NRS Stampede Paddling Jacket

With winter coming on and a desire for being warm and cosy on/in the water I decided it was time to splash out on a cag. Until now I've been using a Reed long sleeve top as a waterproof layer and that works very well especially when layered with a thermal and the Reed Vest deck underneath. I've also used it as a layer over my 3mm wetsuit and it eliminates the wind chill of the wet fabric lined neoprene. In retrospect  I probably should have bought a custom made one as I have very skinny little wrists and a fair amount of water gets up the sleaves due to the poor seal. Reed will do custom made garments, if you send them your measurements, at a very small additional cost. That's outstanding service to go with the excellent quality of the gear. In any case, mea culpa, as I just grabbed one off the shelf so the loose fit on the wrists is all my fault. That isn't a problem in the warmer months or for active paddling. I tend to get a bit cool in winter, particularly when off the water though.

This time I wanted something that would seal really well, cut the wind and keep me nice and dry and warm without being too hot and turning into a personal sauna if the sun comes out.

[Enter the NRS Stampede Paddling Jacket stage left.]
This is a light but quite tough garment, made of Triton breathable fabric with reinfocement in all the high wear areas. It has a smooth finished elastomer punch through neck seal ( a neoprene variant) and latex wrist seals protected by sturdy cuffs. It has a double tunnel waist arrangement to allow it to mate with the spray deck or with a pair of dry pants. The cut has been carefully designed to allow freedom of movement without irritating seams and acres of flapping excess fabric. It also has a water resistant zipped pocket on one sleave.

I wore if for the first time at Rock N Roll at Batemans Bay. My main concern there was that it would turn out to be too warm and dry. In fact that wasn't the case at all. It was very comfortable although the temperature was over 20ºC and the sun was out. I was working pretty hard chasing waves on the Clyde River bar with an unfamiliar Greenland paddle (these aren't really designed for acceleration and my technique isn't that good either so I didn't catch a lot of waves although one or two caught me !) anyway, while I did get a bit warm, a couple of rolls were quite sufficient to cool me off.

I also wore it for a rock hopping session on a cool and overcast morning and it did the job for me there too in terms of temperature and kept me bone dry despite two rolls in a slightly turbulent rock garden.  I followed up with a Greenland Rolling Session with Shawn and Rob Mercer and despite spending some considerable time on those long slow relaxed rolls with a lot of immersion time, both I and the inside of my boat remained dry. And I mean DRY. No slop water at all. Bare in mind that this top is rated a "semi-dry" top rather than a dry one. That neck seal isn't supposed to be bone dry, but for me it is.

What do I like about it  ?

• The wrist and neck seals are very comfortable for me and they work very well. Especially with my skinny little wrists.
• It's really dry.
• It's nice and light and not too hot. Seems to breathe pretty well too.
• It's really dry.
• There's no restriction in movement so it's very comfortable.
• It's really dry.
• The little pocket is a nice touch
• It's really dry
• The double tunnel waste is easy to adjust and fits well with the spray deck
• It's really dry
•  The reinforcing layers in the high wear areas should keep it waterproof for a decent life.
• Did I mention that it's really dry ?

What don't I like ?

• It would be nice to have it in a high vis colour. Blue and green are OK but they don't really cut it for me on the sea. I guess this garment is mainly aimed at play boaters so maybe that's not a consideration for them.

Considering that that's my full list of dislikes and disappointments, I'd say that the boys and girls at NRS have done a pretty good job on this particular product so now I'm even considering some pants to go with it.

I also considered the Reed touring cag, which is also an excellent bit of kit. It's a bit heavier, a bit warmer and not having latex wrist seals it may be more robust. If I was doing more serious cold weather touring it would have been at the top of my list. However for the type of paddling I'm doing, the Stampede hit's all the buttons for me.