RETAILERS & MANUFACTURERS

Ideas, suggestions or broken links? Please email me with details.

Gear

7 Day Shop - a good source of lots of small kit, binos, cameras, electronics etc.

Adventure Peaks in Ambleside carry a range of outdoor kit - not kayaking related, but they seem to have a good selection of generic kit.

Ainsworth make a range of sea paddles.

Alpkit.com offer a wide range of budget priced general outdoor kit - seemingly well regarded though.

Anglesey Stick - a Greenland-style paddle, made on Anglesey in North Wales

Arc'teryx make some excellent outdoor clothing, base layers, etc, as used by your editor. Warm, resilient and quick drying. They are also one of the few makers who produce kit suitable for the "larger" gentleman! XXL sizes (48in chest) seem quite hard to get from many retailers, but it's worth checking with The Outdoor Gear Shop who seem to be one of the few stockists who carry that size.

AquaTek make a range of drysuits and offer a repair service. They also supply the material for Rubberman's suits.

Berghaus don't make any kayak specific gear, but do offer a variety of other decent outdoor kit.

Brighton Canoes offer a wide range of gear and boats

Backpackinglight.co.uk retail a wide range of lightweight camping kit.

Bournemouth Canoes seem to have lots of good stuff.

Cambrian Marine Centre, Aberaeron are a chandlery and say they "offer a full kayak service from sale to hire" - sea kayaks don't seem to be available, but they have a range of SOT's.

Canyongear.co.uk offer made-to-measure kit, "from paddle tops to boat bags"

Celtic paddles - originally Lendal paddles - excellent sea paddles. Now owned by Nigel Dennis, they are now known as Celtic Paddles outside North America, and made in Wales. The website is apparently still being worked on (Jan 2014) and a phone call may be worth while as getting prices is a little difficult on-line.

Cheltenham Canoes have a wide range of gear and boats.

Cornwall Canoes offer range of Sea Kayaks.

DAM X - made to measure drysuits etc - Andi Riley, DAM Watersports, 7 Brampton Close, Bedford MK42 0HD. Phone 01234 267314, e-mail damwatersports@yahoo.co.uk

DB Designs make surf kayaks, paddles, decks, clothing etc.

Desperate Measures in Nottingham offer a wide range of kit and boats.

Duncan Yacht Chandlery in Glasgow. First rate chandlers, close to the M8/Kingston Bridge so handy for visiting if you're going to the west coast.

Epic kayaks - they also make some nice paddles.

Family Adventure Store have started to supply the Wiltshire / Somerset area with Prijon sea boats and a range of outdoor kit.

Gear-Zone - a wide range of outdoor kit.

Gerber - multi-tools, torches, knives - the best!

Go-kayaking - in Perth, where the old Brookbank store used to be.

Heinnie Haynes offer a massize range of knives, watches, torches, bags and other essential and desirable goodies.

Hilleberg - the tentmaker. Enough said! Pricy, but superb quality tents.

Hilltrek - based on Royal Deeside, they offer a range of high quality outdoor clothing, including a made-to-measure service (not kayaking gear though) and also retail Paramo kit.

Hitch n Hike offer outdoor gear (no kayaking gear though) at what appear to be competitive prices.

ICOM(UK) - superb marine VHF radios - and excellent customer service!

IR / Immersion Research - inventory of stock available in UK / Europe. Some good kit, but not available from retailers. See also this discussion if you plan on importing direct from the US, as there are tax and handling fees to consider.

Kayak Carrier Systems (KCS) are back on the market (Aug 2014) and make excellent J cradles, V cradles and a most excellent kayak trolley which also serves as a loading device to help get a kayak onto a vehicle.

Kari-Tek in Ayrshire are agents for SKUK, Kirton Kayaks, Rockpool and P&H sea kayaks and are also agents for Lendal and Swift paddles and Reed Chillcheater kayaking gear.

Kajak Sport - hatch covers, cockpit covers, other goodies. And kayaks. They will supply direct if the product you want isn't available in UK.

Kayaks & Paddles in Plymouth offer on-line shopping as well as their retail outlet.

