Here are five of my favorite pieces of kit that I can't paddle without during the winter months.  This list is heavily influenced by flatwater kayaking as I am doing a lot of this at the moment.  Although I use these pieces of kit mainly for flatwater, they  also can be combined with other kit like my drysuit for whitewater and sea kayaking.  So whether you are planning a Devizes to Westminster campaign or just looking for the perfect gift for Christmas you might find something of interest below.

The Cesky Krumlov river marathon took place last month on the 11th of October in the Czech Republic. Myself, Tom Brennan, Peter Tallon and Bruno Halter made the trip from Ireland as well a a large contingent from Wild Water Kayak Club in Dublin.

The decision to go to the race was only made two weeks before hand after Tom posted on FB. A few quick messages and flights were booked.  We were offered K1's and K2's to hire for the race so the logistics were straight forward. Myself and Peter opted to paddle K2 and Tom went for a K1. 

We flew into Prague on Friday evening, picked up the hire car and hit the road for the 3 hour drive to Cesky Krumlov. Luckily Bruno had been to the race before and was in charge of navigation and driving. We arrived in Krumlov about 9pm and went for a look at the boats for the race the next morning.  Luckily we did as they needed some "attention"!