covering two or three miles in the rain whether on foot or in a kayak is a lot more tolerable with a light rain jacket on. Chances are you won’t use it, since most of us plan these trips when the weather look favorable….fair weather campers… but one unexpected downpour will convince you to always carry rain gear.

This is part one of a three part series. Look for part two in a couple of days. Comments are always welcome and encouraged or you can send an email to customer@austinkayak.com.

Steve

Demo Day Aftermath

2009-09-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Things get a little crazy during the demo day and all the proper procedures are not always followed 100 percent during the weekend. Things like transferring the correct boats to the correct place and selling the wrong colors does take place. Today I'm buried in a sea of numbers and transfers trying to get the inventory straightened out before I start transferring stuff to San Marcos and Houston.

Monday can't be over fast enough.

Chris

Demo Days are Here!

2009-09-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting time for us. This weekend we will be on the water with over 70 kayaks and a few hundred people. What makes this event so exciting is the ability to put so many different kayaks out there for people to try. There is not a better way to purchase a kayak then through one of our demos. This weekend we are in Austin, next weekend we have San Marcos and Houston at the same time. If you live in Texas and are thinking about a kayak, this is the time to buy. It isn't about the savings, sure we have some discounted kayaks, but it is more about the ability to test paddle all the different models side by side.

Looks like we have willed in some great weather as well, so, see you all there!

Check out the Site for more info...

--Peter

Camping Season Means New Products Galore

2009-09-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

The camping season is upon us in the North and just about to get prime in the South. I thought this would be a good time to take a minute to point out a few great additions to the site. We have been scouring our manufacturer's coffers to find the "Best of the Best" in camping gear so that we could compliment our vast selection of kayaks and kayak accessories. We figure that if you load up your boats this fall to head out to the water for a long weekend or a quick overnight, you're gonna need some other gear. Check out the new items here. As always, ACK is picky, so we are only carrying the proven winners in these categories. No junk here. We have only touched the surface though, keep checking back if you don't see what you want or drop me line (customer@austinkayak.com) and I'll do what I can to get you what you need. I love suggestions. In addition to the new Camping category Peter has re-categorized many of the items to make it easier to browse and shop. We've added a Kid's Corner to make it easier to find gear for the little ones as well as ACK Pooch for all of you dog lovers out there. It's amazing how many cool and innovative dog toys are out there. BTW-The Blue Dog loves his Bottle Tracker! Why he is named Blue Dog is a conversation for another day. Happy Paddling....and Camping.

--Steve

Wilderness Commander Arrives Today

2009-09-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Probably the most exciting boat released in a couple of years is arriving today. I was blown away by the design and the function of this at the Outdoor Retailer show and I think you will have similar opinions. Those that pre-ordered, they will be shipping today, for everyone else, order up.

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/2047/Wilderness-Systems-Commander-120-Kayak.html

--Peter

Website Redesign

2009-08-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

We have spent a good portion of time redesigning the website for our latest release, as you will notice, this Blog page is the only page still rendering in the old format, let us know what you think of the new layout and shopping.

--Peter

Dan From Werner

2009-08-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

Dan from Werner Paddles has been visiting all of our stores giving us product knowledge on the Werner brand of paddles. You can just tell the folks at Werner live to paddle and that's a good reason why they make such amazing paddles.

With the wide assortment of new Werner Paddles we are adding it's a good idea as a company to continuously work with our employees to attain the highest product knowledge base possible. I just wanted to thank Dan for taking the time to come by the stores.

Oh Blog...I'm Sorry!

2009-08-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, have I been neglecting my poor little blog, it isn't that I am not thinking about you, I think about you quite often, it is just that there is someone else, I'm sorry. Facebook has been getting my attention and I do apologize, I promise I will be equally faithful to you as I am to Facebook.

Now, on to some good stuff, check out our "Product Search"...we have improved the search results, give it a try and let us know if you see anything weird.

--Peter

Not Exciting but Worth It!

2009-07-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today we made dramatic steps to ensuring that our site is never down again, some of you may remember an awful day back in May, well, we have been hard at work to ensure that it never happens again.

Today was the start of the end, we made a major move to our new Database infrastructure for redundancy, of course we cannot provide details due to security issues, but rest assured that our new infrastructure is infinitely better than before and you may even notice that our site is a bit faster today with the upgrades. The final changes should be occurring by week's end and then we will officially be 100% on our new infrastructure and a long way towards ensuring that downtime is minimized.

On a completely different note, look for a long update from the Outdoor Retailer Show tomorrow here.

--Peter

Outdoor Retailer Show

2009-07-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

We have not been good at our Blog...it isn't because we don't want to communicate but rather because we are very busy with travel.

We are currently at the Outdoor Retailer show....we have seen some really cool products...check out our Facebook page for photos.

The Wilderness Commander is really cool....the Perception Tribe is a great entry level kayak and the Hobie Tandem Island is a long time coming but couldn't be here soon enough....

http://www.facebook.com/austinkayak

--Peter

Johnson Dealer Conference

2009-07-07T10:46:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned! We are currently at the Johnson Outdoor dealer conference, Johnson is the manufacturer of Ocean Kayak, Old Town, Necky as well as many other brands. We will be updating the blog with updates on new models and changes heading to the industry. If you want the latest and greatest, stay tuned.

--Peter

Behind the Scenes

2009-06-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes some of the best work is never seen.

