Day: August 2, 2013

Good news! You can now order Vaikobi gear from TC Surfski in the US. No more uncertainty about customs duty!

I was looking for a new paddling short because my Mountain Surf shorts were chewing up my back where the drawstring and laundry tag was rubbing between my back and the bucket of my surf ski, and my NRS Hydroskin shorts were so hot I’d seek out water coming over the side of my ski just to cool off my ‘nads. So I was looking for something high waisted like the Hydroskin shorts, but with a lighter material. Most of the shorts I found on-line seemed to be made of some form of neoprene like the Hydroskin, so I was unsure if they’d be any better. Based on a post on Facebook, I thought I’d give Vaikobi a try.

Vaikobi is an Australian brand with no distributor here in the US, but they offer free shipping for any order over $150 AUD (about $140 US), so I ordered a few things to hit that mark. Their gear comes as either “V Heat” for warm weather, or “V Cold” for cold weather, and they had paddling shorts in the “V Heat” range which seemed ideal. Every item on their web order form has a drop-down for the colour, but there isn’t much point because everything only comes in one colour combination, usually some shade of black or grey.

The shorts arrived yesterday and I went for a paddle in them in 81°F weather.

First off, I should say that they look great. They really fit well, and they’re extremely comfortable. They have a flat waistband, and the waistband is high enough that it doesn’t rub between your back and the boat. The seams are well stitched without anything to rub on you or irritate and no stupid tags or hang straps. They have an inner pad, almost like a bike short chamois, but smaller and less stiff that doesn’t interfere with your ability to rotate in your seat. But most importantly, I kept cool, even when paddling hard in hot weather. And when I fell in, they drained and didn’t trap the water underneath. And after hanging in my bathroom overnight, they appear to be dry enough to paddle in today.

All in all, I’m extremely satisfied with them, and I’m planning to order another pair. I just wish they had a few colour choices.

Update: Three weeks after receiving my order, I got a bill from a customs broker who handled the order. They want about 25% in duty, plus two $15 handling fees, for a total of $95 on a $245 order (obviously I didn’t just order the one pair of shorts, more about that later). I’ve ordered a lot of stuff from overseas in the past, but never clothing, and never been charged duty, so I wasn’t expecting this. I don’t know whether somebody screwed up and misclassified the items so they got hit by a higher tariff rate than is normal, or if that’s just normal for imported clothing, but that seems like a huge extra charge that I was not expecting. Especially since I made another order from Vaikobi a week ago and I’m probably going to get another bill for that. I don’t know about you, but for me that really changes the dynamic of ordering. Not only are the prices going to be much higher than you’d think looking at the site, but also there is essentially a $30 per shipment “handling fee” from the broker. Before this bill, I was considering making a third order in the spring. Now, I’m wondering if I can re-purpose some running or cycling gear instead. And that’s too bad, because so far I love everything I’ve got from them.

Update 2: I’ve been contacted by Pat from Viakobi. He thinks that the short, because it’s made with a neoprene fabric, should be subject to a 4% duty rather than the 25.9% duty on other clothing made from synthetics. He thinks that might apply to the V Cold pant, V Cold Plus L/S Top as well, but unfortunately not the V Cold S/S Top and other items in my two orders. So that might change the balance of payments to the better for those items.

Update 3: Pat now tells me that they have their first US dealer, “TJ Surf Ski in Lake Michigan”, which unfortunately I can’t find online. Even better he says they’re importing their products into the US themselves through their own logistics facility. I have high hopes that this means the price you see on the order form will be the actual price you pay. Which is awesome, because I love their stuff.

Update 4: The US dealer is TC SurfSki, so now I order the best gear I’ve ever paddled without worrying about the duty. And so can you.

I ordered some new kayaking gear, and I’m going to use a picture Vicki took of it as an excuse to brag.
Last year, prompted in part by a discovery that I was too fat to ride on the zip line at Whistler, B.C, I decided to get serious about weight loss. That was the wake-up call, but the motivation was the realization that if I ever wanted to get back paddling after my shoulder recovered, the only way I could make sure I didn’t re-injure it immediately like I’d done after the first surgery was to start off being lighter than I was before I injured it in the first place. So thus began the journey.

Vicki and I have done Weight Watchers before, but before it was her idea and I didn’t really care that much. This time, I had motivation, and the Weight Watchers iPhone apps make it so much easier to to charge of your own diet. And after 12 months of counting points, thinking “when I hit this milestone, I’ll reward myself with a big plate of wings” and then not “rewarding” myself (or on one occasion, “rewarding” myself and then feeling sick afterwards), I can proudly say that I’m lighter now than at any time since about second year university. The kayaking clothes pictured above are size “L”, after decades of wearing XL, 2XL or XLT. A few weeks ago I bought some jeans with 34″ waist and discovered that they’re a little loose. I was wearing a 40″ waist 12 months ago.

When I was kayak racing in 2010, I weighed 240-250 pounds. When I had that revelation in Whistler, I was 275. As of yesterday I was 208, and I’m thinking I could get down to 200 if I keep this up. I have loads of “fat clothes” that I’m hoping I’ll never have to wear again. I think Men’s Wearhouse is going to make a fortune off me.