• FNA XTRA

I like these helmets for several reasons:

• The coverage of your head is brilliant, especially the temples and back of head (see pictures). My last helmet was pretty poor in these areas, but this is great. I was worried a bit about hearing being impaired with the bits over the ears, but no problems!


• They are cheap in comparison with other manufacturers: £90 for custom colour and delivery to the U.K. (they are made in B.C., Canada).


• There are two sizes so you don't have to have 3 inches of foam padding if you've got a small head (like me).

• TEVA GAMMA PRO'S

I've used Teva's for a while now, and found them pretty robust. My last pair died after three years; the soles were fine, but the eyelets for the laces split. [This has been addressed in the new design].

The grip on the soles is great, even on wet rocks (left). Even better, I can get my drysuit into these, even when wearing thick socks! Scotland gets cold in the winter...... 

No problems getting my size ten feet into either of my boats wearing these. You might be thinking they are a bit expensive for some footwear, but usually I kill a new pair of wetboots per year, so these have lasted pretty well.

• NOOKIE 20M WAIST THROWLINE

Personally I always carry a waist line. The amount of times we've all wandered down the bank to look at some gnarl, only to find when someone wants to run it, all the lines are in the boats! Also useful if you do get nailed and lose your boat, but still need a line........or if someone falls in inspecting a drop!

• The only complaint about these lines is the attachment holding the line in the bag (below). The popper rusts eventually and then your line falls out! [Again, this has been solved in the newer version by some Velcro].

Other than that, pretty robust and well designed (as most Nookie kit tends to be).

• WERNER PLAYER CARBON CRANKS

Awesome! A wholehearted recommendation. But get saving, they aren't cheap!

• I find that the cranks give me much more power than straight-shaft blades, and little niggles in my wrists have disappeared since using these. Some say that Carbon blades flutter more as they are stiffer, but I have found them to be smooth and very powerful.
•  I went for Players rather than Sidekicks, as I thought the larger blades on the Sidekicks would play havoc with my shoulders (I'm only small!). If you're built like a tank, get Sidekicks.

For info and ordering (in the U.S.) see the Werner website.

• NOOKIE GRAVITY CAG

Yay! A cag that keeps me dry! There are several features which I recommend:

• Deck clips in the waist: stop your deck from slipping down. Stops water pooling in the deck and seeping into your boat.

• Elbow pads. Protect (strangely) your elbows from all those nasty rocks.

• You may have noticed from the photos that I sometimes wear elbow guards over my cag. This is to provide extra protection and to ensure I don't put a great big hole in my cag!