Re: [Paddlewise] PFD Fit and function.

Jack Martin wrote:
> 
> From:  Richard Mitchell <mitchelr_at_ucs.orst.edu>
> To:  [Paddlewise] PFD Fit and function.
> 
> > Many paddles wear PFDs that ride up off their shoulders and even
> > up to the ears.  The buoyancy of such devices is compromised.
> > Children's PFDs all have crotch straps to prevent just such an
> > occurrence.
> 
> Sounds like you may not be fitting the PFD to the paddler properly.
> If a PFD is sized and fitted properly, and if the straps are all
> cinched down appropriately, a PFD won't ride up when a paddler
> swims --- and shouldn't ride up even in a jump into the water off a
> pier or a rock.  Crotch straps are fine --- my old CKS Stohlquist
> "Max" vest had USCG-approved hardpoints for crotch straps --- but
> they're most practical in an open canoe or on a raft.  Would look to
> a properly sized and rigged PFD before modifying it to offset

Joq, I think whether a PFD will "lift" you or not depends on whether your
chest measurement is larger than your mid-stomach measurement.  As a guy
who is more like a pear than an Arnold, I think the main effect of cinching
down on my PFD straps is to restrict my breathing capacity.  I can make it
work (not lift off my shoulders), but that requires serious squishing. 
And, yes, I have tried on a half dozen good makes and models.

Hardbody types have the inverted wedge-shaped upper torsos which make
"fitting" a PFD a "cinch."  For the rest of us, the cinch is a pinch -- and
a crotch strap makes a big difference.

Not going to even think about the difficulty women of realistic
(non-Barbie) proportions have fitting into conventkionally designed PFD's.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
politically correct PFD-wearer

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