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!