C-Forum

I have a used Esquif boat. Did Esquif use Mike Yee outfitting or their own version of the same? Thanks.

If it's Mikey's, the straps would say "Mike Yee Outfitting" on them.

Must be their own version, but it looks the same as on Mike's website.

chuck naill wrote:Must be their own version, but it looks the same as on Mike's website.

I first boat had Mike Yee outfitting, and I've paddled the VertigeX (tandem), Spark and Zephyr. The outfitting may look similar, but in my opinion, I much prefer the Mike Yee outfitting. Enough, that if it was a Royalex boat I'd order just the shell and put in Mike Yee stuff. I wouldn't do that with the Zephyr though, given the difficulty of getting the outfitting to stick. I'd just live with the Esquif factory outfitting.

h2sk1 wrote:

chuck naill wrote:Must be their own version, but it looks the same as on Mike's website.

I first boat had Mike Yee outfitting, and I've paddled the VertigeX (tandem), Spark and Zephyr. The outfitting may look similar, but in my opinion, I much prefer the Mike Yee outfitting. Enough, that if it was a Royalex boat I'd order just the shell and put in Mike Yee stuff. I wouldn't do that with the Zephyr though, given the difficulty of getting the outfitting to stick. I'd just live with the Esquif factory outfitting.

You may have a point. The boat came with everything including NRS life time bags so I'm not complaining.

I didn't really give my opinion in my earlier post cause I assumed it was already outfitted. I love Mikey's outfitting and have put it in several boats over the years. Quality and comfort, plus you can make it as tight as you need to stay put.

MarkT wrote:I didn't really give my opinion in my earlier post cause I assumed it was already outfitted. I love Mikey's outfitting and have put it in several boats over the years. Quality and comfort, plus you can make it as tight as you need to stay put.

Honestly, I would hate to have to install all those anchor points......LOL.

I do the bag cages my own way, with just one anchor at each end. The strap anchors aren't that hard to figure out.

This boat was an NOC demo. They did the pedestal and anchor set up, not sure what brand of anchors and bag cages used, very impressive and complicated cage set up. It is a double knee strap system with adjustable Yakima toe blocks.

I believe the Esquif outfitting (black thigh straps with red webbing) is made by Beluga world. The biggest difference is the webbing - the Mike Yee has much tougher webbing & stitching (I've broken Esquif straps). The Mike Yee pedestals are also shorter - his XL pedestal is the same length as a standard Beluga.

The Zephyr I have was an early NOC demo and almost all of the anchors came out(2 each for air bags plus two lower thigh strap anchors) . These were kevlar (I think, been a long time) patches with loops that appeared to be epoxied in - the epoxy didn't flex when the boat did and they popped. The upper thigh strap anchors are big vinyl patch D rings - not sure of the adhesive, but they have held. I've used Goop to replace the d-rings with good success.

The original straps were Esquif style (black / red) and I always thought the funky buckle would break so I pulled them out and put them in a C-1 (much less stress). Replaced them with 2" flat webbing and Fastex.

DougB wrote:I believe the Esquif outfitting (black thigh straps with red webbing) is made by Beluga world. The biggest difference is the webbing - the Mike Yee has much tougher webbing & stitching (I've broken Esquif straps). The Mike Yee pedestals are also shorter - his XL pedestal is the same length as a standard Beluga.

Its pretty easy to copy outfitting, but the devil is in the detail as DougB explains!

I'll let you all know if these break. They are red with black pads. Its an '08 model so they've lasted this long.