Kokatat is donating Ronin Pro life jackets to February’s “Kayakers for the Kimberley”, an expedition that seeks to raise awareness for the environmentally compromised Kimberley region of Australia. The team will attempt to record the highest documented descent of the Kimberley’s Fitzroy River followed by first ever descents of both the Wynne and Hardmen creeks.

Team Kokatat athlete Anthony Yap is one member of this five-country, eight-athlete collective. Led by Yap and fellow Australian paddler Lachie Carracher, this trip is the fourth consecutive year a group has explored the Kimberley in an effort to educate the public on the exploitation happening to the one of the world’s oldest, largely untapped regions.

After a nearly 4,000 kilometer drive northwest from Melbourne, the team will board a chartered aircraft to the upper reaches of the Fitzroy. Once on the water, the expedition will be made all the more challenging by the Fitzroy’s peak monsoonal flows.

To maximize safety in these demanding conditions, the team wisely chose Kokatat’s Ronin Pro as their life jacket for the duration of the trip. Advantages of the Ronin Pro include a trimmed-down profile and unique internal harness, which provides a comfortable secure fit, full spinal protection and improved side protection. Kokatat worked with representatives of Underwriters Labratories (UL), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), swiftwater rescue professionals, fire departments, recreational user groups, and other manufacturers to help update the standards of Type 5 rescue certification.

Working closely with Australian Conservation Foundation advisers to draw attention to the environmental issues that are facing the area, the team’s experiences will be documented in a feature film to be produced in March 2010. The film will showcase the area and the team’s exploration of one of the world’s most inhospitable environments. Additional information available at www.kayakthekimberley.com