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What a great drysuit. Aside from customize-able options, this drysuit has every feature that you can ask for. Most other drysuits have one or two sought after features but are always lacking in some other respect. Some features that this suit (and Kokatat in general) have that I consider a must, include:

- Gore-tex hood. Not only is this hood well fitted and adjustable, it looks great both on and off your head. Friends often compliment me on the hood and wish their suits (which often have neoprene and Velcro "volcano" necks) had hoods like the expedition. My only complaint about the suit is that the hood does not have a stowage pocket/zipper. I rarely actually wear the hood, and 99% of the the time I spend paddling is either roll & rescue practice, or in rough water. The hood acts like a bucket in these situations and it must be rolled down on itself.

- Gore-tex booties. A lot of suits have these, but it is a must nonetheless. Latex booties are cold and difficult.

- Zipper covers on both the entry and pee zips. Most "budget" drysuits are built without these and the nasty zippers can be sharp.

- Customization. This is not unique to the expedition but I do believe it has the most options available. My suit has Cordura butt and knee sections, which I find very important for prolonging the life of the suit in high stress areas. Shoulder pockets are nice, although I don't use them. Finally, it is nice to be able to fully customize the color scheme of your suit. I don't think anyone else is doing this.

Kokatat has a great warranty, due to their use of "real" Gore-Tex and its lifetime guarantee, and their $40 flat rate leak fixes. Most brands that advertise a breathable fabric are using some kind of Gore-tex clone, so it is similar in performance but with no guarantee. And with the Kokatat's repair service, they will fix any and all leaks in your suit for a flat rate. When I sent my suit in, they said it had so many holes that it needed to be run through their tests twice.

I am a 6'2" male weighing in at 165# and I wear a women's large (bought it used).

This is an update to my August 2014 review. At this point I have owned the Kuroshio paddle for just over a year. The paddle broke in the loom near the shoulder while surfing in June. I was tumbling about upside down in a foam pile and the paddle came apart in my hands - there was no hitting rocks or seafloor. The paddle simply gave out after a year of heavy use. I emailed their customer service rep, Ruby from my campsite later that afternoon, and by that evening I had received confirmation that a new paddle was being shipped. No questions asked.

Through emailing their sales rep, I found out that the model I was using (2012 Kuroshio) had about a 2% failure rate. If you purchase one of their discounted Kuroshio paddles from their Ebay store, this is the model you'll be purchasing. The updated model has been reinforced in the shoulder, which is supposed to address the issue. This is what you get when you purchase a Kuroshio paddle at full price from their website. HOWEVER, if you purchase an older model Kuroshio paddle from their Ebay store and it breaks, they will replace it with a new one. It's really a win-win. Their customer service is impeccable.

Now I will address points that I made in my 2014 review:

The paddle arrived in a timely fashion, probably just over a week in transit, after about five days processing. The tracking service they used was weird but it worked. Meanwhile, a customer service rep named Ruby was in contact with me (and used very good English, to my delight).

The paddle arrived looking good. The glossy white finish is smooth and glossy, as expected. I have used both the white and black paddles, and while the black carbon fiber weave is beautiful, the white holds up better over time. The "T-Joint" in the ferule prevents rotation at the ferrule. It works well, there is no rotational play even after a year. As others have said, the inner cylinder of the ferrule joint is coated in paraffin wax in order to make the joint tighter. After a year, the ferule joint became harder and harder to put together. I believe this was due to the extremely tight fit that it had to begin with, coupled with grime and roughing from use. As a result, the paddle had no play at the ferule joint, but became a pain to assemble. The new paddle that I received as replacement has far less wax on the ferule, and goes on MUCH easier, but has the same amount of play when assembled (about none). I'd say it has improved.

The one thing that I don't necessarily like about the joint is the carbon ferrule button. The fact that it's made of carbon may or may not have anything to do with this. It just doesn't have much spring to it. So, when you assemble the paddle, the button doesn't snap up through the hole with much force. Sometimes, it only pops up half way. After a year, the button was still behaving the same way. I had feared that it would get worse, but it did not. I have used other Gearlab paddles that did not seem to have this problem, although my replacement does. Luckily it doesn't affect performance.