In the past few years we have continued to develop our internal systems to keep up with the pace of orders to continue to maintain the highest level of service. For those that have ordered you are well aware that your order is processed and shipped the same day. We pride ourselves on achieving a 99% ship rate on in-stock merchandise the same day ordered when ordered before FedEx has arrived for pickup.

To keep up with the pace and minimize errors we have upgraded our order processing to include a better receipt, this receipt may look prettier but behind it is a barcoding system that allows us to scan the package with our new Shipping application and produce a shipping label for your box. No mis-matching boxes and labels, no typing any information....place it on the scale, scan the package, put label on package...it is that simple.

These changes that are not noticeable to all of you and are probably more important than the pretty things we release such as the Rack Helper we also launched this week. These back end systems allow us to process and ship faster than most companies in the eCommerce arena.

--Peter

Waste...NOT

2009-06-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

So, how much do we throw away at ACK? Hardly anything!

Let me put this into perspective, we used to throw away a dumpster full of stuff every two days until we decided that recycling and reusing was best.

For those that have ordered from us you have probably noticed that we recycle. If it is a small boxed item we first try to use a recycled box, if we do not have one then we used a purchased box. You will know if it is recycled, we have a nice "Ugly Box" sticker. I am guessing you are also reading the Austin Newspaper, we teamed up with the American Statesman and we take their overun and misrun papers and use them for wrapping materials.

Those that have purchased a kayak you will find two different packing methods depending on the kayak and how it is wrapped. We try to recycle large boxes and use them to wrap the kayaks before bagging, if we run out of cardboard we fall back on our 'tuff sack' wrapping. The 'Tuff Sack' wrapping is like shipping gold so we do prefer the other method and it seems more fair for the environment. On a side note, at least two people got a great looking Ford 150 box from my son's truck (yes, we even cart our personal boxes to work).

Now, what is the real point here? It isn't to tell you how great we are or how we do not throw away much, it is to remind you or inform you that everything that we ship is recyclable with the exception of the 'Tuff Sack' and we encourage you to recycle whenever possible. The bubble wrapped bags we ship in have been used at least twice and sometimes three times prior to shipping to you and they can be recycled anywhere that takes plastic. The cardboard, well, is cardboard.

Please help us out by ensuring that the recycling cycle continues with all of our wrapping and packing material.

--Peter

Facebook Posting

2009-06-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

If you have never seen what the old Austin Canoe and Kayak store looked like check out our facebook page. We posted old pictures today and will post some San Marcos early photos tonight.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-TX/Austin-Kayak/143784540163

Thanks
Chris

Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo-Canceled!!!

2009-05-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

This week it was announced that the TPWD Expo was canceled for this year and next because they had lost significant financial backing from sponsors. I'm really saddened by this news because I thought the TPWD was one of the best free events I have ever been to in my life. The looks on the kids faces that got to experience biking, kayaking, shooting archery and general wildlife was priceless.

2 years ago I first attended the expo with ACK and was in awe of all the people that came together for an event that taught kids and adults how to have fun outside. I was floored when I learned that the event was free!!! What events are free anymore? In this world where gym classes are being canceled because of a lack of funding. Video/computer games and TV are far more important than taking a step outside for children. The TPWD expo was a necessary joy for the people; in Austin and the surrounding neighborhoods.

I don't know the answer or how to fix this disaster but I wish it could be averted that someone would come to the rescue. The expo is worthwhile event that needs to find the will to go on in some capacity.

Chris

I'm a Male Model

2009-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

You may notice the new picture on the home page of the web site of a rather stout looking young man fishing standing up from a kayak. That is me!!! All 6'4" and 300#s of my uncoordinated body throwing a soft plastic frog in to some grass at an Austin Lake. 2 things are interesting about that photo...1. That's pretty much the only kayak I can stand up in (The Ultimate 14.5 and the Hobie Pro Angler) and 2. Having male model on my resume is no longer a farce. While I may not have been compensated for my time I still feel pretty.

By the way I didn't catch a fish all day :(

Chris

PFD Buoyancy Code Broken!

2009-05-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be wondering what it means when a PFD has 16.5 lbs. of flotation, I have also wondered myself so I went on a detective hunt...here is a simple answer...

If you have a Type III PFD that has 16.5 lbs. of buoyancy (the Vista for example), it would be capable of supporting 16.5 lbs. of dense material such as lead, iron, gold, granite, etc. It would not let the material sink to the bottom.

How can this PFD with 16.5 lbs. of buoyancy hold up a 325 lbs. person in the water you ask?

Time to do some math! Take the example of a 325 lbs. person. Approximately 80% of the body is water. Water in the body has no weight in water. So now we are down to having to support only 65 lbs.

Water in Body:
325 lbs. x 80% = 260 lbs. of water weight

Actual Supported Weight:
325 lbs. - 260 lbs. = 65 lbs. of actual weight

But the PFD only has a buoyancy rating of 16.5 lbs. How can it hold up 65 lbs.?

On average our bodies also have 15% fat and fat is lighter than water.

Lbs. of fat:
325 lbs. X 15% = 48.75 lbs. of fat

Weight Supported
65 lbs. – 48.75 lbs. = 16.25 lbs. of weight that needs to be supported

So for a more natural example, using the same math, the average 200 pound person only weighs about 10 pounds in water. The 16.5 lbs of buoyancy in the PFD is more than enough to keep the person afloat.

Steve (First time poster, long time reader)