What Size Spray Skirt Do I Need?

Skirt fit is one of the trickiest aspects of kayaking gear. Everyone wants a dry skirt that’s durable, easy to get on, and affordable. Unfortunately these qualities don’t always work together:

• Tighter usually means drier, but harder to put on.
• Stronger materials usually have less stretch and make skirts harder to put on.
• Materials that stretch well, are waterproof and are durable enough for kayaking are not cheap.

Combine these facts with the almost infinite variety of cockpit rims out there and you end up with a real conundrum. Furthermore, everyone has a different threshold for “dry” and “easy to put on”.

Considering all of these factors, nothing can beat actual hands-on experience with a skirt on the actual boat or boats you’re trying to fit. This is best accomplished by visiting one of our many retailers across the country who stock our skirts. You may find that where most people recommend a large cockpit skirt you may actually prefer an XL. There’s nothing wrong with that – skirt sizing is very subjective.

We can get you in the ballpark. The first step is to figure out what size rim you have. This can be done with most boats by visiting our all new spray skirt fit tool. The best measurement is the circumference, but barring that, you can use the length and width. Note that these measurements are taken including the rim. The circumference is the measurement around the very outer edge of the rim, not under the coaming where the bungee or rand fits. If you can’t find your boat in our spray skirt fit tool, you’re going to have to measure it yourself (please send us the numbers to help future customers).

With that number in mind, you can use the following chart:

If your skirt falls right in the middle of a size, chances are that about 90% of the customers out there would choose that size skirt. As you get closer to the edges, that number falls. For instance, 90% of customers would choose a large cockpit skirt for an 88″ inch circumference rim. Only a small percentage of our our stronger, more demanding customers would want to put a large cockpit skirt on a boat with an 91″ rim.

We’ve been making skirts for a long time. We know the purchase of a skirt takes some patience and trial and error. Be patient. We will too.

Still have questions?

Reach out to our customer service team. We’re here to help.