Now, finally, onto the performance.
• The Kuroshio GP handles nicely. The shoulders are rather sharp and pronounced. This took some getting use to. It gives more leverage (or grip, not sure how to phrase it) but it also forces me to hold the paddle differently. I find myself hold the blades with three fingers and the loom with only one (as opposed to two and two).
• Low swing weight. Compared to my hollow loomed wooden paddle, this GP feels like air in my hands. Low overall weight. The gloss finish doesn't seem to add any weight to the paddle.
• Highly buoyant. The GP is just about as buoyant as my other, hollow loomed wood one (which is even more buoyant than the typical solid wood GP). As a result, this paddle rolls and balance braces well.
• The blades are adequately thin and don't produce any noise or swerves when used with good form. The silicon paddle bumpers that can be purchased do have a slight negative effect on the paddle's performance. When doing low braces the paddle doesn't skim the water's surface as smoothly as it should, due to the 1/8" bump on the blade's face. I took them off. I believe that the new paddle designs with the removable plastic tips offers a good solution to this problem.

The Kuroshio paddle gets an 8/10 rating from me. The paddle is perfect, I love its looks and performance, and I love the company that makes it. They stand behind their products. A year ago I gave the paddle the same rating, for the same reasons. After one year I am still pleased with the paddle, and will be purchasing all of my paddles from Gearlab in the future.

Ok, seriously guys. 10/10? This is why no one trusts Padnet reviews! You need to be more realistic. I love this boat. It is my favorite boat not on the market. I love how it paddles, looks, and how others are drawn to it as well. But 10/10? Does it wipe my ass and dispense whisky?

The first thing that you're going to notice about this kayak are it's great lines. The Greenland influences that Johan Wirsen used to design the Greenland T are equally beautiful to Greenland paddlers and uninitiated passersby. The Zegul rip off (yes, they did rip it off) completely ruins the design by softening the boat's hard angles. Even Johan's new boat, the Rebel Greenland kayak, doesn't match the beauty of the original Greenland and Greenland T.

If you are trying to decide between the Greenland T and the Greenland, consider this - the T will roll with ease and finesse, more so than any non-Greenland specialty boat. With the Greenland, you gain a small amount of rolling capability, and lose a lot of rough and open water capability. You will also notice a detriment to boat handling as well, due to the low freeboard.

The Greenland T is a very comfortable boat. The bucket seat and low backband are very comfortable, even on long paddles (3-4 hours or more). It uses a nice foot peg system that doesn't force you to lean into the cockpit to adjust. I have modified by foot pegs to hold a foam bulkhead in place, that can be adjusted fore and aft along the foot peg track. Some have complained that the T's seat is too far back, too close to the coaming. This is true. The coaming cuts into the back of the paddler when lying on the rear deck. However, I have never noticed this in a roll. You can move the seat forward, but it then goes from having five points of attachment to having only two (and it get creaky). If the seat were further forward, you could also install your bilge behind it (as the bulkhead and seat pan are touching). I would suggest a Redfish kayaks seat if you are hoping to move the seat forward.

Bulkheads and Kajak Sport hatch covers are absolutely water tight (and you can imagine that the boat is getting pretty wet). I have drilled four holes in the forward bulkhead to accommodate an auto bilge pump, and it is still water tight. However, the skeg box does have a small leak (as others have noticed, to varying degrees). The leak has developed at the joint between two walls of the skeg box. Not a hard fix. The slider is nice and partially recessed, although not as much so as I'd like. The painted hull interior is a nice touch. It is much nicer to look at than raw composite weave.

The cockpit is plenty large for any "average" paddler. I'm 6'2" 160# and I fit with room. I wouldn't recommend exceeding 180# though. ceiling height at the coaming is 13". Near the forward bulkhead it is more like 10". I wear a size 11 US shoe, and I find that I have to paddle this boat without booties. I wear neoprene socks over my drysuit socks. The flanges of the keyhole cockpit grip my thighs well enough that I do not long for an ocean cockpit of masiq.

The rear deck is low enough that layback rolls and balance braces require little arching of the back or much thought at all, really. This is nice when doing fancy, slow rolls, as well as violent storm rolls. Or when goofing off and walking the kayak's deck. However, the Greenland T suffers from something I have dubbed "water-noise." The T's hard chines allow it to carve effortlessly. When edged hard enough, however, the rear deck begins collecting water directly behind the paddler. You will notice the sound of turbulent water behind you, and your bow rudder or low brace turn will turn into a slow sideways drift, as your boat loses efficiency like a sinking ship. As a result, I have adjusted my paddling style, and done away with the aggressive edging I'm used to using in soft shined or round hulled boats like the NDK Romany.

