Spray Skirt Advice

Big Tuna · 04-04-2005

I have paddled for four seasons with a cheap spray skirt that allows water into my boat. I am going to purchase a new skirt and am looking at the Mountain Surf Dur-O-Ring. The problem is it costs $160. I am willing to spend the money if this is the best skirt out there but I want to make sure I am not overlooking another type. I do want to get into a skirt that will keep my boat dry and last a long time, but it would be nice if there is one out there that cost a little less that is equally as good. Any suggestions on a good, high quality, spray skirt would be appreciated.

jsrothrock · 04-10-2005

i'm a fan of my ir special k. no problems yet after probably 100 days in the water

boc123 · 04-19-2005

...but there are other thing to look at that dictate how dry a skirt will be. First , the tunnel. A good tunnel should obviously be as tight as you can comfortably get. The other thing to look for is how the top of the tunnel was finished. A completely straight tunnel that ends with just the neoprene will not be as dry as a tunnel that is finished with a stretch material to tapper the tunnel. For instance check out a Wildwasser Hipster. They finish the top of the top of the tunnel which makes the tunnel taper. Mtn Surf does not do this. With my Mtn Surf skirt I have noticed that the top of the tunnel is looser than the bottom which results in water getting in. Also look at how wide the rubber rand is. How far does the rand extend in from the outer edge of the skirt. Skirts with this type of rubber "wedge" rand will be drier than your typical rubber rand skirt. If you look for these types of things in a skirt you should be able to find the driest skirt you can find.

Charles

RA · 04-26-2005

you get what you pay for, and if a skirt fails you might die.

I have seen several very close calls as a result of blown skirts, all the same brand, but on a variety of diffrent boats.

Go with Mtn. Surf or IR, they seem to be durable, reliable, safe and proven.

but the new material that IR is using for abrasion resistanace does not seem as good as what they used to use or what mtn. surf uses, but they say it is, so maybe so. Customer service is great with both companies.