Kokatat make a great range of well thought out kit, including some superb cags, dry suits and ba's.

Lakeland Bushcraft carry a range of outdoor kit, some of which is of use to us.

Lendal - excellent sea paddles. Now owned by Nigel Dennis, they are now known as Celtic Paddles outside North America, and made in Wales. The website is apparently still being worked on (Jan 2014) and a phone call may be worth while as getting prices is a little difficult on-line.

Lightwave make an interesting range of tents - a possible alternative to the popular brands?

Lomo in Glasgow do wetsuits, a limited range of cags, gloves and nice spray-decks. Good value.

Mitchell Blades make and supply high quality paddles to enthusiasts and retail outlets.

Moonraker Knives have a huge range of high quality knives.

MSR make superb multifuel and gas stoves. Reliable, efficient and easy to get spares for.

Needlesports - UK climbing / outdoor retail outlet based in Keswick, with excellent online mail-order facility. Not specifically kayaking orientated but lots of outdoor kit at good prices, excellent service and free postage! They hold stocks of spares for Primus, Trangia, Jetboil and MSR stoves as well, or can get them quickly.

Norfolk Canoes are based in Norwich and offer a variety of paddling kit and boats.

North Water produce a variety of deck bags and other interesting kit.

Ortleib produce dry bags, map cases and a variety of other waterproof goodies.

OutdoorGB seem to have a massive range of outdoor kit, watches and other interesting stuff.

Over Board offer a range of dry bags, camera cases and deck bags.

Palm, a well established UK equipment manufacturer offering a range of sea-kayaking kit.

Peak, another well established UK equipment manufacturer offering sea-kayaking kit.

PHD Mountain Software offer a range of down kit, including a "made to measure" service for sleeping bags.

RAB make superb sleeping bags, liners, down jackets etc.

Ravenspring offer a range of drysuits and seem to offer a "made to measure" service.

Reed make a range of drysuits, cags and other kit under in UK their "Chill Cheater" name. They do made-to-measure as well.

Rough Gear.co.uk describe themselves as an "Online Outdoor Adventure Store".

Rubberman - made to measure drysuits and excellent and speedy repair service.

Scottishkayaksandpaddles - where the old Stirling Canoes shope used to be.

Sea Kayak Oban - a dedicated sea kayaking retailer in Oban. Which is quite a good place to have a sea kayaking shop. They hold a wide range of quality kit (inc Kokatat at attractive prices) and provide an excellent mail order service.

SealLine make a great range of sea kayaking kit, including deck bags, drybags and other goodies.

South Coast Canoes, based in Three Legged Cross, offer a range of kit and courses.

Standard Horizon offer a range of marine VHF radios.

Tamarack, based at Garstang in Lancashire, carry a well chosen range of high quality outdoor clothing and kit.

Tatonka - German company offering a range of tents, packs, cook sets in stainless steel and other camping kit. Some of their gear bears a remarkable resemblance to MSR, Trangia and Hilleberg kit - but at cheaper prices.

Trangia make superb, simple and effective stoves.

Transporting kayaks on vehicles - Kari-Tek have some interesting solutions, as do Kayak Carrier Systems. For Thule roof bars and equipment, see Roofbox.co.uk or Roofracks.co.uk

Up and Under in Cardiff are a large independant canoe shop that supplies all the major brands - kit and boats.

VauDe make a range of tents and sleeping bags.

Werner make touring paddles - the "Choose a Paddle" utility on the site is nice.

Wetsuit Outlet provide a mail-order service and have some keen prices on wetsuits, drysuits, cags, PDF's, helmets and other kit.

Whetman Equipment make a range of paddlesport gear made in Devon and Europe, as well as providing Lettmann boats and paddles in the UK.

Kayaks

Atlantic Focus are the UK distributor of the ‘3-n-1’ Comanche sea kayak from Quiver of South Africa. Operating from Inverness in the far north but intending establishing a distribution warehouse in Glasgow they also have a range of PE boats from France and Indonesia.

Azul Kayaks - part of Riot make about 10 sea boats.

