I finally stepped up and bought a Riot Magnum last summer and I have never been happier with a boat. Everyone who's been in it agress that it's like cheating. The boat has a healthy amount of primary stability, but once you get it on edge it carves like made. I don't have to muscle my sweep strokes like I did with my old creekboat. You look at an eddy, lean that way and you're practically in it. The boat boofs like a champ. On a first decent last fall, we came to a 20 ft. vertical waterfall at a wide part of the river. The water at the lip was shallow enough that I wasn't sure if I would scrape or not. Also, the pool at the base was only 2-3 ft. deep. I lined up, ran it, scraped at the lip and still was able to boof cleanly into the pool. I've been in a lot of situations over the past six months where I wasn't sure if I wanted to run a line because of a sticky looking hole, but I trusted the Magnum and it pulled through.
The outfitting in the new line of Riot boats is a huge step up. The thigh hooks grip securely, but their hinges make it easy to bust out of. The back band is alot sturdier than its predecessors. You can also fold the backband down, making it a whole lot easier to get at all the gear that's in the back of a creekboat. The magnum comes with a bomber bulkhead system and precut foam that you glue on it to absorb the in case you hit something. The only things I've done to outfit this boat are to ad lock washers (I hate screws coming loose) and the foam on the bulkhead.
This boat also makes it a ton easier to learn to kayak. I've put a bunch of students in it and they had a much easier time learning to kayak and to roll in the Magnum. One of my students even got out of it because he said it was too easy and he wanted more of a challenge. I'd recommend this boat to anyone who wanted a creekboat, or just wanted a boat that allows you to run stuff you didn't think was possible before.
For years I've been saying that someone should make a playboat with a stern. I paddled an Air and loved it, except that I wished for more length and volume in the back end. Finally Riot has responded to this need with the Flair. Immediately after getting into it I felt right at home. It does all the hole and flatwater stuff that the Air did: loop, cartwheel, etc. But the stern ends come around a whole lot easier. You really notice the difference when you get it on a wave. At Inner City Strife, the Air would bounce like mad, which was great when you wanted to go big. But just front surfing, you couldn't stop the air from bouncing. With the Flair, you just put the boat on edge and the longer stern carves you out of the bounce. This has allowed me to throw good blunts, pan-ams and air-screws more consistently and better because I can carve into them and then initiate the bounce.
With this boat I finally got myself a power seat. It definitely simplifies the outfitting (in my Air I had fabricated a seat out of a 50 gallon bucket and a heap of foam). It took a little getting used to because I was up higher, but once I did I noticed increased power and control. For my feet, I cut foam to fit the bow and left the back side square. This lets me press my heels against something and lets my toes hang free. This makes a huge difference because since my feet aren't bent in strange directions, they don't cramp up. For the knees I've added a bit of half-inch minicell for some extra cushion. If you're around my size (6 ft. 180 lbs.) and want to step up your game, definitely look into the Flair 57. If you're under 150 lbs., look into the
Flair 47
. My bro Andre makes his fly higher than anything else I've seen him in.
I'm a huge fan of this vest so far. I got it for Christmas and (thankfully) haven't needed to use any of it's features, but in practice it's worked great. The vest just appears to be very thoughtfully and carefully made. The internal structure is webbing that is well-stitched together. It fits me better than any other PFD I've used. It cinches down really well for a secure fit. There are many thoughtful comfort features included. For example, there's a fleece lined pocket to warm your hands in.
As for rescue applications, Astral's got it all covered. There's the standard 1.5" quick realease harness. For the tow tether, Astral has installed a zippered pocket at your side. I wasn't sure if I'd like this at first, but after using it getting the tether out is probably easier than the standard clip. The real benefit of the pocket is that it prevents the tether from dangling around and snagging on something. Astral also included a spectra webbing loop on the bottom front of the vest. This can be used as a permanent anchor; for example, you could run webbing through it and around your legs to make an improvised vertical/climbing harness. Lots of innovative details are included, such as the plactic pocket clip that doubles as a whistle. I'd definitely recommend this vest to anyone with the necessary skills to use it.
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