I was about to start this article on the assumption that anyone reading it would have some experience of kayaking. Assumptions are dangerous things and if you have not experienced kayaking before your first task is to decide the type of kayaking that you are interested in.
Why? Well like much of todays modern equipment kayak designs differ radically according to there intended use. Sure you can get models that will suit the vast majority of water types but these will never be as good as those built for a specific purpose.
Recreational Kayaks
So for messing about on ponds, lakes, bays and rivers your choice would be a flatwater or . These boats are really all rounders and usually have large open cockpits for easy entrance and exit. A recreational kayak will typically be less than 12 feet in length.
For pacier rivers, with rapids and/or waves you would want to consider a
The craft used in casual whitewater kayaking is
White Water Kayak
different from those used in competition. Competition boats are usually made from kevlar due to it’s light weight. Recreational boats are rotomoulded from a tough plastic that is slightly flexible and very durable. Kayaks range from around 6 ft up to 12 ft.
On the other hand if you were looking at long distance trips on
more likely be suitable. These boats are much longer - between 16ft and 19ft. They are also narrower than recreational boats but more stable. They trade off the extreme maneuverability of whitewater kayaks for cargo capacity, ease of straight-line paddling, and comfort for long journeys. Sea kayaks can hold up to three paddlers together with room for camping gear, food, water, and other supplies.
Then there’s which are great because the hassles of storage and
Inflatable Kayak
transportation are significantly reduced. The quality of inflatables varies dramatically with prices ranging of $100 up to a $1000 or more. What you will get the more you spend is not just improved design but a greater resistance to scratches, abrasions and punctures. You can even use some inflatables on whitewater so don’t skimp on the cash and you will get an inflatable than can serve for many years to come.
Sit On Top Kayak
are designed for fun. They’re easy to use and simple to get on and off. They are generally used in warmer climates because you tend to end up wet. This is a fun boat and can be used for snorkeling, fishing and surfing.
Once the decision on kayak type has been made, these are some of the other questions you should ask of yourself:
How heavy it the kayak? Can you lift it own your own or is it a two man job. How easy is it to get out of the water, place it on a trailer, put it into storage? These are very important and often overlooked considerations that should be taken into account.
Where will the kayak be stored? Will it fit in the storage area? Do you need to consider a different size craft or even, an alternative place to store your kayak.
What about a skeg and rudder? A skeg and rudder keep the kayak moving in a straight line in challenging weather. I remember trying to kayak in open water without a rudder once and found it incredibly draining. On the return trip with the rudder in place far less energy was required to keep the boat moving straight ahead.
Do you need hatches? If you plan on storing gear in your kayak then hatches are a must. These are water tight containers where gear can safely be stowed eliminating the need for a dry bag.
How about a knee brace? Knee braces are essential for ocean paddlers as they make it easier to both steer and paddle in challenging conditions. It is important that they fit properly and are comfortable especially if you’re making a long trip.
What’s your budget? - How much to you have to spend. It almost goes without saying that you get what you pay for. Better design, quality, maneuverability, speed, robustness etc. Don’t just splash the cash though as many cheaper models are as good or better than there more expensive brethren. Check out some reviews to identify a sort list of possible purchases.
Remember as well that it’s not just about the boat. To fully enjoy kayaking other gear is needed and you should include an allowance for this in your budget if necessary. You may also need, deck lines, tow lines, bungee cords, a trailer, wet suit, dry suit, gloves, pfd, paddles, dry bag etc.
So, if you’ve got this far you’ll see there’s a lot of information and options to take account of to ensure you buy the kayak that is right for you. I’d suggest you start out by renting and speaking to others about the equipment you need. Buy a couple of magazines and check out a few internet forums. Once you know what you want it’s time to consider whether to buy new or used equipment and with the purchase made get kayaking and start to really enjoy this great sport.
Check out our selection of
at 12:15 pm on November 23rd, 2010.
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There are many alternative terms for the people of . In English the
is German. During the early Renaissance, "German" implied that the person spoke
as a native language. Until , people living in what is now Germany were named for the region they lived in, examples include
and . Some other terms are
or derogatory , and used mainly by people from other countries, although they can be used in a self-deprecating way by German people themselves. Other terms are serious or tongue-in-cheek attempts to
words as alternatives to the ambiguous standard terms.