Brighton Canoes offer a wide range of gear and boats

Cambrian Marine Centre, Aberaeron are a chandlery and say they "offer a full kayak service from sale to hire" - sea kayaks don't seem to be available, but they have a range of SOT's.

Cheltenham Canoes have a wide range of gear and boats.

Cobra Kayaks offer a range of SOT's. See also their Extreme Products site

Cornwall Canoes offer range of Sea Kayaks and will be stocking the new plastic Northshore Sea Kayaks that should be available in March 2007.

Dagger produce the Meridian SK, Cortez, Cortez, Halifax, Charleston, Blackwater, Crossover.

DB Designs make surf kayaks, paddles, decks, clothing etc.

Epic kayaks - they also make some nice paddles.

Family Adventure Store have started to supply the Wiltshire / Somerset area with Prijon sea boats.

Feathercraft produce a range of folding kayaks - a "boat in a bag", if that's your bag!

Glenuig Inn is the retailer for Tiderace boats in Scotland.

Go-kayaking - in Perth, where the old Brookbank store used to be.

Great River Canoes have some great looking cedar-strip kayaks and canoes.

Kari-Tek in Ayrshire are agents for SKUK, Kirton Kayaks, Rockpool and P&H sea kayaks and are also agents for Lendal / Celtic and Swift paddles and Reed Chillcheater kayaking gear.

Kajak Sport make some nice boats such as Viking, Artisan Millennium, Infinity, Viviane and Unalaska 2000.

Kirkton Kayaks are the makers of Inuk, C-Trek, M-Ocean, Njord II.

Mar Kayaks - Nelo - a Norwegian company with a large range of sea boats.

Mega - makers of the Diamante range including Sovereign, Blaze, S, Rapide and Klipper.

North Shore make a range of kayaks including the Buccaneer, Calypso and Polar.

Ocean Kayaks make a lot of sit ons and a couple of Kayaks

Oldtown Old Town make a few sea boats in their range.

Point 65 N offer a range of sea kayaks.

Perception have a good range of plastic sea kayaks, particularly at entry level.

Prijon also produce a range of sea boats, Kodiak, Seayak, Catalina, Calabria, Capri, Yukon Expedition, Eski, Seagull, Excursion, Odyssee.

Pyranha make the Orca and the Pilot and as they own P&H, also the P&H boats.

P&H. British designers and manufacturers of fine kayaks; makers of the Cetus, Quest, Capella, Sirius and Vella - used to make many of the classics, Orion, Easky, Icefloe, Dawn Treader Odin, Baidarka.

Rockpool Kayaks make the Alaw, the Alaw Bach and an 18'2" expedition boat called the Menai 18.

Scottishkayaksandpaddles - where the old Stirling Canoes shope used to be.

Sea Kayak Oban - a dedicated sea kayaking retailer in Oban. Boats by P&H, Valley, Rockpool, NDK, Point 65 and others. Excellent mail order service.

Sea Kayaking UK (formally NDK) make many version of the Romany (Low Volume, Explorer, Explorer Low Volume, Explorer HV), Greenlander , Greenlander Pro, Posedion and Triton II.

Self-build kayaks - there are various links in the Equipment & Sea Kayaks section.

SKALYBAX in Cornwall is an expedition centre specializing in sea kayak tuition and expedition training run by Jeff Allen. Retailers for Nigel Dennis Kayaks, Kirton kayaks, Reed, Yak and System X.

Skim Kayaks from Sweden.

TideRace Sea Kayaks - by Aled Williams.

Up and Under in Cardiff are a large independant canoe shop that supplies all the major brands - kit and boats.

Valley Sea Kayaks make a wide range of superb sea kayaks, including the Nordkapp, Pintail, Skerry and the Aleut II sea double. VCP is on the outskirts of Nottingham.

Whetman Equipment make a range of paddlesport gear made in Devon and Europe, as well as providing Lettmann boats and paddles in the UK.

Wild Things in Cornwall "specialise in the production of general purpose kayaks and sit on tops for paddlers who are looking for easy to use, high quality designs with unbeatable value and superior performance"

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