Sunscreen

Sunscreen should be an essential part of your kayaking equipment, whether on rivers, sea, or lake, unless you're crazy enough to be kayaking in a sun-free climate (Scotland or Norway for example). On a hot day, even when covered in helmets, wetsuits etc, your hands and nose can still get a nasty sizzling, if you don't wear some sunscreen.

Sunscreen is rated for its ability to filter out UV radiation. These ratings are given in terms of time factors and are called "Sun Protection Factor" (SPF). SPF 15 means that you can stay in the sun 15 times longer than if you exposed bare skin. Many people will point out that sunscreens don't last really long, so having SPF 40 is not much better than SPF 15. However, there is usually not a lot of difference in price, so I prefer to get the highest SPF number available.

There are sunscreens for those that lie around and sunscreens for those of us that actually do something. You want the latter. The "sport" sunscreens available now really are waterproof. Older formulations tended to be greasy - not good if holding onto your paddle is a priority. However, newer waterproof sunscreens are much less greasy.

Believe it or not, but tests done by Consumer's Reports have shown that the popular name brand sunscreens are better than the lesser known and just as good as the specialty brands. Coppertone, Banana Boat and others are perfectly acceptable in their sport versions. KineSys is also pretty good as a specialty brand. If you have sensitive skin, Ombrelle brand is often recommended and is quite good, if a tad pricey.