The T has AMPLE storage space for one, two, three night camping trips. Depending on the availability of fresh water and food along the way, you could go longer, easily. The only piece of gear that I have not been able to pack away is my massive sleeping pad (REI XL self inflating pad, 2.5' thickness). I also suggest carrying liquor of a high proof, as beer will quickly deplete your space and raise your water line.

During fully-loaded expeditions I noticed that the T needed about 1/4 skeg deployment in order to keep the boat tracking straight. However, I did not notice much difference in water line. I did paddle in quite rough conditions (3-5' swells, current, wind) while fully loaded. Windage was next to none, and the bow had no problem taking commend of oncoming waves, despite its low volume.

The T's hull surfs excellently, despite it's low volume bow and stern. While waiting for a wave, or paddling backwards through the surf, the paddler is battered terribly, due to the stern's lack of buoyancy. I found myself being slammed in the shoulders and the back of the head by 3-4' swells. However, on the right side of a wave, the T handles excellently. Leaning about 30% of my weight onto the back deck allows the boat to take off, and it will more likely outrun the wave it surfs than broach or pitch pole.

Overall I rate the Greenland T a 7/10. This is a good score! A kayak is not a math test that can perfectly filled out. When we find a kayak that is truly a 10/10, no kayak will be a 10/10.

I do not own this boat. However I have paddled it quite a few times, as my store has had a demo model for customer/employee use for about two months. Since I'm tasked with selling these boats, I'm very well versed in the manufacturing process, materials, and outfitting on the boats. Everything is very well finished, on par with Tahe in terms of finesse and craftsmanship.

Thermoformed plastic construction is what sets this boat apart from other playboats. While Eddyline isn't the only manufacturer out there today that manufactures kayaks this way, they are certainly the only ones making a boat like the Raven. As you'll read on the Eddyline website, the new material is about as strong as fiberglass, with a much more flexible quality. As a result, they can take impacts much better (this of course depends on the composite layup, some are better than others).

The Sea-Lect rigid hatch covers are nice, they come on and off with much less effort than the classic soft Kajak Sport covers. The deck bungees have a nice, soft sheathing. Deck lines are perhaps too tight and thin, though. The seat pan is very comfortable, and slides on a long track, giving the paddler an excellent option that Tahe neglects. Sea-Dog Line footpegs are sturdy and robust, however require you to lean forward for adjustment, unlike other modern designs.

Now for the important part: How does it paddle? My experience in this boat was all on calm water, so I cannot attest to its surfing or rough water capability. However its high volume bow, deep rocker and long, raked bow and stern lead me to believe that it would fare well. However most of my time in the Raven was spent doing boat control strokes and rolling. I paddled the Raven using a standard Greenland paddle and found that it was very agile. With simple edging, bow rudder, and stern rudder, the Raven and be turned 180*. The flat water handling of the 2013 Raven closely resembles that of a NDK Romany, the "end-all" in rough water kayaks. Having always wanted a Romany myself, I've taken every opportunity to paddle one. The main difference in handling characteristics between the two boats is the Raven's semi-hard chine. The Raven carves well on edge, and will easily carve the other way, following its deep rocker when edged to the extreme. When paddling the Romany, I found it had a tendency to always turn with the direction of the boat's rocker, perhaps due to its hull's subdued lines.

Rolling this boat took adjustment for me, as I was coming from my cheater boat, the Tahe Greenland T. The Raven takes more power in the knee and fuller sweep to right itself, but it rolls all the same. The back deck is lower enough for this paddler to consider it a "Greenland" design. I have no doubt that this boat would roll well in rough conditions. Having rolled a Romany (again, usually considered the end-all in rough water) I can say that rolling capability is about even between the two boats.

Overall I rate the Raven a 9/10. Having always lusted after the NDK Romany, my mind was changed after I paddled the Raven. Two very similar boats, the Raven beats the Romany in both Greenland sex appeal and construction.

I have owned and used the GP for about one month. I purchased the Gearlab Kuroshio GP on something of an impulse. I knew I wanted a carbon two-piece GP. I used a wooden GP and wanted to have a secondary (and to treat myself to something cool). Originally, I tried to contact Northern Lights GP and after a week with no response, I started looking at other options. Someone suggested Novorca. I'm ok spending $400 for a carbon GP. But $600? No thanks. At some point, the amount of money spent has a diminishing return.

