NRS Basic Touring Safety Kit
The NRS Basic Touring Safety Kit includes 4 essentials you'll need before you head out on a kayak tour: bilge pump, safety whistle, paddle float and boat sponge.
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- NRS bilge pump moves water out of the cockpit quickly at 8 strokes per gallon
- Bilge pump floats if accidentally dropped overboard
- Fox 40 Epik whistle allows rescuers or fellow paddlers to locate you quickly and features a built-in clip and a hold for a lanyard attachment
- Durable, high buoyancy NRS paddle float wraps paddle blade to create a stable outrigger for quick reentry into cockpit
- Boat sponge removes moisture and grit that the bilge pump cannot reach
Imported.
View all NRS Paddling Safety Equipment Kits| Best Use | Kayaking |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | (Whistle) 3 x 0.75 / (uninflated paddle float) 18 x 11 / (bilge pump) 21 / (sponge) 6 x 4 x 2 inches |
| Weight | Unavailable |
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Great, Good & Meh
The paddle float is top notch. So too the whistle. The bilge pump is sold, not the best but totally fine. The sponge, at least mine was and is full of sudsy IDK that will never rinse out (my experience) and has no place in any body of water you care about. Bought the NRS deluxe sponge and it is great. So the one with this can be for washing your car/dog/bbq. NRS is good quality. Got mine on sale otherwise would have just got paddle float and à la carte the rest as well. Float & Whistle 5* Pump 4* Sponge 1.5* Price 3.5*
A pump in pieces doesn't float my boat.
I am now on my second NRS Touring Safety Kit and dealing with my second broken pump. Both times the pump came apart the first time I used it. The shaft came loose from the plunger and out of the cylinder. I returned the first one and was able to take the second one apart and fix it... for now. As a bilge pump is an essential piece of safety equipment I am very disappointed in the poor quality. I'm glad I didn't discover this critical design flaw when I was miles out at sea. I will not trust my safety to NRS products.
Poor quality bilge pump and float bag
I paddle with a lot of NRS gear, but both the float bag and bilge pump have been retired. The bilge pump is glued together, so when the rubber gasket was unseated, I couldn't fix it. The glue holding together the inflation rod on the float bag, gave out on one side. Only glue I had at home was gorilla glue, but now it's not air tight. So still technically useable, but compromised.
Great Pump, soapy sponge?
I recently put my pump to use when a fellow kayaker flipped his boat. The pump removes the water quickly and efficiently. However, when it came time to sponge out the yak, the sponge was foaming up with bubbles? Not sure if it was one someone had returned or they all initially excrete some kind of bubbly residue? The whistle is fine, but no lanyard......for $69.99 one would think it would have come with some way to attach it to your pfd.
Effective
-Paddle Float & Bilge Pump: reasonable quality, match depiction on web sight, & functions as expected. -Sponge: Low quality, did NOT match depiction on web sight, & attachment loop. -Whistle: Low quality, match depiction on web sight, & functions as expected.
Great paddle float - kit is a decent deal
I tested the paddle float during a kayak club self rescue drill earlier this summer. It's the best float I've tried out of several (inflatable and foam). It has a bit more buoyancy than the foam floats (critical for larger paddlers) . The dual chambers and the reflective strips are nice safety features. The float held snug to the paddle. The inflation valves worked well. The pump worked smoothly when I pumped out my cockpit- although I prefer a bilge pump with a metal/stainless shaft rather the plastic one on the NRS pump. The good Fox 40 whistle, the sponge, and the mesh bag are essentially free because the kit costs about as much as just the float and pump together. I prefer the quality of this NRS kit over the Seattle Sports safety kit that's available elsewhere - I own a Seattle Sports kit and have used it in the past.. The mesh bag for the Seattle Sports offering seems a little better than what NRS provides for this basic kit, though. This is a good "Basic Touring Safety Kit" for the price (especially when on sale). REI offers some of the additional components (paddle leash, etc) that are found in the NRS "Deluxe" kit on an a la carte basis at a reasonable price.
Essential kayaking equipment
Getting safely set up with a new or new to you kayak is very important. This kit, along with a PFD, and a dry suit is essential equipment!
Very good safety system, but could be much much be
The pump appears to work well, it is not super high volume. The paddle float, the most important safety device of the four, appear as well-made and has excellent boy and see. The whistle is very shrill and I don’t believe it has the range as advertised. The sponge has been changed from the orange one to a blue one.
Nice peace of mind to have with you
The paddle float and pump alone are worth the cost. The whistle is the loud and works after being submerged. The sponge isn't anything special and could be more absorbive, but it does what it's supposed to do. I will probably replace it soon. The kit does provide peace of mind while touring on open waters.
Safety First
I haven’t used my new purchase, but I feel safer on the water knowing I have this safety equipment. Now, I need to practice getting back in using the paddle float. Quality seems good.