This sale is now over, we’ll have another in the fall.

Seawolf is throwing a big (25% off) spring sale in your face with one caveat– Orders won’t be shipped until mid-April. We are not a high volume retailer and so we’ll only be placing a couple of larger orders. It’s a great opportunity to get a really nice drysuit (Level Six makes one of the best) or drytop. All Level Six gear is available, not just the ones listed below, you can see the 2011 Level Six catalog, and the Level Six Retail Prices (Note, prices are in Canadian dollars).

Here’s some gear that’s a fantastic deal– Level Six makes some of the best gear out there, I think of it as the starting point of high-level sea kayak gear (not quite to the level of Kokatat, but almost, and the gear is also much more reasonable in price). Sale ends March 24th.

Seawolf is not a sea kayak ecommerce store. We don’t have an online store and a huge inventory, because there’s no way we can compete with the likes of REI, but we are pretty heavy-duty traditional kayakers with specific recommendations for gear. If you want to know what works for us with skin-on-frame kayaks, long expeditions, or putting together the perfect budget gear setup, this is the place to get recommendations and ask questions (in the comments here). To order, just send us an email (kiliii@seawolfkayak.com) with what you want and quantities (check Level Six’s website for colors and sizes). Please don’t send us any sensitive info like credit cards over email. You’ll find a lot of expensive fluff out there, but the best and most important stuff you ought to be interested in is below!

The Barrier Drysuit $620 (not $840)

The drysuit is that amazing and essential piece of piece of equipment that is just so damn expensive it’s out of reach for many paddlers. But it means the difference between life and death on the sea or in the bay, and you will return from your regular day trips dry and comfortable compared to a wetsuit. For long-distance or multi-day trips, it’s a no-brainer. A drysuit can save your life, giving you an extra 60 minutes in 50 degree water (i.e. the Pacific Northwest). I personally am completely thankful I invested in my drysuit early on, it has saved my butt from hypothermia and makes my kayaking fun year-round. Level Six’s suit is one of the best, way better than the OS, Palm and Stohlquist suits, and comparable to the Kokatat line. With this sale it makes the sting of the cost a little bit less. Oh yes, it’s breathable. At this level it’d better be.

The Duke and Duchess drytops $170 (not $230)

The Duke and Duchess (men and women’s versions) have gotten lots of really good reviews and they’re right– the price to function ratio of these guys is great. One of my favorite combinations for kayak touring is the drytop/drypant setup, and it’s nice because you can slowly add to your setup instead of dumping it all into a drysuit at once. All that being said, the full drysuit is more protective. Drytops also go really well with a wetsuit, keeping the wind and water off you in even semi-rough conditions. For kayak surfers, this is the perfect combo, the surfer’s wetsuit/drytop combo, because swimming with a full drysuit on really sucks.

Reign Drypant $170 (not $230)

Gaspe Anorak Touring Jacket $230 (not $310)

A touring jacket is a great combo for both beginning kayakers in less challenging conditions and for veteran kayakers that simply won’t go over. The Gaspe happens to be a nice heavy-duty and breathable touring jacket that you can be in all day long and it’s comfy. Not much to say here except that because it’s kayaker-specific, it has all the right stuff– closed cuffs, a tight fitting hood, cinches around the waist etc… It’s a better jacket than an Arcteryx for stormy conditions, and much less expensive and better suited for us semi-acquatic creatures.

Riverboot $43 (not $57)

Okay skin-on-frame kayakers, footwear for us is a bigger deal than for most. We have internal ribs in our framing and wearing many types of shoe can result in you getting stuck in your boat if you capsize. A big no-no. This type of thin-soled, flexible boot is perfect– it won’t rip off your feet in the mud of a tidal flat and it won’t trap you in your kayak. It’s also warm. They’re a great combo to go on over drysuit booties. Aquasocks will also work for the same purpose but you can lose them more easily than you think, they like to get sucked off when you capsize and thrash about in your cockpit for a bit.

Sea Mantis Tow Belt $54 (not $72)

This is one of those things everyone overlooks. A tow belt is such an essential piece of safety gear, because few of us paddle solo all the time. We paddle with other folks, and as it is lots of things can happen– a leaking hatch (poor fiberglass boat guys), seasickness, a broken rudder, or just plain tiredness. With a tow belt you can help a friend out, keep two boats together in rough conditions, save an unconscious paddler, or even tie up your boat to keep it from going out with the tide. I’ve had to use it way more often than I’d suspect, because often folks will think they can go farther than they can, or they have directional control until a quartering wind starts to blow. The old ‘I-have-a-rope-somewhere-I’m-cool’ saying just doesn’t cut it– check out Sea Kayaker’s Deep Trouble book for examples of where people’s lives could have been saved with a proper 50′ tow line around the waist with a carabiner. A bit spendy but well worth it, and I never go out paddling without one attached to me.

Okay, that’s it for my recommendations. To order, just send us an email (kiliii@seawolfkayak.com) with what you want and quantities (check Level Six’s website for colors and sizes). Please don’t send us any sensitive info like credit cards over email. Please leave comments for any questions and see you on the water!