Initially the word Dutch could refer to any Germanic-speaking area, language or people, deriving from the
?iudiskaz, meaning belonging to or being part of the people. For example:
The Chronography and History of the whole world, Vol. II (1677) mentions the mathematician that "...the Dutch call ," adding that Dutch is spoken in the parts of Hungary adjoining to Germany.
The phrase "" is a corruption of the German word for German, "Deutsch". To this day, descendants of German immigrants who resettled in Pennsylvania continue to refer to themselves as Pennsylvania Dutch. They may identify themselves as being Pennsylvania German, too. Some may or may not be members of the
found in southcentral-southeastern Pennsylvania such as
Today, aside from that exception, the word Dutch is only used to refer to the
spoken in the Netherlands and in
- the Dutch-speaking part of .
Nazi belt buckle bearing the inscription " (God With Us)." For the average , however, Uns could be interpreted as Huns.
Hun (or The Hun) is a term used in reference to the medieval
of . This term was used heavily during
and was often seen on Allied war posters.
The origin of the term was Attila The Hun, the notorious Hunnenrede (Hun speech) of
on 27 July 1900, when he bade farewell to the German expeditionary corps sailing from
to defeat the . The relevant part of the speech was:
"Kommt ihr vor den Feind, so wird derselbe geschlagen! Pardon wird nicht gegeben! Gefangene werden nicht gemacht! Wer euch in die H?nde f?llt, sei euch verfallen! Wie vor tausend Jahren die Hunnen unter ihrem K?nig Etzel sich einen Namen gemacht, der sie noch jetzt in ?berlieferung und M?rchen gewaltig erscheinen l?sst, so m?ge der Name Deutsche in China auf 1000 Jahre durch euch in einer Weise best?tigt werden, dass es niemals wieder ein Chinese wagt, einen Deutschen scheel anzusehen!"
Trans: "When you meet the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! No prisoners will be taken! Those who fall into your hands are forfeit to you! Just as a thousand years ago, the Huns under their King
made a name for themselves which shows them as mighty in tradition and myth, so shall you establish the name of Germans in China for 1000 years, in such a way that a Chinese will never again dare to look askance at a German."
The theme of Hunnic savagery was then developed in a speech of
in which he recounted details of the cruelty of the German expedition which were taken from soldiers' letters home, styled the Hunnenbriefe (letters from the Huns).
The Kaiser's speech was widely reported in the European press and then became the basis for the characterisation of the Germans during World War I as barbarians and savages with no respect for European civilisation and humanitarian values.
soldiers employed a variety of epithets for the Germans. "" (a German pet form of Friedrich) was popular in both
and World War II, with "Jerry" (short for German, but also modelled on the English name) favoured in the latter.
referred to Germans, especially German soldiers, as "Heinies", from a diminutive of the common German male proper name Heinrich.
For example, in the film
character calls a German Officer "Mr. Hynee Kraut!"
is a common German colloquial term with a slightly derogatory meaning similar to "moron" or "idiot", but it could be of different origin.
Alongside Fritz, Hans or Jerry, WWII-era American servicemen sometimes called their German counterparts Hermann. Since Hitler's second-in-command was , it was concluded that Hermann was a common name for Germans – indeed it is an ancient German name, popular until 1945. Additionally, the name was used to highlight the Germans' alleged savagery, because
was the name of an ancient barbarian chieftain responsible for defeating the Romans at .
, said by the British to resemble a chamberpot
Jerry was a nickname given to Germans during the
by soldiers and civilians of the Allied nations, in particular by the British. Although the nickname was originally created during , it did not find common use until World War II.
Jerry has analogues from different eras in
(British),
(Vietnam—"Victor Charlie" for VC (), later shortened to just "Charlie"), Sammy (Somalia),
(Russians) and
(US Americans).
The name is most likely a simple alteration of the word German. Some have claimed that the World War I German helmet, shaped like a
or , was the initial impetus for creation. One ongoing use of "jerry" is found in the term .
Recently the term "Eric" has become popular amongst British troops, originating from an episode of the British TV comedy , in which the name "Eric" was used instead of "Jerry" in an attempt to confuse some Germans who were fluent in .
