Palm Orbit Rand Deck, what's it like in action!?

Before my trip to Italy I wrote a first look review of the much anticipated Orbit Rand Deck from Palm Equipment. Well now you guys can get your hands on one of these spray decks and I can now tell you my experiences using it.

I used this deck pretty much everyday for two weeks so it got some abuse and it took it well. The fit is great around the waist, there is nothing worse than a restrictive spraydeck when trying to perform complex moves and throughout the trip this deck with it's soft neoprene waist tube allowed me to paddle freely. I really like the grippy rubber gasket at the top of the waist tube which is really effective in keeping the deck in place and stopping it from slipping down.

Naturally on a trip like this on new rivers there was a lot of getting in and out of the boats to scout, set safety and take pictures. There is a lot of chunky rand decks on the market which can be a major pain to keep putting on. The Orbit has a relatively small rand which fits perfectly on the cockpit but also isn't too stiff to snap over the cockpit. Underneath the deck is two strips off very sticky rubber, very crucial for keep the deck on and in place but when the deck is dry it does make for an extra effort to put on, an unavoidable niggle.

As most people know Italy is a relatively low volume place to paddle with lots of great slides, drops and boulder style rapids. Although the rand deck was great for everyday creeking, I wanted to test it!

Before I knew it I was dropping into Devils Slide on the Sorba River. This is a drop where you don't want you deck to pop, and from stories I've heard, it's happened before! Needless to say I was glad to be using my Orbit Rand and was confident that it would perform.

I had a successful descent and needless to say my Orbit stayed on!

Pros: Super flexible and comfortable fit.
         Stays in place and doesn't slip down.
         Flexible rand makes it easy to put on and pull off.
         Nice bright highly visible tag.
         Solid fit to the cockpit and stays on when you need it to!
         Even after 2 weeks of being wet, abused and dirty it looks good as new.

Con: If your deck is brand new, dry or you just didn't eat your weetabix that morning you might need to ask your buddy for an extra hand getting it on.

If you're pushing you creeking to the next level or just really want a deck that is solid, secure and durable then I think the Orbit Rand is the deck for you. Head to Escape Watersports in store or online and order yours!

Our Descent into Devil's Slide

Recently I returned from a fantastic trip to Val Sesia, Italy. The trip was fantastic, from sliding down the Sorba slides in the sun, running the manky rapids of the middle Semenza and racing down Mollia Rapid in the final of the Val Sesia River Festival. But the highlight of my trip had to be running the 'Devils Slide' on the Sorba river. 

The Devil slide is a technical slide with a number of bad places you don't want to end up on the way down. It's considered the toughest challenge in the area and is not often run, although it is becoming more popular. There are three waterfalls in the gorge, two 20 footers and the final being the Devils Slide. I had planned to look at the drop but when the opportunity popped up to drop in with a solid crew off we went! Luckily I managed to get my hands on a Palm Equipment, Orbit Rand Spraydeck for my trip and this was the kind of drop that you wanted a spraydeck that was going to stay on! 

Immediately we struggled to find a put in but eventually settled on a small gap in the gorge above. We then quickly made our way to the first waterfall. We had been advised to portage the first waterfall which was good to go but none of fancied it so decided to portage and slide in just below. The next waterfall is a super nice auto boof which swings to the right and dumps you in the calm flat pool above the slide. 

 

We got out on the right hand bank and the first four of us went in quick succession. We set up minimal safety but quickly realized that there is much you can do from the bank if something went wrong, it's just too tight and steep. 

This was the biggest thing I'd attempted to paddle so after a mental battle I found myself sat in the entrance pool again with Adam Ramadan. Adam was kind enough to let me go first, no one wants to be last! I splashed my face, gripped my paddles, and headed to the lip. 

It starts gentle, then quickly drops near vertical before reconnecting violently and firing you into the cauldron half way down. Landing in this cauldron pointing downstream is crucial! Many have take huge beatings in this hole and swimming the rest of the slide. I got lucky and popped out exactly where I wanted to be and got some speed into the last section, dropping sideways into and undercut wall and finally flushing through into the pool. 

The feeling at the bottom of something like that is truly unique! After plenty of high fives and fist pumps we looked up to watch Adam come down. All looked good till he dropped into the undercut wall, which stopped him dead. He was vertically pinned and there was no way for us to get to him. Luckily he kept his cool and was in a stable position, after ten seconds or so he managed to rock himself off to the side and finished the slide upside down where he was T rescued. 

A dented boat and a few bruises later we got to the take out and started the long hike out of the gorge back to the cars. It was a huge day for everyone and we were all super stoked on our achievement! 

A huge thanks to Palm for bringing such fantastic rand deck onto the market. It was ideal for a descent like this. Easy to put on, nice and firm fit and most importantly it gave me peace of mind at a time when I needed to be confident in my gear.

You can pick up you Palm Orbit Rand Deck online or in store at Escape Watersports! 

A huge thanks to the boys for dropping in with me and a huge thanks to Matty Nicholas for taking these photo's.

Thanks for reading and see you on the river!