Purchasing Rowing Equipment Part 3

Read Part 2

Step 5

Options, Specifications and Features

The days of making the man fit the boat are long gone, these days the boat and most other rowing equipment is made to fit the rower, so as you can guess, there are a lot of options.

When you start looking at all the available options, you may get overwhelmed, so the best thing to do is keep it simple and ask advice.

Specifications are the characteristics of a piece of equipment. Not to be confused with features, which are those options which can be added onto your purchase, usually for an increased price. These add on features will usually have an impact on the comfort, safety or performance of the equipment.

When making a purchase, the best thing to do is get a complete list of all the choices available. Then review each option, choosing what is best for you/your crew and make sure you ask advice from your coaches, team mates or the equipment builder themselves.

But always remember, if you can\’t see an obvious reason to buy an extra feature or change the specifications then DONT DO IT.

Step 6 What\’s it going to cost me?

Before making that purchase there are a couple of other costs which need to be taken into account. Insurance, shipping and taxes can give you a nasty surprise, especially if you are purchasing a large piece of equipment such as quad or eight shells. Below is an easy-to-use table which will help you determine the real price of your equipment purchase.

$\"\"$

If you find that the total expense is beyond the budget you established in step 3, then you may wish to look at buying used equipment. For more information on the selection of used equipment, see \’Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging\’.

Below is a pricing table for rowing equipment, keep in mind that these prices are just estimates and not specific to any brand. They are just a guide line to give some idea of the cost of rowing equipment.

$\"\"$