Well it’s the time of year for a Good wish list, so I thought I’d throw together a short list of some of the better gadgets out there for rowers just in case anyone needed a last minute idea for a present!

STROKEMETER

NK GPS 2, COXMATE GPS, ACTIVETOOLS ACTIVERATE

Three solid choices really, if you have the money/row on a river so current cancellation is important/think you’ll ever consider getting the Empower Oarlock then it’s the NK every time.

If you’re happy with just GPS and want to save a little money and think some of the additional features like course correction is useful then the Coxmate GPS is worth a shot

If you’re just after rate, the active tools activerate gives you excellent build quality and some useful extra features like check to help improve your technique

POWER METER

NK Empower Oarlock

No brainer this one really – although only just released it’s immediately shot to the top of the list for anyone looking to get into power on a lower budget, the more expensive options like peach innovations/BioRow are still a better option for people to get the most detailed data on their rowing, but for most of us the empower oarlock does enough for our needs of giving accurate feedback on power/length and rowing efficiency

HEART RATE STRAP

WAHOO Tickr X

Still the best out there imo, the Tickr range as a whole is excellent due to the fact that it broadcasts on both ANT+ (for C2 and Garmin) and Bluetooth (smartphones, NK etc) at the same time but the extra features of the X include an accelerometer so when using the Wahoo app it can track your cycling/running cadence for cross training and can even count the reps you do when you run their body weight circuit app, and internal memory so you can always be able to download the HR data after a workout to the Wahoo app even if there is a problem recording during the workout (got to love backUp data)

GPS SPORTS WATCH

Garmin Vivoactive HR

Personaly recommend the Vivoactive HR, if you can’t quite stretch to buying one the Polar M400 is a good budget alternative however I think the Vivoactive HR’s ability to actually track stroke rate directly is a huge plus that is worth the extra, and if you have the money the Fenix 3 does the same and has a inch more premium look

ROWING CLOTHING

KYMIRA IR sportswear

I have been happily using KYMIRA gear for a while, it’s very very comfortable and warm in the winter but also not overly oppressive in the summer – the price is high for compression type gear but not hugely so than the main named brands and the fact they also provide the IR benefits is a big plus to me

DRONE

Parrot Bebop 2

As time goes on more and more drones are becoming available at prices that make it easier to think about buying one. Now with my recommendation, although there are more feature complete drones like the DJI Mavic, the parrot bebop 2 is a similarly compact drone which is considerably cheaper than the DJI Mavic and yet still provides excellent stabilised videos, offers features like follow me/waypoint flying etc with smartphone apps and has a battery life of 20+ minutes. I have the skycontroller which means it can fly for several km but if you are wanting to carry less bulk then the drone works well with just a smartphone to control it

Id welcome anyone else’s thoughts or recommendations?