About the reviewer

Have been using a "river running playboat" for 2 years, running grade 3s and easy grade 4s. Have used the Nomad to take on harder grade 4s.

Test environment

Grade 4 rivers around Scotland (and a bit in Wales).

Review

I have not tried many creek boats, so this is just my take on it with out comparing it to its competitors.
The boat is super stable and stays on top of the water well. It also seems to resurface well and is easy to controlled if you ever get slightly "back endered" in a stopper. This came in handy as it has taken me about 10 trips to get my boof decent- that said I was not used to paddling longer boat and now I have the hang of it, its not hard. The boat is quick and the outfitting is great. I have the 08 model so stern access is not a problem.
This boat narrows quite alot at the end and would not be great for anyone with really big feet or over 6 foot 2 or so as I do not have much room at the bottom.

Conclusion

Overall this boat has taken care of me well so far, it has also inspired confidence and I am willing to push my paddling in it.

About the reviewer

I m a class III/IV/(V) paddler

Test environment

many rivers in france, I paddled this boat for 1 year

Review

I like this this boat, almost perfect, but it broke easily, so they should do the weld better

Conclusion

good boat, but no swimming

I used to boat a lot, but recent years have seen me on the river only 3 times:( due to school. I was fortunate enough to meet up with my brother for a try of the Slip and his new boat. I was a little concerned at first since my last trip this year resulted in my first swim in I can't recall how long (doh!).


The Slip is a pretty solid class 3 creek that basically has short rapids with drops followed by a pool after each. The creek is narrow and pretty pushy and there usually is only 1 good line, generally over a ledge , pourover, etc.

Despite my fears and stiff technique, the Nomad was amazingly stable. If I was in my juice 7.1, I would have been upside down more times than I can count. The nomad punched through the holes, was super responsive, fast, and stable. There were at least 5 times that I caught an edge and the boat went past 90 without rolling over! The first time I experianced that feeling was really cool. After I loosened up a bit, I tried surfing. It surfs much better than the older creek boats from Dagger, although, it is a bit catchy (probably more user error than boat design).

I would recommend this boat to anyone. I can see it being a great beginner boat, and after the way it handled the short drops and must make eddie turns, it 's a great steep creek platform as well.