C-Forum

here are a few videos I've made recently of me and my friends doing enders n shet. I'm open to all sorts of criticism. You'll either like'em or hate'em. Enjoy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... od9ZXnnInY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... zLqSK4f6fg

iRolled wrote:You'll either like'em or hate'em. Enjoy.

I liked 'em! Thanks for posting them. That kind of paddling's what I want to do when I grow up!

I was interested to see the Big Dog in action -- is this one of the prototypes, or are the production models making an appearance?

Any comments as to how the Big Dog compares to other OC playboats -- eg. Blackfly, Salsa, CU Fly. . .

Thanks!
Rick

Nice video Alex! Was that playspot Eternity Hole?

Playspot, on the pigeon next to the NOC. Down below the guide shacks. Make sure to complement the guides on they're wave. They built it. One of em is an openboater. It's a pretty good hole.

I liked the videos also. Learned a lot from the different approaches brought to the wave by the various paddlers. thanx for putting them out there.
Jack

sweet hole!
ya know, usually i just say "do it like dooley, or in this case Eli" but it does look like many of you are holding your lower hand way to high to do the quick moves required for blunts etc. that makes it hard to get your paddle vertical and the transitions and strokes are too slow. it's easy to find fault with others paddling upon video review.. so comments are made with the best of intentions.
paul

stay loose in the hips and torso... try to let the boat rotate around you. (Eli always sets a good example of this)

where your eyes and head go... the boat typically follows

let the 'flow of the hole' be your guide... settle in and find the sweet spot and keep using it's corners to spin ya' back to the sweet spot

yadda, yadda, yadda...

Pierre LaPaddelle wrote:Any comments as to how the Big Dog compares to other OC playboats -- eg. Blackfly, Salsa, CU Fly. . .

Am still drooling for some input on this from anyone who's tried the Big Dog.

Pleeze 'n thanx!

Rick

What you can see on the video is the production version of the Big Dog Kaos OC1 playboat. It's had a lot of tweaking since work was first started on it a while back.

It's the same boat that Eli and I used at the Worlds this year and is available in carbon kevlar. Custom colours / graphics are included.

I'll give you a short review but I'm pretty biased!

The first thing you notice with it is that it's pretty quick for such a short boat and on a wave it feels super fast. It's loose and 360s with ease. You sometimes just have to let it go and it does the work for you. This production model feels nicely balanced on end, and unsurprisingly it's easy to get vertical. When it starts cartwheeling again just let it go and it'll just keep going for you. For such a small boat I think you'd be surprised at how forgiving it is.

The thing that Eli and I have been saying is that it feels like the boat to open up a whole world of the new school moves for the OC1 playboater. Our problem is that being a couple of old duffers we're trying to work out these new fangled tricks.......we're working on that! Hopefully we'll get there in the end.

All in all it's a fun fun boat that will get you playing, and you're unlikely to be thinking a few months down the line that it was holding you back.

At the moment Eli has got the only one in the States so he's the guy to contact to try one over there. Or better still just buy one!!!!

Sorry there's not much flesh to this little appraisal but I've got to get up early tomorrow to go to Big Dog. Where we're just going to be putting some work into the Force OC1 creeker. The mould for this is done and the first plastic shells should be rolling out in the next week or so. We're working on the outfitting over the next few weeks and I'll have an update on that shortly. I'm looking to have a production shell in action very very soon.

If anyone has anymore questions feel free to ask. You know where I am!

Cheers

Bob

Hey Bob,
I'd like to hear more about ordering/cost/wait times for the Kaos in the States. Looks like a nice boat and I'd like to give it a shot.

I definitely like the new version of the Big Dog Kaos (the one in Alex's video) better than the older version (the one stolen at US Team Trials). I agree with Bob that it has a better balance to it. It is much faster than the BlackFly, Salsa and CUfly. The BlackFly handles well and is available in plastic, but I think in the Kaos I will be able to perform McNasty's and Orbits once I learn to keep up with it's speed. The Kaos is definitely the smallest boat of the bunch, and because it is composite it is lightweight and very responsive. I am used to footpegs, which it does not have, but I have no trouble staying in with the thigh straps.

The playspot on the Pigeon is fun, but very shallow. I need to take the boat to a deeper spot where I don't worry about destroying my paddle/boat (or me)!

I have the new version in Western North Carolina and the stolen one has been recovered and is currently in Missoula, Montana. If anyone would like to demo either of them, just drop me a line.

Hi Eli

PM on the way!

Rick

I'll throw my two cents in...
I think the Blackfly and the Kaos are build around very different theories. The size difference between them demonstrates this. I think the Kaos is geared toward being more aggressive, make it as easy to throw around as possible, where as the Blackfly is a little harder (and by no means hard) to throw around, but makes up for it by being easier to paddle overall. For a bit more on the thought/theory behind it: http://www.chasingrain.com/nooz.php?sub ... m=&ucat=2& I'm not sure one theory is 'better' than the other- just different. I've tested my theory, and I can say it works, and it seems like the 'Kaos' theory works too.
I will say I'd much rather take the Blackfly down the Gauley.

RodeoClown wrote:I'll throw my two cents in...
I think the Blackfly and the Kaos are build around very different theories. The size difference between them demonstrates this. I think the Kaos is geared toward being more aggressive, make it as easy to throw around as possible, where as the Blackfly is a little harder (and by no means hard) to throw around, but makes up for it by being easier to paddle overall.

Thanks, RC, for the comments, and for the article. Perceptive insights.

Sad to confess, we're not all at the same level of skill, and the choice of an appropriate learning platform (usin them big werds agin!) is relevant.

I guess one more question would be -- does the boat come with lessons??

Rick

Smurfwarrior........let me get back to you on those questions.

As far as wait times go, I know the guys can turn around a carbon boat super quick. The main sticking point would time for shipping etc.

I'll get in touch with the guys and work it all out from there.