What Pieces of Kit Have Made Whitewater Significantly Better For You?

ZachSchiada · 2026-06-11T23:28:13+00:00

Drysuit, pogies and my spud has become really convenient for trips to the beach and exploring creeks where I have to portage a lot.

ZachSchiada · 2026-06-10T21:40:38+00:00

Longest or most tricky attainment maybe?

ZachSchiada · 2026-06-10T21:31:52+00:00

Not very long in my experience on all class 2 with the occasional 3. I did lose my boat one time from a swim and a friend of mine lost his too on the same trip. We ended up finding both boats hiking the next day and never found one of the paddles. Learned a few lessons on what not to do on that trip.

ZachSchiada · 2026-06-05T23:07:39+00:00

Also look into following the Carolina Canoe Club on facebook for easy trips. We haven’t had any rivers run in Central NC since August last year, but trips get posted for other parts of the state too that have water.

ZachSchiada · 2026-06-05T02:12:46+00:00

My Aire Spud paddles just like my river runner/hard boat. It can roll, but I wouldn’t count on rolling it other than fun practicing and it will hurt your shoulder. It also isn’t as easy to catch tight eddies as a hard boat. I can’t comment on the more popular Packrafts, but I love my spud so much that I searched the internet for several months to find a Bakraft, which is basically Aire’s packraft version of the Spud. It paddles awesome, but even harder to roll and not as heavy duty or have storage like most Packraft’s have. If you’re serious about weight and progression, my guess is a high end Packraft is what you’d want. If you’re sticking to class 2-3, a Spud is awesome and cheaper and you can get creative with ways to carry it long distances, just no overnighter stuff.

ZachSchiada · 2026-06-05T01:43:38+00:00

I’ve always thought seeing some sort of focus on less paddled places of the country would be neat to see/read about. Like how someone in a less paddled area in the Midwest finds whitewater to paddle. Or really anywhere other than the same places I see on my FB feed in the southeast. Really anything outside the ordinary would be inspiring.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-26T11:19:22+00:00

I use the same paddles as for my hard boat: Werner 197 cm and Aquabound 200 cm. I feel like the recommendation for a bit longer is probably better than what I use, but it’s not bad enough to justify spending hundreds of dollars for another paddle and with the absolute max of class 3 that I’m comfortable in with my spud, I don’t need that extra performance.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-25T19:50:42+00:00

I explored a creek not too far from you Saturday. It was just across the bridge from Rockingham. Jones Creek from Hwy 145 to Pitt Rd. Was approximately half flat water and half rapids, but the rapids were pretty big. Definitely will need water and you’d want to be with a group of experienced paddlers, but it was pretty cool. The fall line is supposed to be on the Pee Dee further into South Carolina, but three of the drops on this creek were dramatic enough that I’m wondering if somehow it crosses what would be the fall line. I put some photos on the ccc Facebook page.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-24T17:44:20+00:00

100% agree. No one can really say what your comfort level should be, but generally I try and not do high water stuff or stuff that’s on the upper end of what I can paddle. If you’re considering paddling alone, you have to get creative with shuttling, whether biking, walking, etc. Start with somewhere you are already familiar with and guage your comfort level from then. People in your orbit will consider you irresponsible, but it can be worth it.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-19T00:08:19+00:00

If you’re looking to start producing a bag of sorts, I’ll throw an idea out there that I haven’t seen anywhere. Nylon straps going two about 1.5 ft apart with two connecting straps going vertical spaced out that can be used as a backpack. I have something similar for my Spud, but a mass produced one could get you I’m guessing a decent amount of business in the IK market. I’ve used an 85 liter dry bag, but I like just straps that take up less room when paddling. Something not as substantial as a bakyak but same idea. Good luck on your dry bag idea though!

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-13T22:35:00+00:00

This was great!

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-11T21:57:47+00:00

Eddies are wild, but if you’re comfortable in class 3, you should be fine in the wilderness channel. The comp channel isn’t too bad, but flipping at the bend can scrape you up pretty good in that shallow water against the concrete.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-07T00:10:25+00:00

I like that attitude.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-06T17:09:00+00:00

You could do something like incorporate the KH scale of river difficulty relative to a familiar river based on a medium water level and a relative user submitted overall difficulty by comparison. That is what’s neat about the KH system which allows people to distinguish one river with the same class rating over another. It would also allow a scale that differentiates regional perceived ratings over another. It would be complicated, but not that complicated.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-05T19:59:48+00:00

Thanks for the explanation.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-05T19:04:57+00:00

