Favorite Boating Accessories for 2022
Published: Saturday, November 13, 2021
By: Dan Armitage
Each season I use, test, and review dozens of boating and fishing products. Here are some of my favorites for Great Lakes boaters from the 2021 testing season:
Mist-er-Comfort
Perhaps the most welcome accessory we tested while boating in this past summer’s heat is the Mist-er-Comfort water vapor cooling system. I chose their Misting Bar model because the installation was super easy and I didn’t want to commit to a permanent installation. I also didn’t know if I needed more than the two misting heads that come with the bar model. My choice proved perfect for us—“us” being my wife and myself, the primary users of the deck boat that I use as a platform for such DIY projects.
Mounted on the leading edge of the Bimini top’s bow, the misting bar is a bit forward and overhead, allowing the two heads to drop a cooling curtain of mist over the passenger and helm seating positions. The two-foot-long, 3/4 inch-diameter aluminum tube snaps into a pair of clips, which are secured with a single screw each on a Bimini top support bow. The misting bar comes fitted with two low-profile misting heads, which are fed via a 1/4 inch-diameter hose from a portable six-gallon water tank fitted with an electric pump. Using the provided Velcro tie-straps, we routed the flexible plastic hose along the Bimini bow, down to the helm console, under which we placed the tank in the foot compartment.
While our test model 2401 (MSRP $621) is intended to be hard-wired to an accessory switch on the dash, we made our system portable by wiring a 12-volt accessory plug to the pump. We simply plug it into the 12-volt receptacle on the dash when needed and use the pump’s rocker switch to turn the mister on and off. Mist-er-Comfort also offers a model 2411 system (MSRP $699.50) that comes pre-wired with the 12-volt plug option that is extremely portable.
For more information about the permanent and portable misting systems from Mist-er-Comfort, visit mist-er-comfort.com.
Rocky Dry-Strike Deck Boots
The Rocky Dry-Strike deck boots I tested came into their own late in the 2021 boating season, when I chased fall walleye and steelhead on Lake Erie. Usually, I wear unwieldy calf-high rubber boots or try to get by with traditional deck shoes, neither of which meet the needs of damp and frigid late-season fishing. But the Dry-Strikes proved to be the perfect combination of comfort, warmth, and waterproofness, and I was the envy of the fishing crews with whom I shared a damp deck.
The Dry-Strikes feature an ultra-slip-resistant rubber outsole and comfortable neoprene upper, and include reinforced nylon pull straps so they can easily be put on and taken off. The deck boots are lightweight and more comfortable than most waterproof deck boots thanks to the Rocky’s popular Energy XLX footbed included in each pair, and they make a great option for not only boating and fishing, but walking through mud, atop wet floors, and similar slippery environments.
Choose from a variety of colors and even a cool Mossy Oak Elements Agua camo option, for $85 at rockyboots.com.
Prospec/JBLPRV275
After installing an entry-level, round, flush-mounted stereo receiver atop our steering console years ago—and struggling to see its display while suffering less-than-optimal sound—it was time for an upgrade. Wanting to take advantage of the existing 3.5-inch diameter hole in the dash, I researched circular marine-grade receivers until I found JVC’s model PRV275.
It’s an all-weather, all-in-one unit that slips right into traditional 3.5-inch cutouts and offers features like a rotary encoder, 2.75" color screen, and video input. The Prospec Electronics product is simple and intuitive to use and easy to stream audio with ID tagging via Bluetooth from a mobile device. It offers three inputs—USB, aux and video—and is wired remote-ready and includes traditional AM/FM and weather band broadcasts. It also packs a punch with 4 x 45 watts and boasts 2 ohm stability, enabling up to eight speakers to be wired to it without the cost of an additional amplifier.
MSRP is $299.95 from prospecelectronics.com; learn more at facebook.com/ProspecAudio, instagram.com/prospecelectronics, or on YouTube at bit.ly/2wQmJWz.
Seat Saver
The deck furniture on our project boat is two decades old and it’s a matter of time before the upholstered areas that receive high traffic will eventually succumb to the same. Boarding and disembarking the docked boat requires you to step on the wrap-around seating in a particular spot to take advantage of hand-holds, and it’s obvious that the area is wearing faster than others.
When I saw the ad for the Seat Saver here in Great Lakes Scuttlebutt as an option, I ordered one, and it proved to be the perfect solution for saving that busy section of vinyl upholstery. A Great Lakes product produced by a family business that has specialized in automotive and marine upholstery since 1979, the SeatSaver was developed at Shelby Trim Inc., a marine upholstery, and convertible top family business in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Several different panel materials were experimented with to create an indestructible core panel material with just the right amount of flex and proper marine finish quilted vinyl with a high “drag factor” to control slippage of the SeatSaver.
Available in several colors, the SeatSaver sells for $39 from seatsaver.com.
Bombora Wanderer PFD
We enjoy paddlesports from our boats, and appreciate freedom of movement when aboard SUPs and kayaks. When I saw the distinctive Bombora Wanderer Type V inflatable belt-style PFD at a boat show last winter, I decided to give one a try. The colorful Bombora belt is USCG-approved for users 16 years and older, is super slim, lightweight, has D-Ring attachments for small accessories, and offers manual inflation with the pull of a cord to release 16.5 pounds of buoyancy with CO2 inflation. Adding oral inflation you can almost double that. The colors and designs the Wanderer come in make it an attractive alternative to traditional PFDs while allowing movement and flotation as needed.
Check out the Wanderer (MSRP $110) and the larger Adventurer ($140 MSRP) PFDs at bomboragear.com.
Propspeed & Foul-Release
Propspeed is formulated to prevent marine growth from bonding to metal surfaces below the waterline, including boat props and lower units, to increase boat efficiency, reduce drag, and save fuel and maintenance costs. It features an exceptionally strong chemical and mechanical bond between the metal substrate, the Etching Primer and the Clear Coat—ensuring that the Propspeed coating actually sticks to your running gear and lasts season after season.
Propspeed also reduces the risk of corrosion by electrically isolating the metal, as well as limiting the exchanges between the ions and the gases contained in the water and the metal. In short, if a reaction can’t occur, there will be no corrosion! The Propspeed system is best used on propellers, shafts, struts, rudders, trim tabs, keel coolers, bow and stern thrusters, pod drives, sail drives, and other underwater metal.
Foul-Release Coating for Transducers is a PropSpeed product formulated specifically to keep sonar transducers clean and operating at maximum capacity. Fouling on the face of transducers can reduce their sensitivity, bottom-echo returns, and positive fish targets for the clearest sonar images possible. Developed from the original Propspeed foul-release coating’s technology, the application of Foulfree can be completed in three easy steps: Clean. Apply. Let it dry.
For more information and pricing on Propspeed and Foul-Free, visit propspeed.com.
Scuttlebutt®, the App
The final new accessory option I would like to recommend for Great Lakes—and beyond—boaters is a freebie: the Scuttlebutt phone app. Step aboard by visiting scuttlebutt.com to download and you’ll see why!
About the Author
Dan Armitage is a popular Great Lakes-based outdoor writer and host of the Buckeye Sportsman show (buckeyesportsman.com), syndicated weekly on 30 radio stations across Ohio. Dan is a certified Passport to Fishing instructor and leads kids fishing programs at Midwest boat and sport shows, and is a licensed Captain with a Master rating from the US Coast Guard.
A version of this article appeared in the Buyer's Guide (November/December) 2022 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Cleaners, Clothing & Shoes, Electronics, Gift Ideas, Retrofitting, Software & Apps