Since , Kraut has, in the English language, come to be used as a derogatory term for a German. This is probably based on , which is popular in various South- but traditionally not prepared in North Germany. The stereotype of the sauerkraut-eating German pre-dates this, as it appears in 's depiction of the evil German industrialist Schultze as an avid
eater in . Schultze's antagonist is an
who hates sauerkraut but pretends to love it to win his enemy's confidence. Possibly, kraut refers to the practice of distributing sauerkraut on German ships to prevent
does to the lime juice of the British).[]
The rock music genre
has been commonplace in
since the early 1970s and is of E it is not considered offensive.
In a more poetical sense Germans can be referred to as "Teutons". The usage of the word in this term has been observed in English since 1833. The word originated via an ancient Germanic tribe, the
and the ).
Pronounced [bo?], boche is a derisive term used by the French during World War I, often collectively ("the Boche" meaning "the Germans"). A shortened form of the
alboche, itself derived from Allemand ("German") and caboche ("head" or "cabbage"). Also spelled "Bosch" or "Bosche". According to a 1916 article in the New York Times magazine , the origin is as follows:
Boche is an abbreviation of caboche, (compare bochon, an abbreviation of cabochon.) This is a recognized French word used familiarly for " head," especially a big, thick head, ("slow-pate.") It is derived from the Latin word caput and the suffix "oceus." Boche seems to have been used first in the underworld of Paris about 1860, with the meaning of a disagreeable, troublesome fellow. In the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 it was not applied to the Germans, but soon afterward it was applied by the Parisian printers to their German assistants because of the reputed slowness of comprehension of these foreign printers. The epithet then used was tête de boche, which had the meaning of tête carrée d'Allemand (German
or imbécile). The next step was to apply boche to Germans in general.
The Austrian
for a German is Piefke. Like its Bavarian counterpart Saupreiss (literally: -Prussian) the term Piefke historically characterized the people of
only. Its exact origin is unclear, but it was meant to be derogatory most notably because of the term's Polish roots: Referring to every Prussian as Piefke, which is a typical example of a
Polish family name (Piwka), suggested that all Prussians were merely Germanized Poles. The term increased in usage during the 19th century because of the popularity of the Prussian composer . Since Prussia and its eastern territories ceased to exist, the term now refers to the cliché of a pompous ( northern) German in general and a
in particular. However, the citizens of the free
cities and the former northern duchies of Oldenburg, Brunswick and Mecklenburg are also quite offended by the terms Piefke and Saupreiss (offense for every German who is not native Bavarian). In 1990, Austrian playwright
wrote and co-directed a TV mini-series, Die Piefke-Saga, about Germans on holiday in . Sometimes the alteration "Piefkineser" is used. Some Austrians use the playful term "Piefkinesisch" (Pief-Chinese) to refer to German spoken in a distinctly German (not Austrian) accent.
The term Marmeladinger originated in the trenches of World War I. It is derived from the German word "Marmelade", which is a . While Austrian infantry rations included butter and lard as , German troops had to make do with cheaper "Marmelade" as . They disdainfully called it "Heldenbutter" (Hero's butter) or "". This earned them ridicule from their Austrian allies who would call them Marmeladebrüder (jam brothers) or Marmeladinger ("-inger" being an Austrian
describing a person through a characteristic item or action). Germans would conversely call Austrians Kamerad Schnürschuh (comrade shoe-lace) because the Austrian infantry boots used laces while the German boots did not. This term has survived, but it is rarely used.
In , a German can be colloquially called a Jiamen (茄門/茄门), which is a reference to the English word "German".
This word carries a somewhat negative meaning of a stereotypical German being proud, withdrawn, cold and serious. Today, this phrase, when pronounced as "Ga-Men", can mean "disdainful, indifferent, or uninterested in someone or something".
Apheresis of the word alboche, which in turn is a
of allemand (French for German) and caboche (slang for head). Used mainly during the
and , and directed especially at German soldiers.
Two leather Pickelhauben, or "casques à pointe" from the
Casque à pointe is derived from the French name for the traditional
worn by German soldiers from the 1840s until . In modern British and , the word for Germany continues to be an index finger pointed to the top of the forehead, simulating the Pickelhaube.
