I have begun my own celebration of the lunar new year by reviving the blog after a winter hiatus!
I have occasionally borrowed Reed
tuiliqs from friends and mentors when I have travelled to the balmy southlands
beyond Inverness in summers past. However at the Reed Chillcheater stand in Perth at last October’s
Big Paddle Show I had a chat with Chris about fit and cut and now have a
tuiliq slightly altered around the face of the hood.
At the moment I am only able to get into the pool with my Tahe
Greenland about once a month so I have had to wait patiently to try the new
gear. Looking forward to a cooler and lighter experience it was with great
anticipation that I took to the water in the new tuiliq.
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| Aaah that's better... |
The lightness and freedom of movement the tuiliq gave was
great. Using a neoprene tuiliq principally designed to
keep you warm when rolling in freezing conditions outside, means pool sessions can get increasingly
hot and heavy. By contrast the Reed tuiliq allowed me to stay cool throughout
the whole hour I was rolling. What I hadn’t anticipated was the freedom of
movement which the Reed tuiliq gave me. I am sure that without the bulk of the
neoprene tuiliq (and without wearing a drysuit underneath), I was able to
increase my range of movement slightly, particularly when tucking forward and
when bending my arms behind my head. I certainly felt like I was able to fine
tune a few positions.
The hood fits well and kept water out of my ears - the adaptation
of having the edge of the hood go further
back under the chin certainly gave me a feeling of having no constraints at all
around my mouth and jaw. I really like this sense of being able to breathe
easily when you have a nose clip on!
I like the idea of having a light tuiliq which I can paddle
in, pull the hood up and roll with. This is not possible with the neoprene
tuiliq which is too bulky to get a BA with all your kit in over the top, and
which is very tiring to paddle any distance in.
I'm looking forward to taking the
Reed tuiliq outside…
Welcome back to the blog Lesley, have a great year paddling. :o)
ReplyDeleteThank you Douglas! Cheers and hope you have another amazing year of paddling yourself. :)
DeleteHi Lesley, it is wonderful to see you blogging again. I too love the lighter tuiliks. I especially like the Goretex one I purchased last year, it works even in the summer now.
ReplyDeleteThank you Christopher- after reading your reviews I expected to notice the lack of buoyancy but if there was any I didn't notice, too enamoured with the freedom of movement. Cheri was always mystified with my inability to get the paddle behind my head easily, but now I think it was just the bulk of material I was dealing with. Having said that the neoprene does keep you warm!
DeleteThanks for the comment on buoyancy, that was my first question as I was reading your post. I have been toying with buying one for my Tahe for the past year. Have had the opportunity to go to the pool 4 or 5 times since the first of the year. Left my neoprene Brooks at my camp so have been using only a skirt. One does notice the difference. Can get as far as the fist roll wi/o the tuliq am not coming near on the elbow. I am thinking that now may just be the time to order my Reed tuliq. Thanks. I will be interested to hear how warm it keeps you compared to the neoprene when you get into the ocean with it.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca's Mom, There must be a difference in buoyancy but it's not a big enough deal to be a problem for me, having said that I realise men likely have more dense top heavy body weight above the cockpit/floating on the water surface outside the qajaq so the degree of buoyancy will be different. I didn't try elbow rolls, will do next time, as for fist roll... Bravo! 4 or 5 times a week in the pool - lucky you.
DeleteBest wishes from Orkney. :)
Thanks for this found it most helpful for when we have a go at Loch Duich in spring '16. www.mark-greenland.blogspot.co.uk
ReplyDelete