Reviews

VE straight carbon shaft

The customer service I Received form VE was second to none. All of my emails were replied to instantly and from payment to delivery, it took only 2 weeks, which is exactly how long I was told it would be, no longer, making me a very happy customer.

The VE that I choose was the Prepreg carbon blades on the straight carbon shaft, I got it at 200cm with a 30 degree feather. The VE’s are light yet still strong. Some people prefer to have a heavier paddle but I personally think that the lighter paddle is the way to go. The best thing asbout the paddle definitely has to be the blade, the blade on the VE gives a very powerful and responsive stroke and takes up very little effort when pulling it through the water, far superior to my old Werner players. It has really helped me in improving my forward paddling and boof stroke. The grip on the shaft is really good and I do not feel that I have to put anything on it to help with the grip.

The way in which they have attached the blade to the shaft using glue looks very good, it might not be the neatest of jobs, but definitely looks strong. I did notice that there is a few marks where the glue has degraded the carbon, but this doesn't affect the paddle at all.

I have heard from some people that the VE’s aren’t as strong as other paddles on the market and the blades do tend to chip quite a bit. However, I haven’t experienced any of this (yet) and would defiantly recommend them over any other paddle any day.

Overall, I think that the VE’s are a very good paddle at a very reasonable price. The paddle I used before the VE was the Werner player and I will not be going back. On a whole the customer service is very good, the price very good and the paddle is very good, what more could you ask for?!?!

Select Pulse

After a short wait finally my new paddle has arrived! You could sorta tell it was a paddle whilst it got delivered as not many packages look like that. This paddle was replacing the seven2 which i was using, this was super short and skinny and had no feather with tiny blades.

I ordered a Select Pulse 710 / Cranked / 30 degree / 195 weighing a slightly heavy 1059gr but this is not a bad thing for me as when paddling i like a paddle with some weight so i can feel it much better.  

I was originally thinking of the VE paddles however seeing a few on rivers that looked like they had been shot i avoided them (could be as they been well used).


I bought the paddle through Fire-It-Up who now have a new price range for all there paddles

It had rained so i took advantage of this and went of to hopefully do upper Swale, however the river had dropped over night so found myself on the Tees followed by Leven and Kent. Tees was at a nice height with dogleg making some nice sized holes and low force being rather sticky on horseshoe and the falls being totally covered making it a bit hard to boof (excellent for trying my new paddle). My paddle responded very well and i soon noticed how much hard work it was paddling with this paddle as the shaft being longer and blade a lot bigger than my old paddle, this meant that when it came to low force i was able to get some good power strokes in for some speed to enter my boof.

First time out on Tees (sorry about quality)

After stopping of at T bay and not feeling very welcomed in our wet kit we had our food and left for the Leven, where it was at 0.9; could of been higher but it wasn't a scrape for once. we just blasted down the whole river only portaging and getting out the boat at the big weir after back barrow, by the time i got to the end i was extremely tired from the power full blade but was starting to get use to them but had enough energy for the Kent.

Now this was an interesting short section since we only did last 3 rapids, well last 2 as the first one was well washed out and the 2nd which you could go a lot more river left than i normally been able to. all 4 of us got into a small eddy in some trees and got out to look at the last drop as we been told it was sticky. It was sticky indeed... very sticky, but as long as you went river left you would drop into the hole and wash you out. but the consequent to this was the river pushed you into the left where the undercuts where. someone went first then i went followed by the next two, last person capsized and rolled up but got pushed into the rocks and went under again stopping him from rolling back up, luckily by the time he pulled his deck he was well away from the undercut and only needed rescuing his boat.

So back to the paddle; i would recommend this to anyone looking to upgrade paddles if they have money to spend as the pulse is not cheap at all even with fire-it-up new price range at a costly £329. but there are cheaper paddles select make just go have a look on fire-it-up's website for more. When i was using the paddle i did notice the difference it makes and how much it affects you're paddling especially when wanting to power through holes or boof.

