Kayalite by Kayalu

I like paddling in the dark. It's less crowded, you have zero risk of sunburn and the moon and stars are rather cool. There's another big benefit for your paddling too.

When you paddle in the dark your proprioception is enhanced. What's proprioception ? It's a big word for having a sense of where you and your body parts are in space. Or in the context of kayaking an awareness of your boats orientation in space. In the dark you FEEL where the boat is and what it's doing. The more responsive your boat is the more important proprioception becomes and if you can improve your awareness of the boat, your boat control and your feel for the stability of the boat improve.

Of course you're also a lot less visible to other boat traffic and this is where the Kayalite comes in. This was a birthday present and was sourced from Mark Sundin at Expedition Kayaks. It's easy to attach to the boat, securely attached and tethered to the boat, very waterproof (1000 feet !) and being LED based you don't have to worry about the battery going flat for a long time. 2 miles visibility with a 200 hour burn time on one set of AAs. 10,000 hours life on the LED itself.

The only downside I could see was that mounting on the back deck at 18 inches high it is largely concealed from small  boat traffic directly in front of you. (There is an alternate model offering with longer mounting poles if this really concerns you). In the real world you're likely to see a boat coming straight towards you from dead ahead and would make a distinct course change to avoid a collision anyway, the light will become visible to the other boat as soon as you change course.

I usually have a C-Light on my PFD, attached just behind the shoulder, and the Kayalite definitely results in less interference to my night vision as it's placed on the back deck out of my line of sight. It's also raised on a short mast which improves it's visibility further.

There have been some excellent reviews of the kayalite in Ocean paddler magazine and at Solent Sea Kayaking. For more information see:
http://www.kayalu.com/

Stohlquist Contact Gloves - Good Kit, get yourself a pair.

There are some bits of kit that really impress you. The first time I picked up my Werner Cyprus paddle was one of them. The first time I paddled a Nordkapp was another. This time it was a simple pair of gloves. In the summertime my hands get fried. No matter how much sun block and zinc cream I plaster on, it just comes off and the backs of my hands end up looking like the Chinese flag.

Most gloves I've worn have either left me feeling clumsy with no real feel of the paddle. There are some sun protection gloves that just cover the back of your hand but these feel awkward to me, loose and floppy. They're held on by little elastic loops and I feel them all the time between my fingers. I still end up with sunscreen all over my hands and that makes the paddle slippery and feels awkward. These gloves though were a revelation to me.

You can't really see it in the picture but the whole palm is a thin rubber membrane with no bulk at all. This and the fingerless design gives a great grip on the paddle and yet remains completely unobtrusive. You forget that you're wearing them. Skulling, bracing, rolling it doesn't matter, paddle control is not compromised at all. They let you do the paddling as if they weren't there.
The back of the glove is thin stretchy neoprene protected by a nylon gauze and the index finger is topped with a little terry towelling patch for absorbing stray moisture or that drop of sunscreen and salt that just ran into your eye. The Contact gloves are also comfortably pre-bent to reduce hand fatigue, you don't have to exert effort to keep the fingers curled around the paddle. They're well made and good value for money.

Highly recommended.