The New LL Hip Pads

We are really excited about the new hip pad system. We have been working on it for quite a while trying to make it simple and bomber. We didn't want it to be some gimicky system. There are no inflatable bladders, no neoprene or elastic sleeves that slip around, just a couple screws and some velcro. We wanted something that was very durable, easy to use, and extremely adjustable.

All you need is the same screwdriver you use to adjust the seats and thighbraces in our boats to loosen up the pads, release the velcro on top of the pad, and then you are ready to adjust up and down, forward and back, or twist so that you can get a super custom fit.

If you need to tighten the fit, or make the hip pads bigger, you can slip shims in behind the hip pads by just loosening the hip pad a little, you don't need to take the screws all the way out, and slip more shims in behind the the pad.

I like to get in the boat and make sure the pads feel right. Once I have them positioned how I want them I mark the spot with a marker. That way once I jump out of the boat I can make sure that I have them in the right place. Then just tighten down the screws and pull the velcro into place. I think at that point you will be hard pressed to find a more adjustable, simple, and durable set of hip pads in the industry.


Here is a link to the video of how they work.
Click Here
Shane

Liquidlogic's New Foot Foam

Here is the new foot foam set up that will be coming in all the boats that don't have a bulk head.

The foot foam blocks will come in a bag in your boat and the "Cone of Comfort" will come in place in the bow of your boat.
What I like to do is jump in the boat with only the front foam piece in place in the foot cone. Then I add foam pieces as I need them. Obviously someone shorter might start with a couple of the extra pieces in place.

Once I have the number of foam shims I need to make a good tight fit I like to glue them all together. That makes them much more solid and helps keep them in the boat. The other thing that I do is custom shape the foam so that it fits exactly the way I want it to. A lot of people like to trim out a place for their big toe. Anyway you get the idea.

When you put it all back in the boat I like to put the bow wall on top of the front edge of the cone of comfort. That helps keep it in place and makes getting in the boat smooth.

Here is the link to the video.
How to Use the Foot Foam Video, Click This!
Hope this helps
Shane

Big Boatin' The Noli

We hadn't done a Big Boat session in a while so Woody and I decided to make a trip up to the Noli and bring along some newbie long boat paddlers. Whitney has paddled a Pisgah once before, but Yonton hadn't done the big boat thing before. We knew he would like it but pretty foreign to him.

We all loaded up in Woody's reliable Buick LeSabre. Four paddlers four Pisgahs. The one thing we remembered a little late was the fact that when you paddle boats that are that long you actually do need a bow line. We drove up I-26 with the middle boats pointing more and more towards the sky. We tried retying but that didn't help. We looked like the guy with the mattress on his roof trying to hold it on with our hands.

Whitney, Woody, and I have all been paddling long enough that we actually paddled whitewater boats that were nearly this long, but Yonton doesn't have that much experience in the long boats. So we weren't sure how that was going to go. We gave him a boat with a rudder figuring if things went really bad he could drop the rudder and guide himself home.

It was a beautiful day out there. January 28th and it was 60 degrees. The water was cold as hell but still and awesome day.
Here is the video. Its a 15mb video so it may take a minute to load.
Big Boatin' the Noli Video Link, Click This
I will be posting video of the new Foot System and Adjustable Hip Pads later this week.
Shane

First River Run in the Cross RIvers

I have been blabbing the last few posts about getting the CRs into production at the factory. Now its time to start showing them on the river.
Woody, Rob and I took off the for the Nolichucky the day I got back with the first production CRs. The level was a nice 3500 and it was 50 degrees in January. Can't beat that.


You all know Woody, but you might not know Rob. He is the brother of our president at Liquidlogic. He just recently moved to Asheville from Rhode Island so he could do some more paddling. Rob has been doing a bunch of creeking down here but hasn't ever been in a playboat so it was cool to see that the CR 125 was easy to handle for him.
Woody - 6'4", 240, 34" inseam, size 12 dogs. CR 250
Rob - 6'1", 175, 33" inseam, size 11 feet. CR 125


It was really nice to get in the production boat and know that we put together an awesome boat. The new foot cone and foot foam were super comfy. Hell Woody paddled the whole river barefoot just because he could. He kept saying, "dude my feet are even warm". The new hip pads are awesome. A screw driver and you can adjust and secure your hip pads completely bomber. No more loose hip pads. They don't slide, lose air, come unglued, or only sit in one place. I am nearly as excited about the new outfitting as I am about the new boats.


Woody and I will get the final production stats on the CRs up on the web as soon as possible.
Here is the video of the day running the Noli.
Cross Rivers on the Noli Video Link, Click This
Later
Shane

Here is a link to more photos, videos, and words and stats about the CRs.
Cross River Page Link, Click It

The First Assembled Cross Rivers

I've been in the factory this week getting the CR molds broken in and ready to run boats this week and today we started assembling the boats, and here they are.




Here is a comparison shot of the two boats. The boats are comfy rides. Woody and I are super comfortable in the two different sizes.



This is the new hip pad system that is going into the whitewater boats now.
Up and Down adjustment. Forward and Back adjustment. In and Out, and a tilt if you want, sorry they aren't heated.



Here is a link to more photos, videos, and words and stats about the CRs.
Click Here
Later
Shane

CR Molds are in the Factory!

I love the smell of new alluminum. The new Cross River molds showed up at the factory the other day and I have been working on getting them ready for production. Its always awesome to see the new molds because they are so shiny and new. The 125 and the 250 are both up now. It usually takes a couple weeks to get the molds all broken in and running smoothly. Just like a good pair of shoes. Thats why we aren't promising to ship any boats until Feb. 1st.



If you haven't seen how boats are made you should look at these video links.
How Kayaks are Molded
How Kayaks are Built #1
How Kayaks are Built #2

Lots of folks have been asking about the CRs and when they were coming so I figured I would show you what is going on. I will try to post pictures of the first outfitted boat on Friday.
Later
Shane