Propane torches and tires seem a bit extreme... I've heard that too much heat degrades the plastic, and driving on the bow wouldn't be very precise. Most advocates of bow-crushing talk about heat guns or boiling water, and sustained pressure of a somewhat more precise sort.
I've never tried it myself, with size 12 1/2 feet, I would be more inclined to distort the bow in the other direction. If freestyle kayaking keeps going in the direction it's been going they will have to develop a new sort of human, with bound feet and vestigial legs, just to fit into the boats.
Of course it isn't all freestyle; there are lots of nice new downriver boats and creekboats coming out, and a bit of the playboat technology is creeping into all of them. In that sense freestyle is good even for those who aren't devoted to it. I used to think it was all a bit silly. Over the past season, though, I found myself spending more time surfing waves and playing in holes, and discovered that, well, it really is fun, and also that it gives a much greater sense of the interaction between hull and water, and improves downriver form a lot. I don't think I'll ever be a park-and-play paddler, but I would like to get a shorter flat-hulled boat, and spend more time with pure play.
I don't think I'll be taking it out on much snow, though.... |
