Prado Sportswear Daytrainer spraydeck

In 2025, we were asked by Jakob at Prado Sportswear to field-test a brand-new spray deck. As you are well aware, we don’t tread lightly when it comes to field testing, and we will always take our time to see how durable a certain product really is.

Prado Sportswear is a small, new Belgian brand that makes a limited number of shorts, pants, thermo shirts, and, of course, this spray deck. Jakob, the owner, is a white water kayaker himself and contributes to the products’ finesse.

We received the Prado Daytrainer spray deck in April 2025, right before our annual SeaKayakTrainingCamp in Croatia. Upon receipt, we noticed the spray deck’s high quality and sturdiness. The overall colour is black, except for the black/grey Kevlar reinforcement around the front of the deck. All the rest of the deck and tunnel are neoprene. There’s a bungee all around the deck, neatly stitched, providing a good seal around the cockpit rim. Since we are sea kayakers, we have tested the spray deck both on polyethene and composite sea kayaks. There is a difference in form between composite and polyethene cockpit rims, so we wanted to see if water was kept out enough during our training.

We used a lot of spray decks before this one, and we are always on the lookout for reinforcements on the deck itself. The latter is important, as we do a lot of rescue training where we shift other boats over the cockpit area and spray deck to empty and repair them on the water. This makes for a lot of abuse in that specific area. We have evaluated the spray deck for about a year, and no wear or tear has been noted! This is what we are looking for in a good sea kayak spray deck!

As said, we also checked for the seal between the cockpit and the spray deck. As one always gets wet during our kind of training, whether it be by surfing, down-winding, rock-hopping, or just rescue training, the Prado spray deck did what it should do: keep water out of our cockpit. No remarks there! The inner rim that encircles the cockpit rim has an anti-slip finish, providing a perfect seal. That finish is also long-lasting, no wear and tear there as well.

The spray deck comes in different deck and tunnel sizes, so everyone should be able to find a good fit. The elastic stays, even after a year of use. No flaws or stretch there! In our opinion, the Prado Daytrainer is made for sea kayakers who need solid closure, long-lasting apparel, and protection for deep-water rescues. During surfing (even in big conditions), the spray deck held its ground, no accidental implosion, even with breaking waves. The black colour gives it a distinctive look; the white Prado logo is visible yet discreet. This makes it fashionable, no matter the colours of your dry suit and your kayak.

We asked about service, which taught us that Jakob from Prado Sportswear does repairs himself. That is also good to hear, should it ever come to that.

We continue to use the Prado Daytrainer on all our sea kayak adventures!
Price: £141.00