C-Forum

i need your opinions?? whats the best creek kayak to convert to c1 Im using it for big sticky runs and 40- or + drops is the dagger mamba a good choice??

Weeeeellll, if you run 40' drops all the time, you prob don't need my advice.....
However, the Mamba is pretty flat and I would def. prefer the Nomad b/c of the round hull.
Blunts (if you still find one) are great for that, too. Stay away from flat bottom boats for tall falls.

Cheers, Jan

not sure i understood your post, but if your running 40 footers, post some frickin video, man!
this here's what i got my eye on. looks sweet... although i would not be running 40 footers...
http://www.pyranha.com/newsSheet.php?boardID=1&id=15

hahaha i do not run 40 ' foot drops but im only 17 and would like to attempt a 40 footer this season
thanks

-maattt

Personally, I dont think theres a really good C1 for creeking out there (cascade not with standing, but is 11'6" long) . Ive tied a lot of c1 conversions and at 195 lbs , they just dont have the stability needed for class 4+ and up work. I find myself dividing my attention between keeping my balance and making the move I am doing. My best paddling has always been when im not even thinking about the boat. Sort of in the zone so to speak. And that has not been possible for me so far in a kayak/c1 conversion boat.

Unfortunately I have agree on that. I have an H:3 255 but paddle my Bigboy mostly. I definately don't feel the comfort or confidence level in my H:3 as I do in the Bigboy, when it should be the other way around.

are you joking?

my h3-255 is so stable you could fall asleep in it in class 4 and still get to the takeout ok. i think it's as stable as my old viper open boats (been a long time..).

your outfitting must be in backwards or somethin'

i weigh in at 178, i'm 6' and the saddle is at 6.5"

and the cascade is a TANK! may have been good 15 years ago, may be good in limited applications but this is 2006 and the newer boats are for sure better.... more fun

btw.. i also paddle a wheelboy. love it, but i definately want to be in the h3 on the hard stuff.

the Nomad 8.5 lets me def get away with murder. It's super stable, predictable and gets me out of trouble.
THat said, it breaks too easy.
I guess everybody has a differnet opinion on K-1 conversions and I cannot really gauge what other people want to run in their boats....
For the stuff I paddle most, I am pretty happy with Blunts and Nomads. For more crusy paddling I like the Diesel quite a bit.

Buy an old crappy one (even when it's already cracked), paddle it, make up your mind, paddle another one.....then once you found one that you like, buy a good one and paddle it for a season until you crack it

If you like paddlong longer boats the cascade is prob the best boat you can get for creeking.

Cheers, Jan

thanks for all the feedback so far it looks to me like a dagger mamba 8.5, its big and really stable + im only 140 lbs so it sits nice and high to punch nasty holes

thanks

-matt

ClassFive and mshelton,

So what boats are you paddling when you're running "the gnar"?

Bigboy? some old school composite boat(s)? OC1?
*gasp* kayak?

I've recently found out (much to my dismay) that paddling an H3 hasn't cured all of life's problems for me either. Yes it's nice to not have a boat full of water, but it's slower and tippier than I'd hoped.

I hate to say it but maybe I should've bought a Taureau and a 1/2 bat of minicell...
or
I could've waited and prayed for a miracle in the form of a Fatboy (in plastic!)

at 140, I would not buy a 8.5. It will be a lot of boat and a lot of volume to get *stuck* in holes.
Try a 8.0 as well.

I am 180 lbs and the Nomad 8.5 feels slightly too big for me.

Cheers, jan

At the risk of sounding old (I'm 27!), I'd like to offer some advice to mrosene. Have you run many smaller drops yet? Your goal of running a 40 footer is ambitious and carries with it very significant consequences. My creeking career is likely over (potentially my mountain bike racing, hockey, etc.) after an MRI last summer revealing very substantial compression-based damage in my spine, the result of years of big drop kayaking. What was particularly sobering for me is that I never really "messed up" a big drop (eg. landing flat). Do not underrate the forces you are dealing with when running the big ones. I would never run a big drop in a flat-hulled boat personally. The Mamba 8.5 (is this the one at Bushtukah in Ottawa? If so , it's a great deal) will be a great boat, but I wouldn't be hucking it off 40 footers.

Cheers,
Glenn

MotorCityOC-1 wrote:ClassFive and mshelton,

So what boats are you paddling when you're running "the gnar"?

Bigboy? some old school composite boat(s)? OC1?
*gasp* kayak?

I've recently found out (much to my dismay) that paddling an H3 hasn't cured all of life's problems for me either. Yes it's nice to not have a boat full of water, but it's slower and tippier than I'd hoped.

I hate to say it but maybe I should've bought a Taureau and a 1/2 bat of minicell...
or
I could've waited and prayed for a miracle in the form of a Fatboy (in plastic!)

Kevin,

I actually really like my Finkenmeister for creeking, particularly since I modified the outfitting (addition of thigh straps, lowering of saddle, moving seat 2" forward). So far, I haven't been in any conversion that came, at least in lmy opinion, close to touching it (so far Big Gun, Blunt and CFS).
I haven't run any full on class V runs in it yet, but when running the upper Petawawa in Ontario, the Upper Yough in MD or the Otter and Independence in upstate NY I felt really comfy in it.
The boat is not perfect (it could be a tad shorter, particularly in the stern and primary stability could be a bit higher) but overall, it's great.
The Fatboy definitely looks like it would have all the advantages of the FM and adress the few drawbacks it has.
The Taureau looks like a great open creekboat, I will give that one a try this spring.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

the bigboy is the larger version of the wheelboy, its the same shape and all that i believe but its a kevlar(i think) version. built for larger paddlers. heres a link to a pic,
https://ssl.perfora.net/www.liquidmojo. ... shopscript
cheers
-isaac

thanks for all the imput and I have run smaller waterfalls than 40 feet