[Paddlewise] Emergency Thermofloat Sea-Seat

The latest Sea Kayaker magazine (April issue) has an evaluation of the Thermofloat Sea-Seat which is a personal raft for cold water survival.  The evaluation was written by Chris Cunningham and it was a favorable report.  He said "the Sea-Seat should be carried on your person, clipped to your PFD."  Has anyone had any experience with this safety device?  In it's stored condition it must not take up much room but Chris did not give any details on this.  Does anyone know the dimensions of the storage package?

After reading the safety book "Sea Kayaker, Deep Trouble  (Gronseth and Broze) I'm taking the subject of  "on-person" safety and survival equipment a lot more serious.   About 6 of the approx. 33 sea kayaking incidents reported in the book involved a sea kayaker losing the kayak and surviving a swim to shore.  Most of these were in populated areas so a survival kit was not needed but two of the accidents resulted in a cold night outdoors, the most serious incident involved Richard Hudson in Norton Sound Alaska.  He suffered hypothermia and frostbite and spent over a month in the hospital recovering. The book also discusses 9 sea kayaking fatalities and about 13 incidents of hypothermia.

Matt Broze has a section on survival rafts in Deep Trouble on pages 112 and 113.  He does discuss the Sea-Seat as well as a U.S. Air Force survival raft that he owns.  The Sea-Seat was developed by researchers at the University of Victoria, British Columbia.  It was out of production for a while but is back on the market now. 

All of my sea kayaking is cold water boating (Washington Coast and Puget Sound mostly) and I paddle most weekends throughout the year and although I'm usually with a few friends I do enjoy solo kayaking, even in the winter.  I wear a dry suit and I'm set up so that my VHF radio, flares, and Survival kit are on my person.  If this Sea-Seat is not to bulky I think it may be a worthwhile investment.

I have tomorrow off from work, my new skinboat in on the car, my gear is packed, and I'm ready to head up to the San Juan Island area in the morning for a day on the water.

Rex    





----------
From: 	Chuck Holst[SMTP:CHUCK_at_multitech.com]
Sent: 	Monday, March 02, 1998 2:34 PM
To: 	'Paddlewise'
Subject: 	[Paddlewise] FW: Emergency & Other Gear


>>
3.   What equipment and methods have people dreamed-up to extend their
"on-person" storage capabilities.  For example, I would like to attach a
brightly colored, highly reflective pocket to the back of my PFD to   provide
additional storage.  Anybody done this?  Naturally, it's not a place to
keep heavy stuff but it has the potential for increasing the amount of
safety (and other) gear you can take with you.

I've always been disappointed with the lack of storage space on most   PFDs.
I really think this is an area for equipment improvement.

I hope that others will comment on solutions they have come up with for
this issue.

Bill Leonhardt
>>

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I think all PFDs, or "buoyancy aids" made by Palm in Great
Britain have back pockets. At least, mine does. Palm also
puts reflective patches on the pocket flaps. My Palm PFD is
the five-pocket model. It has four pockets on the front, each
with an internal D-ring for lashing items, and a large back
pocket with mesh sides for drainage. I keep an exposure bag
and a sealed package of flares in the back pocket. The flares
are tied to a cord that I can reach while wearing the PFD. In
the other pockets I keep a safety cord for my Nikonos camera
that is tied to a D-ring, a Silva orienteering compass tied to a
D-ring, a spare car key on a D-ring, a "space" pen, a waterproof
notebook, a china marker for marking charts, and an Icom M1
VHF radio (when my wife lets me have it). I haven't figured out
yet where to put my new Garmin GPS unit, but I think I need
another pocket. :-) In a drybag in the cockpit I carry more flares,
dye, a signal flag, a signal mirror, and a lighter. I really should
add fire-starting materials and high energy snacks to the back
pocket and put the mirror, at least, in one of my front pockets.

Palm PFDs are available from Great River Outfitters
(http://www.erols.com/rapids/GRO/). They are approved by
just about everybody but the U.S. Coast Guard and maybe
Canada (my PFD is not one of the approved colors).

Chuck Holst  
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