Re: [Paddlewise] inner hull tie devices

schroete_at_mailer.uni-marburg.de wrote:
> 
> Ralph Diaz wrote:
> 
> > In most folding kayaks, there is generally enough room around you to
> > sides where you can place bags.
> 
> Yes and there is another place most people don't think of: Take a
> waterproof bag as your seat (but strap it to the sides or ribs of
> your boat for the case you have to leave your boat up side down).
> Especially in folding doubles you normally want to sit much higher,
> than the seats are, you got with your boat.  But also in most singles
> you are in the need to have some space between your and the boats
> bottom.

I am glad you brought up the idea of sitting on bags that substitute for
seats on long camping trips. It is a good place to put soft stuff...you
would not want to be sitting on pots and pans!!! :-)

The best kind of bag to use under you is one with an air bleed valve or
better yet an inflate/deflate tube.  This way you can puff up the bag if
sea conditions are calm or deflate in rough conditions to lower your
center of gravity.  When I wrote about this in my folding kayak book,
the Voyageur Caboose bag was a good choice for a combo seat/dry storage
bag because of being waterproof and having an inflate/deflate tube. 
There are other bags on the market that do this to a degree now.
   
> 
> > (BTW, in the broader folding kayaks, you can carry tons of camping
> > gear around you using all that space between the ribs in the cockpit
> > area. You don't need special bags.  All you do is strap it to the
> > gunwales and other long pieces alongside the inside of the boats.
> > Plain webbing straps, the kind you to tie sleeping bags and sleeping
> > mats to back packs work well enough especially ones with snap fastex
> > closures.  By utilizing the space around you, which is basically the
> > center of the boat, you have a neutral effect on overall trim.)
> 
> But it makes sense to use waterproof bags. Most camping gear does not
> like to stay wet for longer periods especially in salty water. 

Absolutely.  Again this advice to protect everything is in the Camping
chapter in my book and I am glad you brought it up.  When I said no need
for special bags, I meant no need for those zipped bags used to hold
things for use during the day's trip.  Any bags used for camping gear
must be of the dry bag variety.  I have seen more than one set of
aluminum tent poles corroded beyond use because kayakers thought that
they would be immune to water exposure and just dropped them somewhere
in their cargo compartments.  So I protect them in a dry bag as well.

Same goes for sleeping pads, even those that are covered with waterproof
material and stuffed with insulation that will absorb little water, if
any.  They do remain wet to the touch for long periods.  I have been
around more than one kayak camper who thought he did not have to protect
his sleeping pad. It got soaked and, arriving at the campsite late in
the day, did not provide enough time or sunlight to dry.  Poor guy had a
miserable night.  No it wasn't me!  :-)

The only minor exception of sorts that I make is that I do have some dry
bags that aren't as well sealed as I hoped when I bought them or have
lost perfection over the years.  I will place cooking gear in them...so
the contents are somewhat protected but failure would at worse be just a
minor disaster.

ralph diaz
 


-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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