Rowing kit: what's actually worth your money

Introduction

I've done 5 seasons of rowing now, I'm by no means an expert but have been through my fair share of rowing kit, and know enough to filter a few things out as junk. Everything in this article is stuff I've personally owned or used.

Quick verdict (what you should buy)

• Rigger jigger: Buy

• Pogies: Skip

• Gloves: Never

• Bag: Buy, not the one you're thinking of

• HRM: Only if you row consistently

• Stroke coach: Borrow, if you must buy, not the one you think

1. Rigger Jigger (£5-10)

This is an essential piece of kit if you're either coxing or racing.

A rigger jigger (offset ring spanner) is the single tool you will use time and time again. It's a small metal tool you use to rig and de-rig boats, and can be used to help adjust or tighten your rigger.

The standard size for nuts and bolts on boats is 10mm to 13mm. If you have £5 to spend, this is the single best purchase I would recommend. It saves you time and the shame of being stood around or asking for someone else's spanner or worse, the communal spanner especially when preparing to race + you gain lots of aura from owning a spanner on race day (if you have it with you).

Mistake to avoid: DON'T BUY RATCHET SPANNERS! They're annoying to use and are more prone to break.

2. Pogies (£15-35)

Absolutely not. I got these in my J16 year of rowing for Christmas - I got hammered for it and was still a fan of them. I loved them, they kept my hands nice and warm. The truth is however, they're incredibly inconvenient and having slightly colder hands is worth it if you're avoiding the whole hassle of stopping a whole 8+.

The truth is, you can't put them on until you've pushed the boat off, and usually the cox is making calls straight away or you need to row straight away / go into a warm up promptly. If you're the one stopping the whole boat to put them on, it's just annoying and a waste of time. That's not mentioning each time you need to take them off to drink water, adjust clothing, take your feet out or hand out for a drill, etc... .

The 2 exceptions I'd say is if you're in a 1x, 2x or 2- where you can push off at your own pace, though I'd say even then the hassle isn't worth it, and if you're rowing in absolutely freezing conditions (sub 0°C), though I'm not sure you should really be rowing in that anyways.

Cold hands aren't amazing, but worst case they're numb for 10 mins after the session, then they defrost. Blade friction keeps them warmer than you'd think.

3. Gloves - no

No. Unless you're a cox, you shouldn't have them. Blisters are unavoidable, you'll get them anyways and your hands will harden eventually. Gloves stop you from feeling the handle which is just bad all around.

4. Bags (£30-50)

Rival kit's bag is genuinely a really good bag. It's functional, well designed, and I must admit looks really cool. One caveat: it's £85. The only difference as far as I can tell from a rival kit bag and an amazon tactical or military bag, is the second velcro panel on the front.

What I suggest: buy a tactical or military 45L bag off Amazon. Any brand will do, e.g QT&QY or HEMSO. They're random brands I've seen with okay prices. The bags are almost all laid out the same. If you want the second velcro panel, buy one off amazon for £10-15, look up MOLLE Hook and loop panel and you can get one.

5. Heart Rate Monitors (£25-60)

This is a tricky one. In my opinion, a heart rate monitor is worth it if you train consistently and are doing a lot of UT2 volume, especially if it's not just on the erg (cycling, rowing OTW, running, etc). If you're not, it's a gadget that you can't really get a useful read off of.

How I suggest you use it: Do a step test at the start of the season to find your maximum HR and work out your UT2 from that. If you're getting one, get a chest strap not a wrist monitor. They're more accurate for rowing. Get one which has ANT+ compatibility!

Here's the caveat. Sleep, food, fatigue, stress, temperature (so seasons too) all affect your heart rate. These, and many other factors will just change how you perform and your heart rate will fluctuate. No matter how hard you try, it's highly likely something will be affecting your heart rate in one way or another, so take the readings with a grain of salt and listen to what your body is telling you.

I recommend you base your UT2 off splits instead. I've gotten hate from this, but here's what I mean. UT2 isn't just meant to be easy, just something that you can hold for a long time. I'm not saying go rip a 1:45 split for an hour (good job if you can though), but just pick a score which is roughly in the range of UT2, make sure you're working and just put in the time. How to work out your UT2 split:

• Take your 2k split, add ~20 splits to it. This is a good starting point, not gospel

• Talk test: If you can hold a conversation in full sentences but wouldn't want to, you're about in the right zone

6. Stroke coaches (£150-500)

In 99% of cases, I'd say these are a waste of money. An NK SpeedCoach will cost you about £470 brand new, maybe £400 second hand. These are really good pieces of kit, though I think you should borrow them from your club if they have them. The thing is, you're not guaranteed to be stroking every outing, so you may be buying a piece of kit you simply won't use much.

Now I get the appeal, it's a really cool bit of kit.. even I want one. My suggestion (and no I'm not sponsored, I wish) is to get yourself a Surge 1. It's a new product out of Australia which costs about £150 - if you really want one. I'd recommend you hold off unless you know you'll be using it. The Surge 1 is a 5 part display (5 data fields) and has (as far as I can tell) all the features from the NK SpeedCoach + more. For example you can attach it to your bike, you can connect a heart rate monitor (which not all SpeedCoaches can do), and (my favourite) it charges with USB-C.

Don't buy a SpeedCoach. If you really just want to spend money, get yourself a Surge 1 from Sierra Sport.

Extra kit:

• Swag Oakleys: Worth it, buy cheaper amazon ones if you don't fancy spending loads - I recommend blue glass if you're hesitant on which colour to get.

• White / Short sleeve base layer: I didn't get one until this season, it has made a real difference - so much better than a normal cotton t-shirt or an oversized sports t-shirt.. make sure it fits right.

• A cap: Just pure swag (at least give it a try). No bucket hats, unless you're matching with your crew.

• Extra: GB Rowing Kit you haven't earned if you're confident (Bonus points for wearing it in front of GB / ex-GB rowers).

• Extra: a GB AIO you haven't earned. Double points if you wear it to a L2R session. Triple points if you correct someone's tech while wearing it. (please don't do this)

• Last but definitely not least, sliders. Some people will gaslight you into getting crocs, sliders are better - they take less space.

Closing statement

If I was in my first season of rowing and just wanted to do it for fun, I wouldn't stress - just buy a unisuit, sports t-shirt, sliders and a pair of sunglasses. That's the bare essentials.

FYI! Unisuits (All-in-one's / AIOs) are expensive, though if you're looking for affordable ones, rivermereco is a new brand which seems to be rising getting ready for a release with the aim of making affordable kit.