Review: New Dagger Nomad

What a wonderfully wet couple of weeks, I hope everyone’s been out taken advantage of some “summer” paddling. Exciting news! We have just taken delivery of the new, redefined 2016 Dagger Nomad (#Newmad).

The Nomad has been a staple in daggers line-up for the last 12 years and 2016 sees the arrival of a redesigned boat. The nomad has always been renowned as a stable and forgiving creek boat that would deliver a predictable performance every time you were on the river. The 2016 model is no different and its feels familiar from the get go, however with the adjustments have brought the Nomad bang up to date. Adding more rocker to the bow allows the Nomad to keep to the surface which allows the boat to skip through holes. Lowering the stern rocker and flattening out through the tail effectively pushes the boat out from drops allowing you to power out and carry speed away from drops.

Full disclosure I had my reservations about the nomad when the new design was announced, I personally felt like it wasn’t moving in the right direction with paddlers demanding faster boats and lighter boats. These reservations were put to rest the minute I got the nomad on the water. Firstly, it is a lot more predictable then the new breed of race inspired creek boats, it also delivered the right amount of speed without it feeling like it was running away from me. Granted you’re not going to see it winning the Moriston or sick-line any time soon, but if you want a boat that’s going be predictable when your running tough white water then this boat is for you! Call in to the shop and have a look for yourself, currently we have a medium in a very striking orange (blaze) in stock.