Home Made (DIY) Kayak / Surf Ski Simulator - Dry Land Training

We now have the revised version of the simulator, Home Made (DIY) Kayak / Surf Ski Simulator - Dry Land Exercise Device - Mark II. You can see the pictures here, kskayaking.blog...
The typical features are:
1) Flywheel for paddling practice. It also gives a good exercise.
2) A 15 inch disk for simulating tippy kayak/surf ski. This device is tippy.
It trains our balance.
3) Swivel seat to practice leg driven hip rotation.
Practice smooth whole body paddling - leg driven hip rotation to torso rotation to paddle.

[@WillN2Go1]

I've got the Compact Pro Kayak Erg $2600 current price. It's good - state of the art. Almost the same as being in the water. The counter is a bit of a mess. I end up using a little kitchen timer, then converting the counter's distance in meters to nautical miles. What I can say from my long experience and what I see in this video (and other DIY kayak erg videos) is this is pretty much the same. So save $2200. To get the resistance to match what I experience on the water I just did my 60 strokes/minute pace and when it wasn't too tiring or too easy that's where I set it. If you set it a bit harder than you'll build your core more quickly.
It is tedious. On the ocean I can go 3 -4 hours with audiobooks and be very happy. On my back porch.... 45 minutes. I do have a TV and Apple TV box in front of my treadmill -- so guess which one I'm on every evening?
The reason a kayak erg, or sea kayaking is so good, is the stroke. The proper kayak stroke is fairly simple -- almost all of it is in your core, not in your arms or shoulders. (Everyone you see noodling around marinas on weekends is doing it wrong. 100% I've even seen large classes, and seen the instructors doing it wrong.) The way to learn this is easy. Frankenstein - stick your arms straight out (like the monster) and paddle without bending your elbows. The only way you can move the paddle is by moving your core. Once you've learned how to do this, all you have to do now is bend your elbows and lift the paddle when the blade is even with your hip bone. Now you will be a more powerful paddler, and you will build incredible core strength, flat abs and never have any back pain.
What I'd also do with this erg is add some foot straps. Hope this helps.

[@leatherindian]

I like the layout and you’ve got the nicest design I’ve seen but it doesn’t look like it helps you maintain proper paddle stroke form. How similar to water do you find it?

[@richardberry2742]

i have made one from metal . not as pretty but it folds in half . for easy storage . it also runs a car alternator using 2 bike freewheeling units . 30 seconds is all i can do to keep a car headlamp lit . keep paddling

[@kskayaking737]

Hi Richard,
Thank you for your response. Do you have any video, or picture ? I would like to look at.

[@fernglez60]

I really like this design, did you use the Nordic track wood frame also? Can you show more details about the pulley arrangement. Do have some springs/bungee taking up the slack? Good job!!!

[@kskayaking737]

Hi Fern,
Thank you for your interests. Yes, the side woods supporting the flywheel are from the Nordic track wood frame. More pictures of the revised version are shown in my blog, kskayaking.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-9.html
You can also see the pulley arrangement. If you need more information, please feel free to contact me. Yes, I use a bungee. The large pulley shown in Fig. 6 was connected to a bungee. As shown in Fig.2, a bungee is also used to connect the rope to the pole.

[@DeadHeadmusic69]

Great design mate.the only thing wrong is your style.push arm always should be at eye level.your arms are lower than your knees,and there's no leg drive.legs are the one muscel that makes a quick paddler.im not have a crack at you,we all need to work on technique,but if practice bad technique we carry that over once in our boats.left them arms up bud.

[@noiseforthealgorithm4668]

hello, do you have a guide for how to build this? thanks

[@Captain_Bartolo]

cool !