The Firecracker concept originates back to when our US Office had sold us on the idea of a 9R with a slicey tail \u2013 subsequent discussions raised the question of whether a 9\u2019 half-slice would be suitable for the lower-volume rivers of the UK and elsewhere, and so we considered producing a shorter version with the expectation that the Ripper might not sell as well outside of North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward 5 years and the Ripper went down so well worldwide that our competitors have all produced their own take on the 9\u2019 half slice, and we\u2019ve just begun producing the second generation of Ripper<\/a>, as well as a Kayak Cross (Extreme Slalom) focused variation called the Rip-R Evo<\/a>. There\u2019s been so much energy generated by this market segment that it\u2019s fair to say the sport has been reinvigorated, and so many paddlers have been having so much more fun on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re here for the enthusiasts, though, and it\u2019s not untrue that there are some regions where you can\u2019t easily throw down in a 9\u2019 half slice, and not everyone is up for the low-volume bow freeride experience of the Ozone<\/a>, and so the short half slice project was put back on the table\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n