Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker Reviews

I find the snippet hard to wade through then connect back who said what to
their specifics. If someone 6' 1", 200 pounds said the cockpit was
comfortable, that means more to me personally than if someone 5' 2", 110
lbs thought it was too big. I would like to see a table of the reviews
responses to various aspects of the boat along with specifics about the
paddler including, height, weight, leg length, the type of paddling they do
(i.e. touring, sheltered day trips, surfing, etx), "experience" (whatever
that is) and other pertinent information.  This way I can ignore the
performance comments of the reviews that don't relate to me. I don't need
to read what the 110 lbs paddler thinks of the boats maneuverability. At
best it will be irrelevant to me and at worst it will be mileading.

Obviously, the comments of a reviewer will always be subjective, but that
is not neccessarily bad. I would like it if SeaKayaker had the money and
time to thorough analytical tests of the boats. Maybe when sea kayaking
gets as popular as driving cars they will be able to afford it. We
shouldn't be too critical of the limits of what they provide, but I do
think it could be better organized.

I agree with Ralph that there doesn't seem to be any reason to keep the
reviewers secret, but I don't think it is realy necessary to know their
names as long as an honest characterization of the reviewers is provided.
Nick


At 8:51 AM -0700 8/13/00, ralph diaz wrote:
>Matt Broze wrote:
>>
>> I like Sea Kayaker's basic review format and can't think of a whole lot
>> better way to do it to be fair to everyone involved than getting a variety
>> of opinions from a variety of experienced paddlers.
>
>My beef with the reviewers part of the writeup is not in the reviewers
>themselves but rather in their being anonymous and the snippet/soundbite
>format. Kevin felt I had insulted the expert paddlers testing the boats
>and asked if I have met any of the reviewers.  Without appearing to be
>mocking, my answer would be "How would I know if I met one? They are not
>identified!"  Kevin also said that they are often instructors and tour
>guides and some also write for Sea Kayaker.  Wouldn't the reviews be
>better understood if we knew who they were, especially the paddlers who
>have written articles for Sea Kayaker.  If say, one of the testers is
>Nigel Foster or Chris Cunningham, I would like to know that.  Why the
>secrecy, or am I missing something?
>
>On to the snippet format.  It lacks cohesiveness.  It is certainly
>alright to have the snippets for discussing whether there is legroom and
>you have a 5 ft. 2 in. person commenting and a 6 ft 4 in. person adding
>her two cents.  Those are add-ons of important comparative information
>to a reader.  But a review is always better off if a review is filtered
>through one known source who is upfront about his likes and dislikes and
>experiences and does an honest job of looking at all key aspects of a
>review in a more narrative format.  Sound bites, as we sadly know from
>the political arena, don't always get right the totality of what was
>said.



Nick Schade
Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St, Suite I
Glastonbury, CT 06033
(860) 659-8847

Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/

>>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<<


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