Kayak Changing Rooms — Now!
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One of the hassles of kayaking involves changing into paddling clothing at the boat ramp. If you’re like me, you try to do a quick surf change on the beach using something like Orange Mud’s Transition and Seat Wrap (See: Orange Mud Transition Towel and Seat Wrap Review). You may have picked up something like a Sqivvy, a popup changing room. Neither offer a perfect solution. The Orange Mud towel doesn’t allow you to dry off easily, so when you pull you pants and underwear on, it feels wet and sticky. The Sqivvy tends to blow down in the wind even when fully staked and guyed out. The ideal solution is to have a changing room built at the ramp.
Beaches often have outdoor changing rooms, and they’re becoming more common at mountain biking trails. But, for some reason, they haven’t caught on at locations where kayakers often launch. The need is there, because kayakers almost always change from their street clothing to paddling clothing. And after paddling, the clothing is usually wet. I’ve personally seen kayakers just dropping their clothing and getting nude in parking lots.
Some area officials suggest changing in the outhouse. While this is possible, it’s seldom ideal because they’re seldom clean or large enough to accommodate changing clothing. They don’t have benches and they often smell bad. It just feels gross.
An outdoor changing room need not be complicated. A 8 foot by 6 foot structure with a bench inside is all that’s needed. It doesn’t need a roof, and the rain can clean out the sand. An outdoor changing room shouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundred dollars, and it would be used by every kayaker that needs to change clothing at the landing. It could be built in two days, including the day it takes to pour the footings. It’s well worth the investment.
Here’s an example outdoor changing room that I drew up using Sketchup. How about it kayakers? Can you talk your local officials into building these for us?
Download the Sketchup file: Oudoor changing room Sketchup file
Bryan Hansel
Bryan Hansel is a freelance writer, award-winning photographer and a former American Canoe Association L4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor. His home port is on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He also teaches photography workshops.
2 Comments
Barry
While it’s not a permanent structure I use this: http://www.surf-fur.com. It makes an adequate change “room” and it’s pretty nice to wrap up in after a cold paddle.
Thanks for the great articles.
Barry
Libby
Last year I learned about The Undress. http://www.theundress.com
I keep it in the car so I always have it, and can “change clothes in public without getting naked.” I’ve also taken it on camping trips. I like to totally clean up at the end of the day, using extra large wipes, and The Undress allows me to even “bathe” in public. There is enough fabric and its weight is just right so it can also act as a towel. They have come out with a shorter version but I prefer the long one. Watch the video on the website to see how it works. Sorry, guys, it’s for the gals – unless you value function over form.