Kit Reviews, Travel and Advice
Over Christmas I spent a week on the Orkney Islands, during which I hiked, camped, lived off of Co-op ready meals and spent my time cursing the weather gods. In all seriousness, the trip was a success! The landscapes were stunning, stormy weather made for atmospheric photos and while no one would call microwave green […]
Some of you may be aware of the ‘2022 whitewater helmet ratings’ that Virginia Tech released a short while ago (https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/whitewater-helmet-ratings.html). Virginia Tech tested 24 whitewater helmets from major brands such as Sweet Protection, WRSI, Shred Ready and NRS, in order to evaluate their ability to “reduce linear and rotational acceleration of the head from […]
If any of you have ever tried an Exo kayak (or a plastic GuiGui), you’ve probably noticed how easily the backband pops out. It’s very difficult to lock the rope into the cleat properly, and just when you think it’s finally secure… it pops out again! If this happens mid-trick or mid-boof you can waste […]
Hey guys, given that there’s been a lack of people at Pinkston recently I thought I’d write a little guide to the course, and maybe I can persuade some of you to give it another go (especially for freestyle) before Bren’s Park Jam at the end of the month! I’ll go from the top to […]
It’s recently been called to my attention that my eardrums are perhaps not in best shape possible, certainly not for someone who’s only 19. The first clue was when I went to get my impressions done for my new ear plugs. Admittedly, I was expecting some comment on the diameter of my ear canal from […]
Hello everyone! I know it’s been a while since my last blog post – and this one is quite niche – but hopefully we’ll be getting back into the swing of it this summer with some more widely applicable posts. I have owned a GoPro Hero (2018) for around two years now, but after fiddling […]
Moving on from my tutorial of how to Lunar Orbit on flatwater, I’m now going to explain how to do it on whitewater – something I recently learned myself. For the purposes of this tutorial I will be explaining the steps to do a lunar orbit on a steep feature (as pictured below) – a […]
In this tutorial I’m going to be going over the steps to both loop when seal launching and get your boat onto the side without getting out (videos below). If you own a playboat (preferably a plastic one) and can confidently loop on either flatwater or whitewater both of these tricks should be achievable. The […]
On Wednesday morning I received an email informing me of my selection for the Halo Infinite flight test running from Thursday to Monday. This was of course very exciting as Halo Infinite’s release has been delayed to autumn 2021 (September-December) and, while we’ve been given the occasional blog post or screenshot, this was the first […]
I’ve been running since age 8, competing properly since age 10. It’s been a long journey and it’s had its ups and downs but I’ve learned a lot and I intend to impart some of these things to you in this blog post. Running is one of the few sports that absolutely anyone can do […]
So far my flatwater tutorials seem to be going down quite well, there are a few left to write and still more tricks for me to learn before teaching you guys. One thing I’ve been doing for a while now is linking multiple tricks and I realised that it’s not necessarily that obvious how one […]
In this post I’m going to follow up from my previous computer-related articles (about my computer, keyboard and controller) by reviewing my new monitor, the MSI Optix 32″ Curved AG321CR. I had some very specific requirements when I was hunting for a monitor and I’ll go into why I decided to buy this one, how […]
I realised that one tutorial which would probably help with some of my other recent posts like how to tricky woo, lunar orbit or double pump would be how to cartwheel. Continuing with the same layout as previous posts, a cartwheel is officially defined as “at least two consecutive ends in the same rotational direction, […]
Hello everyone, I know it’s been a while since I last posted so in this article I’ll be explaining how I decided which universities to apply to and detailing some of the progress I’ve made so far (which is what has been occupying me for these past few weeks). This post should be helpful for […]
In this post I’m going to go right back to basics and explain how to surf in a hole/stopper (which is where water pours over a submerged object causing the surface water to flow back upstream towards the object). Whether you’re interested in freestyle or river running this is probably one of the first things […]
Following on from my previous tutorials I’ll be explaining how to flatwater Tricky Woo. This is a trick I’ve been able to do for a while on my right, but learning how to do it on my left reminded me how confusing it can be and how a few little tips here and there can […]
