Among the highlights of last year’s Paddle Sports Show was the 2026 Product of the Year Awards, organized in partnership with KS Publishing and the Paddler’s Guide. Each year, the contest spotlights the best new paddlesports gear for the upcoming season. This year, NRS‘ Vector Pro PFD won product of the year in the Apparel & Equipment category. The Vector marks a five-year evolution in paddlesports safety, combining the gender-neutral, ergonomic comfort of the Orbit Fit System™ with a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind integration of RECCO® locator technology for search-and-rescue. We asked the team a few questions about their award-winning technology to understand how it works and how it came to life. Congrats on winning 2026 Product of the Year for the Vector PFD at the Paddle Sports Show. Can you introduce your product in a couple of sentences? Thank you so much! We are incredibly honored. The Vector represents a new standard in paddlesports safety as the first and only whitewater rescue PFD to integrate RECCO® locator technology, allowing professional Search & Rescue teams to quickly pinpoint a paddler’s location. Beyond the tech, it’s a high-mobility, professional-grade vest designed specifically for the rigors of steep creeks and technical rescues. How much time and effort went into bringing this product to life? The Vector isn’t just an iteration, it’s the result of a five-year journey in performance engineering. After the initial three-year development of the original Vector—built based on input collected from professional whitewater athletes—we spent the last 24 months strictly focused on the integration of RECCO® technology and user-focused upgrades to the original Vector design. RECCO® integration required intensive collaboration with Search & Rescue professionals to ensure the tech was perfectly positioned for maximum searchability without compromising the PFD’s structural integrity or ergonomic flow. Does it build on ideas or designs from previous