RRP - £65
(To clarify any confusion this is the 2013 onwards updated version with the top opening not the older side opening version.)
The stand out feature of this towline is its waist belt. It’s a very well made belt with padding and a comfortable mesh liner, features that no other towline we know of has. This padding does prevent you from tightening the belt to a point but it should be suitable for a 26 inch waist upwards, particularly when worn loose enough to slide the bag around your waist for easier use. The belt is attached using the industry standard Fixlock quick release buckle.
The bag is a tough Cordura top opening pouch with a velcro closure. It’s big enough to easily fit the towing system whilst still being a compact shape to paddle with. It doesn’t have the very wide opening ability of other bags to help with repacking the line at sea though. We find it necessary to take the towline off, lay the bag on our spraydeck and repack it that way.
The rope is 10 meters of 6mm floating line. It has the plastic sea dog clip on the end with a meter of line (to help with releasing from an assisted tow), a section of bungee enclosed in a webbing tube and the end of the line is tied onto a metal D ring inside the bag. The whole system is tied together with ‘figure eight on a bight’ knots which means you can adapt the line for your personal needs. We removed the bungee as we found we didn’t need it and it made packing easier.
There’s a plastic split D ring on the belt to attach the clip too which is great for easy access to the clip, although one on either side would be nice for options. There is also an extra metal D ring inside the bag to clip back onto for shortening the tow.
All in all a nicely made system that would be ideal for a first towline. It doesn’t have the bells and whistles (quite literally) of some of the other systems but once you have used it for a while you might start to wonder if you really need them as it is as suitable for an experienced paddler.
By Philip Clegg
Approaching two decades of working in the sea kayaking industry, Phil can be found on a daily basis coaching and paddling on the coastline of Anglesey. That’s when he’s not travelling the world expeditioning, coaching and testing kit.