This is a response to the posting from Alice Bennett. In Minnesota an inflatable PFD is listed as a Type IV PFD, which means that by law use must always wear it while you are on the water. I personally wear a Type III PFD for the foam floatation helps retain my body heat when I am paddling or beach coaming in cold or windy conditions. Most of the Type IV PFD's that I have seen provide their floatation only to the front of the PFD when they are filled with air. This might pose a small obstacle when trying to perform a self rescue. At the point of a self rescue when your chest is laying on the stern deck a Type IV PFD would increase your center of balance or gravity a bit more than the slimmer Type III PFD. I have heard of some sea kayakers wearing a Type III PFD with a Type IV over it for big trips. If you do get an inflatable PFD I suggest that you carry some extra CO2 cartridges, if the inflatable uses these for inflation. Also be sure that the inflatable PFD has a manual inflation tube like paddlefloats do, preferably one with a one way blowtube. Be sure to bring a patch kit along for trips just in case at some time in the future you get a hole in it for some reason. Good Paddling and floating in a Type III or Type IV PFD, Don Dimond P.S. It might be a guy thing, but my Type III PFD has a lot of pockets for me to put all sorts of techie things in and has a knife clip. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This goes more back towards the previous thread on comfortable PFDs, and less on the current thread. I use a type III PFD that has a lot of mesh in the shoulder and neck areas. It's a cheap ol' Stearns PFD but even if it rides up it's still comfortable because of the mesh. The only downside I've found is the tiny mesh pocket on the front needs to be much larger. One of my Stearns PFDs has no pocket at all. I can't remember what I paid for them a few years ago, but I think it wasn't over about $40. I bought these PFDs to wear while fishing from a canoe. I just got lucky when I started kayaking that they work well for this also. Woody *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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