From the name of the , a North African ethnicity — a term with racial connotations. It also denotes the absence of words beginning in Schl- in French. It was used mainly in World War II (for example, in the film ) but is also used now in a less offensive way like in the film .
the most common term for the , after the regular/official one, is "mof". It is regarded as a derogative term, used exclusively for Germans and reflected Dutch resentment of the
during the
and the respective German actions. The word "Mofrika" is a portmanteau of
and "mof" and is used as a humorous reference to Germany.
In the late 16th century the area now known as
and the people that lived there were referred to as "Muffe". At the time that the Netherlands were by far the
in the whole of Europe, and these people were looked down upon greatly by the Dutch. The area of Western
was at that time very poor and a good source for many Dutch people looking for cheap labour. The inhabitants of this region were known to be rather reserved and were often described as "grumpy", "rude" and "unsophisticated" by the Dutch. Later the term was used to describe the whole of Germany, which, at the time, wasn't much better off
than Western Lower Saxony, mainly due to the various wars waged on its territory by foreign powers. The term seemed to have died out around 1900 but returned following the
A popular humorous (but false) etymology of the word "mof" by the
is that it is actually a
abbreviation meaning "Menschen ohne Freunde" ("people without friends").
In Early Modern Spanish (for example in ), tudescos (cognate with Deutsch and the Italian tedeschi) was used sometimes as a general name for Germans and sometimes restricted to .
German for rubber-neck. The term has been verified to be in use since the 1970s at least. Its actual meaning is subject to debate. Theories include the stereotype of Germans talking too much or nodding their heads endlessly when listening to superiors.
The ordinary (inoffensive) meaning is people from
(roughly Baden-Wurtemburg) in South Germany, but in Switzerland it is used for any German. A strengthening is Sauschwabe.
Contemptuous term for a German, especially a soldier of the Wehrmacht during World War II. In the past, the word szkop in the
meant a castrated ram.
The term "Ossi" (derived from the German word Osten which means east) is used in Germany for people who were born or live in the area of the former .
The term "Wessi" (derived from the German word Westen which means west) is used in Germany for people who were born or live in the . Sometimes it's also modified to "Besserwessi" (from the German word Besserwisser which means ) which reflects the stereotype that people from the Western part of Germany would be arrogant.
In 2010 there was a lawsuit in Germany because a job applicant was declined with the hint "Ossi" and a minus on her application documents. A German court decided that this would be a discrimination but not because of ethnic reasons, since East Germans are not an ethnicity.
Chronography and History of the whole world, Vol. II (London, )
Die Reden Kaiser Wilhelms II., Hg. v. Johannes Penzler. Bd. 2: . Leipzig o.J., S. 209-212.
Klaus Mühlhahn (2007). .  
Nicoletta Gullace. "Barbaric Anti-Modernism: Representations of the "Hun" in Britain, North America, Australia and Beyond". Picture This: World War I Posters and Visual Culture
. BBC News.
Allen, Irving (1983). . Columbia University Press. p. 57.  .
. Books.google.co.uk. .
(click "More information")
, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
. New York Times. April–September 1916. p. 525 2014.
Anton Karl Mally: "Piefke". Nachtr?ge. In: Muttersprache. Zeitschrift zur Pflege und Erforschung der deutschen Sprache [Wiesbaden], Vol. 94, 1983/84, number 3-4, pp. 313-327.
Anton Karl Mally: ,,Piefke“. Herkunft und Rolle eines ?sterreichischen Spitznamens für den Preussen, den Nord- und den Reichsdeutschen, in: Muttersprache. Zeitschrift zur Pflege und Erforschung der deutschen Sprache, [Wiesbaden] 1984, number 4, pp. 257-286.
 Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "". .
Prisma Etymologisch woordenboek, . "Mof heeft historisch gezien niet de huidige betekenis (die van een verwijzing naar de Duitsers en hun acties tijdens de Tweede wereldoorlog) maar ..."
meets some pilgrims (alemán o tudesco) from .
Don Quixote, : ?Cuántos son los alemanes, tudescos, franceses, espa?oles, italianos y esguízaros? "How many are the Almains, Dutch, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Italians and Swiss?"
Bruno Ziauddin: Grüezi Gummih?lse. Warum uns die Deutschen manchmal auf die Nerven gehen. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2008,
. Spiegel.de. .
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