Review: Liquid Logic Stomper 90

a Stomper 90 in Kiwiland

Just by judging my first looks at the Stomper fresh out of the bag - well done boys. This kayak (like all LL kayaks) really looks nice, that's how its supposed to be.
I'm 1,89 m (6`3``) and about 85 kg (187p) and wear shoe size 46 (12) so you have to see all the things I have to say about the Stomper in this context.

on the shore:

The first thing I noticed when I sat into the Stomper was that it doesn't really have a lot of space for a creeker this size. But even though my knees where kind of tight on the side walls the thigh braces were too high. Maybe this is because of my slim legs :) I had to put in some extra foam to tighten my legs up a little more. Due to my shoe size I had to cut a hole into the center wall, which provided me with comfortable foot space (which I have to do in every kayak).

The Seat is very easy to adjust and comfortable, for my taste it is a little too low. It is fixed to the hull with only two screws right and left of the cockpit, you have to tighten these up really hard or the seat seat will loosen up in time.

The storage seat system is a really cool idea, question is with all that developing that went into the bad ass outfitting system why the backband jumps off the holders on the side every time you tighten it up a little. This can be annoying and would be an easy fix by lengthening and shaping the holders different. Also the thigh brace screws let some water in. So I took them all out and sealed them to tighten the hull. This are little things that I don`t like about new kayaks :(

on the water:

I paddled the Stomper on a lot of different types of whitewater. First of all, the kayak feels smaller than it is. This is probably explained with the big front and back rocker, which shortens the actual waterline and makes the Stomper super easy to turn. 

Doing laps on the Kaituna

They way it looks - the way it is, this kayak wants to be boofed. As long as you keep the nose up it will go over anything without really loosing any speed. In this kayak you will keep your nose up and you can wait for the hard stuff to come. Good thing is that due to the shape it is really easy to boof, so if you blow it you know it was really your own fault... 

Even though it has got such a rockered shape the Stomper is not a slow kayak. It´s not as fast as the Raptor or even the Magnum but it's fast on the first few strokes and that's what you need most of the time when creeking. Compared to the Magnum it is definitely less agile going into eddies and running lines through bigger rapids. This may be explained with the forgiving edges especially in the back hull, which make you put a little more effort in keeping the kayak on your desired line. This effect gets more interesting the pushier the whitewater gets, but gives the kayak a lot of stability...

Shotover

On bigger drops and holes it leaves straight and fast on the bottom and doesn't turn the corners like other kayaks with big rockers tend to do. So as long as you boof and stay active you'll stay out of trouble.

Things change a little by the time you screw up. The stern and the rear are relatively flat on the top so by the time you get water on top it will slow you down. If you get water on the back, the stern will go up but most of the time a little tightness in your rear hole will be enough to get you through the hole :). When you're used to it and you know what's coming it's ok, since you know the Stomper will probably leave trouble behind. 

Kokatahi (p: S. Stromeier)

Conclusion:

So after paddling the Stomper 90 on little creeks at home, bigger technical whitewater like Soca cataract at about 90 cum, pushy creeks like the Kokatahi, big water like Nevis Bluff and several easy rivers, I can say I fell a little bit in love. If I would change something I would but a little more volume behind the cockpit and make the sidewalls at the back end of the cockpit a little higher. Also I would sharpen the edges at the back a little and think about some details regarding the outfitting. But every kayak is different and the Stomper is definitely a very good, safe and fun creeker.

Greetz and lots of fun in 2013 (maybe with a Stomper),

Flying on the West Coast, NZ
(p: S. Stromeier)

Reiner Glanz

Nevis Bluff from GBP Productions on Vimeo.