Winter Storage for Kayak, Canoe & SUP Gear: How to Protect it!

Ken Whiting with PaddleTV with another paddling tip, and in this video we're talking about how to store your paddling gear for the winter. And let's start with the biggest piece of gear you've got, the paddlecraft, the kayak, the canoe, the paddleboard, whatever it might be. These crafts are quite simple. Not a lot of moving parts, not a lot of things that can go wrong, and so the biggest thing that you need to do to store them for the winter is store them completely out of the elements. And that means storing them inside. If you store a kayak or any paddlecraft outside and it's subject to the elements, it will take years off its life and it will make it look crappy much quicker than it otherwise would. It's not just the elements, it's critters. Critters have a way of finding great homes in boats that are left outside. For that matter, they can find a great home in a kayak that's stored inside as well, and that's why it's a good idea to store a kayak even inside off the ground so that it's not as accessible to critters. Now to keep it looking great, give it a good wash before you store it. Dry it completely and then use this stuff right here. This is 303 Protectant. No, they're not a sponsor or partner of mine, but this stuff offers really great protection for any paddlecraft. It's largely a UV protectant. It stops the sun from breaking down your boat, but it just protects it over the winter months really well too. Now the other thing that you can do is store the boat on a padded rack or a sling style rack, which is webbing that is holding the boat, so that the boat isn't going to deform. This is particularly important for plastic kayaks that can deform if they're left in the same spot if all their weight is on a single point for too long. Now if you have an inflatable paddlecraft, the key is to give it a good wash. Dry it completely. Do your best to dry it, but let it air dry before folding it up and storing it for the winter. I would also highly recommend giving it a good rub down with the 303 Protectant. It will not only keep it more protected for the winter, but it'll be more protected when you're ready to go in the springtime. It doesn't take much to protect your paddlecraft for the winter months. A couple little things there, just wash it, dry it, use 303 Protectant, store it inside. Now let's talk about something that requires more attention, and that is your technical paddling wear. In particular, any splash top or dry top or dry suit, anything that you rely on to keep you dry. Now it's probably a good idea for you to understand how dry wear works, because it'll make more sense what you have to do. Dry wear has three layers to it. You have an outer protective layer, you have the middle layer which is the waterproof breathable membrane, and then you've got an inner layer which protects that membrane on the inside. Now you also have a fourth, it's not a layer, but it is, we'll call it a layer. It's a coating that gets applied to the outer layer. It's called a DWR, which is a durable water repellent. Now the DWR, that coating that goes on the outer layer, doesn't actually waterproof the material. What it does is it causes water to bead off that outer material, and it makes it harder for dirt to collect on that outer fabric, and that makes that outer fabric much more breathable and lets the membrane do its job. The waterproofness, though it doesn't come from that outer layer, it comes from the middle breathable waterproof membrane. And so when it comes time to clean a technical fabric or piece of dry wear, what you really want to do is two things. You want to clean the two layers, the outer and inner layer, so that there's no dirt there that's stopping the breathing, the breathability of the fabric, but then you want to re-apply the DWR coating to the outer fabric so that it continues to bead water and shed dirt and maximize the breathability of the fabric. So how do you do that? Well, first thing you do is you put the garment through a wash. You can wash it in your washing machine or hand wash it gently. Nikwax has something called their TekWash, which is designed specifically for waterproof breathable fabrics. And once you've washed it, then what you want to do is apply the new DWR. And Nikwax has their TX Direct, which is available in a spray-on and a wash-in version. The only other thing to take care of with dry wear, the weak point in dry wear, are the gaskets. In particular, the latex gaskets. These latex gaskets do an incredible job of keeping the water out when you're paddling, but they can dry out, crack, fall apart over time. You can replace them. And I did a video about how to maintain and fix a dry top or dry suit where, you know, gaskets have gone on it. But the way to keep your gaskets lasting longer is with 303 protectant. Prevents them from drying out and cracking and prevents the sun from doing this damage. But that's why good dry tops have these neoprene sleeves to cover the gaskets. It's so that the sun isn't going to break them down nearly as quickly. Not to mention, it just protects it from rubbing on, getting cut on rocks or anything else that can do some damage. Now, your insulating layers also should be taken care of before the winter. And now, a lot of you will use those insulating layers for other winter activities. So you may just need to give it a wash, get that river or lake stink out of it, and then keep using it. If you're going to store it for an extended period of time, you definitely want to give it a good wash, make sure it's dry completely, and then store it in a seal. I store them in a sealed Tupperware bin. Something that I know critters can't get at them because they're going to do the most damage to these things. Now, for wetsuit material, this is a fleece, but wetsuit material, they're prone to getting a little stinkier. And so you can get a wetsuit specific wash. Nikwax, again, has one called a wetsuit refresh, which does a great job of cleaning the wetsuit material and getting some of that stink out of it as well. Same thing goes for footwear. If you have neoprene footwear, like a bootie, a wetsuit wash will do a great job of cleaning that up. Give it a wash, let it dry completely, and then store it in a sealed container to prevent any critters getting at them. Nikwax has a footwear refresh product designed to clean and take the stink out of footwear. I'm not sponsored by Nikwax or anything, but it's just what I use to take the stink and clean my gear up every once in a while. There are other brands out there. The key is giving a thorough wash, letting it dry completely, and then storing this gear, all the gear, somewhere protected from critters. Now last but not least, paddles, like your kayak or your canoe or your paddle craft, you don't need to do a lot to store your paddle. The biggest thing is give it a wash, clean it up, dry it completely, and then store it, ideally, inside. You can also give it a little love with 303 protectant and it'll be ready to go in the springtime. That's all I've got. Hope you have enjoyed this video and hopefully it saves you some grief in the spring when you pull out your gear. It'll be ready to go instead of ready to be replaced. If you enjoyed it, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to PaddleTV if you haven't already, check out my other YouTube channel, Ken Whiting Adventures for my paddling adventures, and stay tuned because I got a lot more paddling tips, paddling gear reviews, and paddling adventures coming your way.