Hyside Paddle Cat (shredder)?

[brettb]

My highside came with two footcups in front and I put 2 more in so you can paddle with both feet in foot cups! pretty slick so far! plus you can put 3-4 people in it if you wish but performance is greatly hampered!!!
If you want to go let me know we could meet up somewhere and you could try before you buy! but I am sure you will enjoy it
RE: folding up...... this could rool up nicely and slide into a NRS Bills bag im pretty sure! I thought it would be great for south america nad such trips!!!!!!!!

[WhiteLightning]

Do any of you guys ever come up to the Eagle or Shoshone or anywhere out this way? What is Lawson like?

[raftus]

The Lawson to Dumont stretch has two main rapids, but there are something like 17 ledges in one of them (at high flows most can be read and run by class IV+ boaters). From Dumont down is probably a half grade easier but sports a lot more whitewater than the Eagle below Dowd Chute. At 1000 it is roughly comparable to Dowd chute at say 2500. The stream bed is also a lot smaller (narrower). As the water drops there are a lot of rocks that appear in potentially bad places. Clear Creek is also a mostly man made riverbed, whereas in places the Eagle is relatively natural. In a lot of ways Clear Creek is kind of just a bunch of Dowd chute type rapids (man made constrictions) one after another, but with calm sections in between. (p.s. I did my guide training on the eagle and guided commercially on Clear Creek last summer)

Shoshone is totally different, usually lot more water, a way bigger riverbed, and easier rapids.

Lower down on Clear Creek offers good class V on The Black Rock stretch with class IV above and below it on the upper and lower stretches. Well worth the drive from summit/eagle county if the creek is above say 600-700. You could run from Lawson to Golden in one long action packed day, but two would probably be better since you haven't seen it before.

[brettb]

the amount of whitewater on clear creek compared to other rivers keeps me here but as I wait for water to rise here I will travel to the numbers/shoshone just because/ crystal/ and would like to check out the Edwards Mile! and may do so on Tuesday!!! what would you recomend for most bang for your buck on the eagle?
here is a pic around 700 at the bottom of outer limits! click on the photo to get the real feel!

[nicmayer]

Any feedback? Anyone know anyone trying to sell one used? Anyone ever run smaller creeks in one?[/quote]


I know this is kind of an older post but thought I should comment anyway. I have friends who have Airtight Shredders and I have paddled with them for a few years. When JPW came out with the Culebra I falsely thought it was a better design, so I bought one. Let me just say that I now own the Hyside Paddle Cat.

Here is the problems with the Culebra. The floor is indeed higher and sits out of the water, the boat has a much higher center of gravity and for a silly girl like me who lacks upper body strength it was pretty hard to get back in. When it was upside down it was even harder to get on top. The JPW thwarts sit higher than the sides wich puts it even higher out of the water when flipped. With the floor being laced on instead of welded it is a flawed design. The floor has gaps in the front and really stalls in the rapids. Those gaps act like breaks in rapids... not a good thing. The floor also does not take on water like the shredder or the Hyside. A floor taking on water is a good thing, it provides a bit more weight and stability than the Culebra can offer.

The foot cups are a whole issue on their own. The foot cups in the Culebra are a joke. It would almost be better if they were not there. The ones in the Hyside are standard, they actually hold your foot in.

I like having Hypalon better than Neopene or PVC. Maybe that one is personal since I have another hypalon Cat. I have paddled big water in the JPW, Hyside and Shredder. I would take the Hyside or the Shredder anyday over the Culebra.

Another positive about the Hyside is it is blue not black. I can't tell you how many times I have burned my a** because I didn't think about it being hot out and sat down on a black boat... ouch!

The Shredder and Hyside are small enough they can go almost anywhere a kayak goes (within reason). They doe well on creeks as long as they are not too shallow.

I guess ultimately we bought the Hyside because of the availability vs the shredder and I really am not a fan of a black boat.

Good luck, if you already bought one hope you like it.

We run Shoshone if you would like to check it out, but our "home waters" are the Ark.

[Chip]

On my last Grand trip there was a Jack's Culebra, that we traded off paddling.

It was an incredible R-2 joyboat, pretty close to unflippable even with novice paddlers. Pissed me off to watch the Culebra flying through the roaring gut of rapids that I was tempted to sneak (in a Pack Cat).

It was also an amazing search-and-rescue craft.

The Culebra crews retrieved lost oars, rescued half-drowned kayakers, and even busted back upstream into keeper eddies (e.g. the righthand cliff suck on Specter) to retrieve a trapped duckie (the paddler having taken a thrilling swim).

Pic below of Culebra rocking in the grip of the Grand:



Seriously great fun boat for Grand trips and other bigwater thumpers— given plenty of support craft. Not exactly a gear hauler.

Chip

[honjarte]

Hey-
I just paddled a Jack's Pulebra from 9th Street to High Bridge on the Animas 2 days ago and it was a blast. The floor and footcup issues mentioned earlier are totally acurate, but the trip was so short it didn't matter. We also did not flip, so I can't commment on getting in/out of it while righting. The floor was indeed very high, I noticed. We hit Smelter dead on, we took the kayak line through Corner Pocket (rip) and we went right through the meat of Santa Rita. It was never even close to sketchy. It was just fun. I would totally paddle that thing down the Grand. I cannot however give any comparison between the other models mentioned in this thread. But that Pulebra was awesome.


Honjarte

[fluxDave]

I just bought a JPW Culebra (10' model). It's great to paddle, but I definitely notice the disadvantage of having my center of gravity up high. I'm game for getting together to paddle the other models. Let's make it happen. Tuesday or Wednesday this week is good for me... who's in?

[brettb]

We are off tues. and wed this week! might be interested depending on river and flows!
as far as the culubra: too much design, it could be a great boat with some mods.

paddled the Culubra yesterday in the Teva games!
found it to be sluggish on the first run and we flipped on an eddy line!
second run felt faster but flipped again going around a gate, we had to transfer some weight to make the gate and flipped!

foot cups suck, definately too high, not flippy if your just running down river I dont think I would want one for technical stuff!

very rigid but PVC and i prefer Hypalon
they seem shorter than my Hyside

also as far as rescue if you picked up a swimmer in the Jacks it would be hard to fit them in there! my Hyside could easily paddle 4 but would compromise the design of the boat we have paddle 3 and found the performance was not the greates but that was the blue at 500 perhaps we will try a higher volume run?

[ross]

I have a couple of Culebra's here at Alpine Quest Sports in Edwards. Jack made a bunch for the Teva Mountain Games and they are now for sale at discount! They were only used for two hours during the games. Please call we can let you demo.

They do roll up and store in their own small bag.

Ross
Alpine Quest Sports
info@alpinequestsports.com
970-926-3867