Re: [Paddlewise] Boat Reviews, Was Re: Another batch of new kayaker questions/comments

At 09:58 AM 8/12/00 -0700, ralph diaz wrote:

<many less cogent and derogatory comments snipped>

>Reviews by committee are like blindfolded observers describing an
>elephant from the parts they are touching.  I would prefer that Sea
>Kayaker have some good single reviewer of a known quantity and quality
>check each boat out with a fuller more thoughtful review rather than the
>sound bites of A.J., T.K. and other anonymous reviewers.

Ralph, it sounds like you think the anonymous reviewers are a bunch of 
schmoes who don't know bow from stern. What basis do you have for thinking 
this? Have you have ever met or paddled with one of the reviewers? Let me 
assure you that all of the reviewers I know are very skilled and highly 
experienced paddlers, who are capable of discerning the really important 
aspects of kayak quality. Some of the reviewers also write longer articles 
for Sea Kayaker and are dedicated kayaking instructors in local clubs or 
professional schools. I would consider them the equivalent of any "known" 
expert, but without a potential conflict of interest due to designing boats 
of their own or industry sponsorships. You are way off base if you 
think  that these reviews are of "poor quality".

As far as the sound bite criticism goes, I think the reviews are already 
long. How many pages do you want dedicated to each kayak? Sounds awfully 
boring to me. Far better to get three opinions on weathercocking, 
stability, handling, etc... than to get one potentially dogmatic opinion. 
Also, boats handle differently for different body types and sizes, so the 
review by committee is the only way to address that issue.

I think the reviews in Sea Kayaker are far and away the best review of any 
equipment in any outdoors magazine, and provide a real basis for 
non-experts to critically judge kayaks. They perhaps even teach beginners 
some essential aspects of boat control, with references to weather cocking, 
secondary stability, etc...

--KW


Kevin Whilden
Your Planet Earth
http://www.yourplanetearth.org
(206) 788-0281 (ph)
(206) 788-0284 (f)

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