Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1997 13:01:10 -0700
From: Bill Blohm <bblohm@boi.hp.com>
Message-Id: <199701022001.AA239035270@hpbs1686.boi.hp.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: Air bags for Baidarkas
> Airbags are primarily useful for paddling your boat empty. When you are
> paddling with gear, your gear bags will have to supply the floatation.
> You can't really fit gear and airbags at the same time.
Not so. As you mention in the next paragraph, you can get bags that perform
as both. You simply open up the wide end, stow your gear in it, then roll
it back shut and toggle it (or whatever) to keep it from unrolling. Then you
blow up the rest of the bag around the gear. I don't know if they're
available for sea kayaks, but they are common, or were, for ww kayaks.
Like you, I've not kept up with what's new on the market.
> There are some commercial bags that double as both float and pack bags
> but I have no experience with them.
> Another option worth considering is a sea sock. This is
> a bag that ties around the coaming and extends forward to the tips of
> your feet. If you exit the boat, only the sea sock gets filled with
> water instead of the whole boat. This much improves your chances of
> reentry and pumping out in a reasonable amount of time. You can make
> your own sea sock or buy one from Superior Kayaks. There might be other
> sources as well, but is probably a hard to get item since most commercial
> boats now have bulkheads, at least the fiberglass models do.
Hmmm. How would this work with storing gear? I assume this sea sock is
easily removable for gear storing, but not easily removed in the event
of a wet exit? Also, how would the use of a sea sock differ wrt gear
accessibility while paddling? I.e. access to snacks, water bottles, sun
screen, stuff like that. Would this now have to be stored on the deck
while the main gear (sleeping bags, cooking gear, fishing gear, whatever)
is stored beyond the sock?
As will be immediately obvious :-) I'm not familar with the sea sock.
But can you roll the boat upright with the sock outside the hull and
then stuff it back in, and so avoid most of the pumping out? (Like when
you pull out the liner of a mitten to brush all the snow out then push
the liner back into the shell. It stays attached to the wrist area, as
I would expect the sea sock to remain attached to the coaming.)
Bill B.