        

Palm AMP 

Pros

• There is a huge amount of storage space with 2 large pockets on the front and 2 smaller pockets just above the large front pockets. This allows you to carry a lot of kit with you. I manage to carry 3 carabineers, 2 slings, a pulley, whistle, spare bung.
• The palm has fewer straps on it than BA’s like the Astral Green Jacket, meaning that there is less things likely to get caught on a branch or something similar.
• The special cut of the foam that palm use in the AMP allows it to hug a body giving a very comfortable fit.
• The shoulder straps are padded and also has added grip which means it makes carrying your boat all comfier and also stop the boat from slipping off your shoulder.

Cons

• When carrying all the kit in the AMP I noticed that it got quite bulky unlike the Astral green jacket manage to keep their slim design even when they are carrying a lot of kit.
• Because the AMP is only a pull over and has no front or side entry, it makes it a bit harder to get on when wearing multiple layers and the back tends to get caught when putting the BA on. If your looking for a BA that has front or side entry you should have a look at the the Astral Green Jacket or Palm Extrem.

Conclusion

Over all I think that the Palm AMP is a very good BA. Like the Astral Green Jacket, it offers you all of the safety equipment that you need and in my opinion, it is the best value BA on the market at £134.99.

Information about the Palm AMP Vest

• Flex formed foam panel wraps around the torso;
• Large zipped padded front cargo pocket with internal divider;
• chest mounted zipped knife pockets;
• tough grip panels at shoulder for boat carrying;
• 3D anti-up waist belt;
• Easyglide strap adjustment system throughout;
• Continuous loop failsafe shoulder straps tested to 500kg with strap keeper pockets;
• Removable and reversible chest harness with quick release cam buckle and load spreader;
• Welded O-ring with velcro retainer;
• Dual cowtail parks;
• Solas reflective detail on shoulders, front and rear panels.

Astral Green Jacket

Pros

• The design of the astral is amazing it offers a great range of movement and doesn’t get in the way. It is great for everything, long trips, creeking/river running and freestyle.
• The front pocket allows you to get a lot of kit in it, I personally carry 3 karabiners, a 5m sling, spare bung, whistle, sometimes a pulley and not forgetting the all important mars bar. However, it’s not as big as other BA’s on the market, such as the Palm Extrem and AMP.
• The Sleeve just above the front pocket is a nice little addition as it allows easy and quick access to your knife.
• The side entry is also a good addition, especially when wearing multiple layers.
• It looks cool...

Cons

• I don’t tend to carry anything in the side pockets because whenever I use mine they tend to open up by themselves, which is never good.
• As I said before, the front pocket is not as big as other BA’s in the market like the Palm Extrem and AMP.
• I found that when I had the BA unbuckled at the side, that the chest harness tended to slip out of the webbing and I lost my O ring, which isn’t the end if the world as you don’t really need it, but it’s not what you expect when you spend £170 on a BA. 

Conclusion

Overall I think that the astral green jacket is a very good piece if kit and definitely worth the money. It does everything you want it to do and a bit more. I have been using it for just under a year now and I have never had any problems with it.

Information about the Astral Green Jacket

The green jacket has 76 Newton’s of buoyancy, and this is the same for all 3 sizes. The Green Jackets unique foam tectonic design allows for a wider range of freedom and movement than other BA’s on the market. There is a spectre safety loop integrated into the BA, which offers you are strong attachment point, which can’t be released. There is also added protection, or as astral call it ‘flotection’ on the sides and back which help to absorb those big hits. The green jacket also offers you the choice to carry an extra throw line in the ‘throw ready sleeve’, you have the choice of the Spectra or poly throw line therefore allowing you to have quick and easy access to a throw line at all times. The green jacket has 3 pockets; one large one on the front, and two smaller ones on the side. As well as these there is small folding knife sleeve just above the front pocket. Finally, there is the addition of a back support integrated into the BA.

Here is a video that explains the details

 about the astral a bit better than I do.