The Global Paddling Community

Independent Review: PeakUK Creek Top.

PeakUK’s marketing spiel

“This is most serious drytop on the market. The heay weight X4 material will keep you warm and dry. It is also highly breathable to keep you comfortable in all conditions. When you add the removable creeking pads you are ready to take on the tightest and steepest creeks around. The pads cover your elbows, shoulders, and upper spine!”.

First impressions

When I first saw this, I was excited. Pads, man! PAAADS! I wanted to put this on and go tackle someone. I was like a kid- too much energy, very bad judgment. It was awesome.

At first, the pads were obvious - you could look at me wearing it and see big things in the shoulders, they were obvious. Over the course of a few weeks of use, they’ve shaped a bit and are not obvious.

The finish on the creek top is immaculate, the material stout. The elbows articulate, the pockets that contain the pads are invisible. For all that this is a feature-rich piece of gear, style-wise it’s a sleeper- instead of being festooned with flash, it looks elegant, minimalist. Only when you look closer can you tell that it’s got so much going on.

The fit was, for me, perfect- which I found surprising. Usually I get slightly oversized drytops to ensure the torso and arms are long enough to fit, and then I’m stuck with a waist closure designed for someone broader about than me. The Creek top fits generously but closes everywhere securely.

The Creek Top from PeakUK is a full-featured, thoughtfully designed premium drytop. It is breathable with the best of them, features stout cordura elbows and shoulders, heavy-duty fabric all-‘round, and has a clever insertable armor system that allows you to insert elbow, shoulder, and upper-back pads into it. It is, in a word, impressive. Let there be no question that this is a serious bid for “best drytop in the market”.

This is a bold statement, but then, this is a sweet piece of gear.

But what exactly is a “creek drytop?” Depending on your point of view, it’s either a niche product for those who live in climes where a drytop is all you need for creeking, or an ideal to which all drytops should strive. In one sense, my biggest complaint about the creek top is that it’s not a drysuit- where I live, that’s what you creek in year-round, except for a few weeks in the summer. That said, in terms of what it is, the Creek Top is simply a superior piece of gear.

I expect any premium drytop to keep me warm and dry, comfortable, looking good. I expect ‘creeking’ garments to be all of that, made of stout material, reinforced in likely wear spots, and able to stand up to the sort of flailing-in-the-dark-through-a-stand-of-devil’s-club shenanigans one encounters while creeking without springing a thousand tiny leaks instantly.

This top meets all the aforementioned expectations- and where it exceeds is in its insertable, flexible-yet-surprisingly functional padding.

The armor story

The Creek drytop comes with 5 identically-shaped pads you can insert into the top: at the elbows, shoulders, and your upper spine, above the PFD. The pads come with Velcro tabs on them and mate up to Velcro attachment points inside the pockets made to contain them.

The pads themselves are somewhat flexible and over time, they mold to fit. This means they’re not armor in the same class as the BMX gear you see some folks wearing, but they provide significantly better protection than sewn-in foam or neoprene, as seen in other drytops. I did manage to take a substantial elbow hit in a spot where (as it happens) another paddler’s un-padded elbow was left bloodied- I felt the results of the hit afterwards, but it did not have a mark on me, and impressively, the garment doesn’t show a mark either. This wasn’t a scientific test, but I was impressed.

The initial experience of wearing the pads was a little like putting on my hockey gear: I noticed it a little, wanted to go hit stuff, test it out. Maybe go bounce off a tree, just because I could. Once that wore off, the really sweet (and arguably most useful) part is that when portaging, it’s really comfortable to shoulder your boat. I mean *really* comfortable- it’s like I had no idea portaging didn’t have to leave a red mark on my shoulder or something.

The pads, as part of the top, are noticeable- specifically in the shoulders. The garment’s fabric isn’t stretchable, so it takes a little bit of energy to articulate the garment with the pads in, and because the pads resist being wadded up, getting the top on and off can feel awkward until you figure out a way to get it on and off without the usual bunching-up method.

On the water, this is most noticeable while doing vertical paddle strokes- while playboating (and during a couple eventful laps in a hole in my creekboat as well) I never felt any sense of being restricted. With the pads in place, this top trades the feel of unrestricted freedom of movement for significantly better built-in protection than anything available on the market. Pretty much any shoulder-pad system will feel this way if contained in non-stretching material.

Although there’s more hard-core armor available separately, this is a good, serviceable set- and you won’t have to worry about leaving an elbow pad in your buddy’s rig at the take-out.

Closures

The neck is the European-style neoprene collar over a latex gasket seal. Mesh drains at the shoulder and in the middle of the back drain whatever pushes past the neoprene collar.

Wrists close with a double-back nylon strap/velcro closure, and mesh ports at the cuffs provide drainage for whatever water gets caught in the wrist or arm enclosures. The waist features a tunnel made of very light “X2.5MR” material, and closes firmly with a double-back Velcro/nylon strap closure. The nylon strap doesn’t stretch at all, but it velcroes to a fabric-covered bit of neoprene. This means the closure is quite secure, but not uncomfortable.

On the water

Each of my test missions involved a hike in. A hot, sweaty hike in with all my gear and my boat on my back. I finished each mission with all my under-layers dry, and me toasty warm. No questions, this is highly breathable stuff. I can’t stress how important that last part is for me- I paddle cold water year-round and layer accordingly under my dry-gear, usually erring on the ‘warm’ side. This means when I get to working or playing hard, I become the world’s sweatiest man if my gear doesn’t breathe.

Specs

Construction / Cut: Articulated with bent elbows. Fully taped seams.
Fabric: Breathable and durable X4 fabric with Cordura shoulders and elbows .
Neck: Latex inner and with super stretch neoprene outer cone.
Wrists: Latex with opening AO2neoprene.
Waist: Neoprene AO2 outer seal with light weight X2.5MR inner.
Features: Stylish and functional mesh drainage system between neck seals.
Sizes: S. M. L. XL. XXL.
Colours:Dark Grey/Light Grey
Uses: Freestyle. Whitewater.

Price: $350 USD

Summary

By itself, this is a great drytop. Add the pads and it’s tough to beat as a creeking top. It’s likely to appeal specifically to the paddler who wants added protection and stout, durable material. I suppose my only complaint is that this system is not available in a drysuit! (This is a hint to the folks at PeakUK- here in WA, the vast majority of creekers use drysuits. I was the only paddler in a drytop on many of those test missions.)

Pro:

• The armor system is breakthrough-class stuff. Finally, a top that provides above-the-PFD protection for your upper spine!
• Elegant, sturdy, immaculate finish. You can be armored without festooning yourself with BMX gear.
• Stout material feels like it’ll be durable

Con:

• With the pads in place, it takes some doing to get the garment on and off
• With the pads in, it feels bulky.
• It’s not a drysuit (I know, it’s not meant to be - but in my part of the world, most creeking is done in drysuits).

For Playak,
Chris Joosse

About the reviewer:

Chris lives in Washington State and paddles year-round in the Pacific Cascades, where the water is always instant-ice-cream-headache cold. He describes himself as “a big whiny complainer if I get cold, so I’m particularly demanding about my dry-gear”.

More info

PeakUK