Today I’m going to be reviewing the Razer Cynosa Lite gaming keyboard which is what I’ve been using for the past couple of months. So far it’s held up nicely, looks great and serves its purpose but I’m going to go into a bit more detail about how it feels and its specs. Design-wise the […]
Today I’m going to be explaining how to McNasty on flatwater which is a trick I’ve been focussing on a lot over the past month, even working to get it down on my offside (something I’m normally quite lax about). To be able to do the trick you need to know how to double pump […]
Today I’ll be continuing on from my last post which went over basic settings and programs that I use to improve my PC’s gaming performance, but this time I’ll be going into a bit more depth and will be talking about various settings such as GPU clock speed, voltage and memory timings. Before we start […]
Hello everyone! Given the current situation I’ve found that I’ve had a lot more time on my hands (like most people) and have been searching for a way to occupy myself, this presented itself last week. For my 18th birthday my parents got me the new computer that I wanted; I’d found it only after […]
It occurred to me after publishing my previous post that learning how to space godzilla is the natural next step after learning how to loop – the two moves are very similar in their execution, the amount of points that they are worth (90 for a space godzilla, 60 for a loop and 90 for […]
In this post I’m going to be following on from two of my previous tutorials (https://patrickyak.blog/2020/05/08/how-to-double-pump/ and https://patrickyak.blog/2020/07/02/how-to-bow-stall/) and will explain how to loop on flatwater. Once you can confidently double pump and bow stall, learning to flatwater loop isn’t particularly difficult and could be learned within a few hours if you really put your […]
If you’ve been looking for a solution to the recent cold weather then this down jacket made by Mountain Equipment might just be the answer. I received one as a present a few weeks ago and have since then had the opportunity to test it when walking in the countryside. The Senja is designed for […]
Happy New Year everyone! Today I’m going to be showing you six GoPro accessories which I’ve been using recently. Some of these allow you to achieve interesting angles or effects while others are just generally useful and applicable in most situations; all of them are available for under £20 so if you’ve got a little […]
Today I will be reviewing the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro PS4 controller (a bit of a mouthful I know). Now I don’t claim to be a gamer and up until recently I’d only ever used a controller at friends’ houses, however I realised about a month ago that my laptop is more than good enough […]
The back deck is one of the most popular rolling techniques when kayaking, it is easy to learn if you can already sweep roll and is much faster to complete making it a favourite with whitewater paddlers. In this tutorial I will be assuming that you can already sweep roll comfortably and that you understand […]
A week or so ago I was listening to Money For Nothing by Dire Straits on Spotify Premium. My Dad came in and commented that it sounded odd, he brought in the CD and we compared the two. The difference was astounding: the drums were more punchy, the sound was crisper and there was a […]
In this post I’m going to review and then compare the Rocker and Strutter helmets made by Sweet Protection, both are very popular helmets but it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you, especially right now where it may be impossible to actually try on or examine either. I currently own […]
The lunar orbit is a freestyle trick that you can do both on whitewater and flatwater, but while it is an advanced trick on whitewater, on flatwater it is considerably easier and can be learnt alongside the cartwheel, tailey and bow stall. In this post I will only be focussing on the technique involved in […]
Ever had a look at your trainers and noticed that there’s an extra eyelet at the top? I always thought it was there just for the aesthetic, or maybe if your feet were slim you could use it to make the shoe fit better… that’s partially correct. It’s actually there so that you can create […]
Today I’m just going to go over a little trick that I use with my Jackson Happy Feet. I know that some people like to use a foam foot block not only because they’re cheaper, but also a lot lighter and longer lasting however, I fit better in my Jed and feel more connected when […]
Consistency is an important part of sport in general, not just for kayaking and not just for freestyle. It doesn’t matter if you manage to do something perfectly unless you can do it again (or someone filmed it so that you can pretend you can do it again). In this post I’ll describe how I’ve […]
Everyone is stronger on one side than the other and it’s tempting to forget about your off-side, it’s weaker, it’s slower and it’s more difficult – right? However, you won’t become a balanced paddler thinking like that and it will stunt your freestyle development in the long run. I put off learning tricks on my […]