So I said what the heck, let's do gearlab. Their paddles look good. Reviews are good. Their site is new and easy to use. Let's do it. So I ordered the Kuroshio in 225cm. The 225cm matched all of the measurements of my current, wooden GP, so I felt reassured that the designers had some idea of what they were doing. I also ordered the little silicon paddle condoms for $15.

The paddle arrived in a timely fashion, probably just over a week in transit, after about five days processing. The tracking service they used was weird but it worked. Meanwhile, a customer service rep named Ruby was in contact with me (and used very good English, to my delight).

The paddle arrived looking good. The glossy white finish is smooth and glossy, as expected. It's basically gel coat (it probably is). The "T-Joint" is basically a two-part joint where the two pieces of the paddle meet. It prevents rotation at the ferrule. It works well, there is no rotational play at this point. As others have said, the inner cylinder of the ferrule joint is coated in thick paraffin wax in order to make the joint tighter. About one month into my ownership of the GP, this wax has waned about 40-50% (hehe). However the joint doesn't feel any looser. Just easier to put together and take apart.

The one part that I don't necessarily like about the joint is the carbon ferrule button. The fact that it's made of carbon may or may not have anything to do with this. It just doesn't have much spring to it. So, when you put the GP together, the button doesn't snap up through the hole with much force. Sometimes, it only pops up half way. It's still enough to hold the paddle together, just not all of the way. I fear that down the road, this piece may fail. That's probably why they sell replacements on their website.

The paddle did arrive with one small, and odd defect. While the paddle was perfect in shape and finish, I noticed that there was something rattling inside of it. Since the paddles are blow molded from a combination of fiberglass and carbon fiber, I imagine that a few loose fibers were lost inside of the hollow GP. As a result, one end of the GP has what sounds like three tiny pieces of rice inside of it. You can't hear it unless you're in a quiet room with your ear near the paddle, and you definitely can't hear it when paddling. Still, I expect better for $400.

I contacted Ruby immediately and asked what her proposed solution would be. I said that I didn't want to return the GP. She agreed that shipping costs would make that option pointless, and offered instead to refund 20% of the total ($70), which I accepted.

Now, finally, onto the performance.

• The Kuroshio GP handles nicely. The shoulders are rather sharp and pronounced. This took some getting use to. It gives more leverage (or grip, not sure how to phrase it) but it also forces me to hold the paddle differently. I find myself hold the blades with three fingers and the loom with only one (as opposed to two and two).
• Low swing weight. Compared to my hollow loomed wooden paddle, this GP feels like air in my hands. Low overall weight. The gloss finish doesn't seem to add any weight to the paddle.
• Highly buoyant. The GP is just about as buoyant as my other, hollow loomed wood one (which is even more buoyant than the typical solid wood GP). As a result, this paddle rolls and balance braces well.
• The blades are adequately thin and don't produce any noise or swerves when used with good form. The silicon paddle bumpers that can be purchased are easy to take on and off, however I have not removed them yet for fear of rocky Pacific NW beaches. The bumpers do have a slight negative effect on the paddle's performance however. When doing low braces the paddle doesn't skim the water's surface as smoothly as it should, due to the 1/8" bump on the blade's face. This doesn't bother me enough to make me take them off - for me the risk outweighs the possible gain.

I give the paddle an 8/10 because I am realistic. A 10/10 would have to come with a lifetime guarantee. 8/10 because the GP came with a defect, but Gearlab's excellent customer service resolved the problem without issue.

I bought this stick used. The thing is LIGHT. They cut the loom in half and bore it out, then scarf it back together. As a result this paddle is lighter than my other paddle, the AquaBound Stingray Carbon. After a full day of paddling with my new Cricket Inuit, I pulled out my other paddle to practice rescues. I was surprised by how much heavier the carbon fiber paddle was, and how much more cumbersome the hybrid paddle blade was.

The entire stick is covered with what appears to be 2oz fiberglass. The ends have what appears to be an epoxy tip. Combined with the five or so later laminate, and the scarfed joint in the loom (that is extremely long = strong) this is a beautiful and resilient stick.

The stick is slightly cambered. It's like a bow, so you do have to hold it with a certain orientation to make it work without *plunking.* This is my only gripe with the thing. I would prefer a symmetrical stick. However, it is not a big deal.