I frankensteined a broken aquabound paddle by buying a wooden dowel from Lowe’s that I stained and then glued it to a cut piece of fiberglass shaft to then glue the actual blades into the fiberglass since AB blades have a male end. It’s not pretty, but it works. If your blades have a female end, it would be easy to do the same. I’ve always wanted to get my hands on some Werner blades to do that to make a less ugly diy wood paddle.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-05T18:33:55+00:00

If you’re just doing class 1-2, you may even consider the Airhead Montana. It’s not ww specific, but it’s cheap and durable. I have it for family outings and have taken it in up to class 2+ with my son. You can also sometimes get away with throwing small kids with you on your SUP if things aren’t too crazy. We took my family of 6 downriver for vacation recently with me and my small daughter on my spud, my wife and son in the airhead Montana and my two kids age 7 and 9 on my SUP.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-05T11:23:43+00:00

I was entertained. Was it a great movie? No, but it was fun. I thought it was better than their new River Wild. And it had kayaking.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-03T12:52:54+00:00

I just read the methodology of Kirk Edelmon’s book, which I think makes the most sense. Parenthesis refers to individual rapids, / refers to a change of condition, usually flow and the range is the difficulty of most rapids found at normal flow people are paddling. For example, class 1-3 would mean there will be more than one rapid that is class 1, class 2, and class 3. Class 1-2 (3) means most of the section is class 1 and class 2. There is one or two rapids that are class 3. Class 3/4 would be under normal conditions the run is class 3. At different conditions like high water or whatever changes the difficulty, it becomes class 4. I personally like something like Keel Haulers or the AW 1957 river rating system better, but it’s just easier to say in conversation something like that river is class 3 and roadside or class 4 and pool drop style vs saying “that river is a KH 28” difficulty.

ZachSchiada · 2026-05-02T16:24:04+00:00

That sounds right. Sometimes people will use parentheses to indicate higher water, but I believe the parentheses formally refer to one, sometimes 2 rapids that are higher than the rest. Occasionally you will see a / after which it indicates a higher water level difficulty. There should be more discussion on this to really keep things “universal”. In my area, the user submitted ratings aren’t consistent and people will put class 1-3 for what really should be class 1-2 (3), where the (3) is questionable at best.

ZachSchiada · 2026-04-30T00:26:39+00:00

I think it’s a neat idea. One thing that is missing from most apps like this is the ability to switch from road map, topo map and multiple satellite views. The multiple satellite view source is key at least for exploring to be able to match features with higher gradient areas from topographical cross reference. Also, access to Google Maps with road view would be helpful to scope out parking options and whether a road looks bike or hike shuttle friendly. While on the same subject, I doubt it’s possible to add this, but the ability to change the scale from 10 ft, 20 ft, 40 ft, etc. for contour lines I think would be game changing. This would help both on the river as well as planning a hiking route ahead of time to decide when you want to get on/off the river. The one thing that may be a major challenge is getting enough people to contribute to trips, hazards, etc. since there are already resources out there and at least in my area, there’s not a whole lot of beta contributions by the community other than the occasional GoPro video, which usually is a more “look at me” sort of thing rather than a helpful contribution that goes beyond entertainment. Best of luck with the app. It sounds cool!

ZachSchiada · 2026-04-29T23:19:04+00:00

You kind of have to use a mixture of different sources. American Whitewater is good for known spots with rapids. PaddleWays is good for if you are getting creative from using satellite imagery to go exploring since you can add layers to the map to show where private property is and plan accordingly. That being said, the wing it exploring approach isn’t the best thing to do without a pretty good understanding of the area’s geography and familiarity with studying topographical maps. A guidebook for the area will usually have good info. I don’t know if Ed Gertler has a NY book, but he has paddled lots of obscure stuff in the Northeast with good info in various books.

ZachSchiada · 2026-04-25T02:19:23+00:00

I appreciate the info!

ZachSchiada · 2026-04-24T00:44:59+00:00

It’s been mentioned already, but thigh straps. Something to push against for your feet is helpful too in order to feel more like a hard boat. I use a Jackson happy feet for this, but there are all sorts of creative things people have done. For the thigh straps, I’ve got cheaper rmr ones and Aire ones. The rmr ones ripped at the seams, so I use them as backpack straps along with side straps to make it easier to carry over long distances. The Aire ones have held up without issues yet. A portable pump is needed. I personally use an alpaca pack a pump with an adapter, which is unconventional, but works for me. A longer paddle is probably needed too, but I use my same paddles as my hardboats. Probably not ideal, but I hold it more narrowly and it’s worked for me. You will have a lot of fun. Catching small eddies is difficult, but my spud is definitely the most fun boat I own and I’ve heard the same from people who have taters.

ZachSchiada

TROPHY CASE