Kayaking Gear Reviews: NRS's Anti-Gravity Shirt on Wetdawg.com

Upside: The snug comfort and all-in-one features make a great piece of gear.
Downside: Getting in and out of the thing might require head dislocation.
Rating: ^^^^ (4 out of 5 peaks)
Ideal User: The river playhead wants some flotation with minimal bulk or the steep creeker looking for extra padded protection on the big drops.

Anti-gravity

NRS's Anti-Gravity Paddling Shirt
Photo courtesy of NRS

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This space age shorty paddling top combines padded protection with an almost-PFD for out-of-this-world comfort.

If Batman kayaked, he would wear NRS's new Anti-Gravity paddling shirt.

That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this futuristic piece of river garb from the innovators in Idaho. This sleek-looking, shorty type paddling top has an aura about it, on first sight, that makes you want to try it on. With its articulated chest and back padded panels stitched to NRS's thin, neoprene-like Mystery Material, you might also imagine California Gov Ah-nald wearing one in his next kayaking action flick.

It's all tailored with ergonomic and futuristic looking polyolfin foam, the color of which can best be described as lunar silver. Picture a rash guard outfitted with mountain bike torso pads. True to its name, this piece of paddling garb looks like it would float you, whether in the water or not.

But the Anti-Gravity's appeal goes beyond its slick looks. When I tested it out at Sacramento's San Juan Hole on a cool evening in early June, I found its design to be a smart, one-piece solution for the play hole layering blues.

We've all been there. Kayaking, even in its most minimal forms, is a gear intensive sport. By the time you get to the play spot, pull on your layer of polypro, your skirt, paddling jacket or dry top and PFD, the length of your after-work play session -- not to mention your motivation -- has just been cut in half. What I found in the Anti-Gravity shirt was one simple, warm and comfortable piece of gear that did the work of three usual requirements: polypro, paddling top and PFD.

Not that NRS overtly markets the shirt this way. In its catalogue description, as well as via an unsightly tag on the shirt itself, NRS makes it clear that the Anti-Gravity is not intended to be worn as a stand-alone PFD. Instead, the company labels it as a "supplemental" piece of gear to help you float higher and stay warmer.

Indeed, with only 10 pounds of floatation -- most Coast Guard approved vests today boast around 16 pounds -- you wouldn't want to depend on the Anti-Gravity's powers alone to save you on that Class V swim, but I felt there was plenty of lift for my relatively benign evening sesh at the play spot.

On top of that, the low profile of the Anti-Gravity makes it slim enough to wear underneath a regular PFD, something I also did, with comfort, while boating. As NRS suggests, you could easily use the Anti-Gravity to add extra floatation on big water days. And if your one of those lucky paddlers whose suffered a broken rib or two -- believe me when I say I feel your pain -- the padding will also serve as welcome extra protection going off the big drop.

Another nice thing about the piece is its warmth. I usually layer up no matter what the conditions are, preferring to be a little too warm on the water rather than chilled. At first, because the Anti-Gravity is a short sleeve top, I doubted whether it would give me the warmth I needed. But NRS's Thermal Plush lining kept me toasty, even as the sun began to set. Indeed, because the shirt's snug fit keeps the polyfin foam padding close to your chest, an excess of warmth might be a more likely complaint, if that's possible in the snow melt out West.

If the Anti-Gravity has a downside, it's this: the thing is an absolute bugger to get on and off. Once you actually get the shirt on, its snug fit makes for unimpeded comfort and ease of movement. But getting it over your head and chest -- or more problematic, getting it off -- was a real bear. I also had a friend comment that if you had to resort to removing your PFD to escape a gnarly hydraulic by sinking to the green water, the Anti-Gravity would be next to impossible to discard. That said, if you're in a situation where you need to remove your PFD, you're already in a grave spot.

Overall, I found the Anti-Gravity to be a creative piece of paddling garb that's well worth some of your gear bag real estate. Whether used to supplement your PFD and protect your torso or simply as an elegant one-piece selection at the play hole, the Anti-Gravity should do its job by giving some lift to your paddling outlook.