I use the Stearns Ultra. It is Type III approved. Sold at West/E&B. I think I paid under $70. It is small and flat. I even use it in my rowing shells. Mine is royal blue, but if you buy it from Fisheries Supply and get the commercial model, it is identical but comes in international orange and you get the best price out there. I have never pulled the rip cord on it, but routinely inflate it manually to make sure it is still airtight. Unless the water were really cold (i.e. under 50), I would probably save the $5 and blow it up manually while treading water. BTW, has anyone figured out what to do on airlines with inflatable PFD's? You are not supposed to check CO2 cartridges. Ken Cooperstein *************************************************************************** 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 archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:56 PDT