You guys seemed to like my last music post so here’s 5 great albums by bands that I’ve discovered over the last six months… Starting off with a group which almost certainly wouldn’t have attained the popularity that they have done without the release of this album in July 2015, we have the album ‘Currents’ […]
iMovie is my go-to piece of video editing software – it’s free, easy to use and includes all the tools I need to make a great edit. I used to work with GoPro studio but it had a couple of annoying quirks which I’ll explain as I go through. This is a short guide as […]
Warming up is boring. You want to get on the water and start paddling, stretches only slow you down and get in the way. Wrong! I’ve managed to pull my shoulders and lower back a couple of times while kayaking and normally these things go away in a few hours, but last Tuesday I injured […]
Last Saturday I went to Chertsey and spent the day there. I’m going to go over what I thought of the feature, give a few tips as well as explain the typical things like how to get there, safety and whether I think it’s really worth travelling to in order to train… Chertsey will be […]
It’s been a while since my last tutorial post (How To Double Pump) so I thought I’d do a follow up article explaining the next step – how to bow stall. Some people manage to figure this out almost immediately and others take months, I found that the process requires three key steps and once […]
I recently made a presentation on this subject for my academic symposium at school, everyone made a slideshow on a topic that interests them and that relates to their intended university course (which for me is physical Geography). I became aware that a lot of people are against hydropower and reservoir creation – mostly because […]
I’ve just finished building my second quadcopter; the first I built about 2 years ago with the intention of using it for drone racing but this new one I meant for videography, specifically to allow me to get those stunning intro and outro clips you see in films or Youtube edits etc. I’ve had a […]
One of the best ways to feel alive is to do some sort of exercise. I know that this blog is mainly kayaking orientated but right now that probably isn’t much use for most people. What’s a form of exercise everyone can do right now..? Running; apparently we’re all allowed out for infinite exercise, I […]
The double pump is pretty much the first thing you should learn if you’re trying to do any sort of flatwater freestyle. Effectively it’s the first end of a cartwheel and it sets you up to learn more complicated tricks like a tricky woo or loop. Some people learn how to tailee beforehand but I […]
Sometimes you see GoPros in the weirdest of places – on dog harnesses, on a unicorn mount or even being held in someone’s mouth. Having tried quite a few weird ideas myself including mounting a GoPro inside of a lobster pot and on the end of a stick for my dog to chase along the […]
I’ve decided to alternate the themes of my blog posts between something kayaking related and something else that I’m interested in – this week I’m focusing on shoes because over the past month or so I’ve been painting a pair of white Air Force 1 Mids. I forget exactly how I got the idea except […]
I know that some people don’t bother practicing freestyle on flatwater, maybe it never occurred to them or they don’t think there are any benefits so they never tried it. This post is dedicated to persuading such people to try training on flatwater, maybe before a session on whitewater or simply for convenience because it […]
In this post I’m going to mix things up a bit (given that everything else right now is also mixed up) and write about the 3 bands I like most at the moment and what are, in my opinion, their top 2 albums. Coming in at number 3 we have Cage The Elephant with ‘Tell […]
One of the most common mistakes I see people making (not only for freestyle but for kayaking in general) is that they’re not looking where they want to go. I make this mistake all the time and it’s annoying seeing myself in a video later and realising. Sometimes you’re tired and you just forget, or […]
Head-to-toes winter checklist – I’ve tried wearing a couple of different bits of kit and some of it works really well and some of it doesn’t (I just have to wait for it to break so I can justify getting something better); I’ll recommend the equipment I like and I’ll be blunt about things like […]
It was my birthday on Tuesday and I received a pair of Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next%’s. I wasn’t really aware of these controversial shoes until the week beforehand when I watched a YouTube video from my recommended and then stumbled upon a magazine article on the very same day. I now know that there are […]
I was afraid that if I tried the Pyranha Ozone at Lee Valley I’d want one. I tried it. Now I want one. For those of us who don’t know, the Ozone is Pyranha’s latest release and replaces the Inazone in their “freeride” (river-play) category; in layman’s terms, freeride means you can perform modern freestyle […]
Patrick Kyak 