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Independent Kayak Review: Bliss-Stick RAD175 and RAD 185 (aka R.A.D. - Radical Aerial Device)

Introduction

After almost two months spent touring the rivers of the south island of New Zealand, Jenny and I (JP) decided to go to the North island to do some playboating. We were not really looking forward to paddle Full James and the Kaituna in river-running boats though. Fortunately we got in touch with Daimien Reynolds from Bliss-Stick...

We drove to the Bliss-Stick factory on the Rangitikei river, visited their installations, met the crew and left the place with two nifty little playboats, a RAD175 for Jenny and a RAD185 for me.

Manufacturer's Stats

RAD 175: length 179cm / 5'10.5'' - width 65cm / 25.6'' - volume 167L / 41.8gal • weight 15.5kg / 34lbs
RAD 185: length 188cm / 6'2'' - width 66cm / 26'' - volume 192L / 54gal - weight 15.5kg / 34lbs

Although Bliss-Stick states both boats weigh the same, I found the RAD175 to be quite a bit lighter than the RAD185.

First Impressions

The first impressions of the boat came from some 'carpet boating' trying to outfit them. The boats were comfy and easy to outfit using the padding kit provided by Bliss-Stick. Jenny (5'7'') was very comfortable in the RAD175 with the seat in the middle position. I (187cm/6'1'', size 45/11 feet) was comfortable in the RAD185 with the seat two thirds of the way back. I think that fairly big people should be able to fit in the RAD185 although I can't say what the performance on the water would be.

The outfitting is fully adjustable by hand for the seat (two bolts) or with an allen key for the thigh braces. The footrest has to be carved from a block of foam provided with the boat and the hip pads are clever little elastic pockets in which you can add or remove foam for a best fit.

The backrest can be tightened using snowboard type ratchets. They seemed strong but sometimes the ratchet would 'jump' when trying to tighten hard. However, they stayed tight and the backrest did not move down too much when leaning back which is a common problem in many playboats I've tried.

BlissStick also provides an elastic water bottle holder on the seat and another strap, maybe for a throwline, attached to the front pillar. I found the strap to be hard to tighten, and the buckle a bit big. All in all, the boat was easy to adjust and very comfortable to sit in.

Hole Riding - Kaituna

The Kaituna was running fairly low for this review.

The first impressions of the boat on the rapids before the playhole were "tippy" and "edgy". I am not sure whether the seat is higher than in my previous playboat (Liquid Logic Space Cadet) but the boat surely felt unstable for both Jenny and me. The nice thing is that the RAD is very easy to roll so capsizing in the first run is not much of an issue.

When we reached the playhole at the end of the run, it was at its minimum level for playing. It was not very retentive although it was possible to link several moves without flushing by being careful.

In the playhole itself, the RAD was very nice to paddle. It is stable on end even if the second end (stern) is lightning fast. I guess this is because the seat was quite a way back for me. However, it was a great advantage when trying more aerial moves such as loops and space godzillas, the stern was not in the way and I got my first retentive space godzillas in the RAD185. Jenny found the RAD175 easier to cartwheel than her Liquid Logic Session.

On the minus side, both Jenny and I noticed that the screws holding the seat in position have a tendency to become undone when playing a lot. Both bolts went completely loose in my case and the seat moved all the way back. I had to tighten the bolts really hard to counter this which pretty much cancels the advantage of having an adjustable system. Maybe Bliss-Stick could improve this by drilling a set of holes in the rail instead of using friction only to hold the seat in place. Also, the foam glued on the thigh brace started to peel off after only a couple of days paddling. And after 2 weeks of playing, we could spot some points of rust on the ratchets (and we did not take them in any salty water).

Also, I hit my right hand fairly often on the side of the boat when playing in the hole, ending up with a sore thumb... This did not happen to Jenny though.

Wave Surfing - Full James

We managed to surf Full James at a variety of levels. We are really not wave specialists and it would be hard to judge the RAD only from these surfing sessions as we had never paddled at Full James before.

The RAD is fast enough to paddle up the eddy (sometimes an achievement at Full James!), catch the wave, and surf happily. The RAD bounces quite a lot (RAD is for Radical Aerial Device!) and we needed quite some time to get used to the feeling. Surfing was really fun and the boat was really easy to spin. It had a tendency to get 'stuck' in a side surf when the wave was surging but I guess that this has more to do with our ability...

On its edge, I did not think that it was that fast (but not slower than my old Space Cadet). Jenny liked the RAD175 but at the end said that on the wave, she still prefered her previous boat, a Liquid Logic Session. I personally had more fun than in the Space Cadet. Keep in mind that neither Jenny nor I paddled the Session/Space Cadet at Full James though. Basically, I am not a huge fan of short boats on waves and can really not comment more than that.

Conclusions

I think that Bliss-Stick have done well with the RAD series. The shape is good and performs well as far as I can say and the boat is bound to make their owner happy, especially in a hole. The outfitting however is a bit of a downer although nothing really catastrophic. I just don't think that Bliss-Stick's quality of outfitting is as high as other manufacturers'. Their boats are cheaper however and I personally believe the difference in price overrides largely the difference in outfitting.

Many thanks to the crew at Bliss-Stick. Also many thanks to Dave, Heather and Andy on the West Coast of New-Zealand for just bearing us for almost two months!

Info source

Reviewed by JP Renaud for Playak, June 2004.