ralph diaz wrote: > > Erik Sprenne wrote: > > My friends' canoe had > > fiberglassed-in air chambers in both the bow and stern (totally air-tight) > > for floatation, <and had expansion problems> > > Good timely advice that works well for folding kayaks that are being > cartopped. Especially on the West Coast where you can quickly go from > sea level to very high elevations in the matter of a few hours. > > I reported this quite a few years ago in the newsletter in a note from a > California reader who had his sponson seams pop. WW canoe paddlers have been aware of these issues for a long time. A triangular air bag 60" long by 30" at its widest can change dramatically with heat or altitude. I've never popped one, but I've had one over-inflate alarmingly. It's a mild aggravation paddling cold water in the summer, because you need to blow them up fairly tight to cartop, then re-inflate as soon as they get wet, then deflate slightly when you stop for lunch in the sun, then re-inflate back on the water. Hopefully, you remembered to re-close the valve at lunch. Then deflate a bit so that they don't pop while the car is sitting in the sun. Makes for a cheery round of "Blow, blow, blow your boat..." I believe my Bell Wildfire canoe has rubber expansion valves built into its air chambers for this reason. Steve *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>WW canoe paddlers have been aware of these issues for a long time. A >triangular air bag 60" long by 30" at its widest can change dramatically >with heat or altitude. I've never popped one, but I've had one >over-inflate alarmingly. It's a mild aggravation paddling cold water in >the summer, because you need to blow them up fairly tight to cartop, >then re-inflate as soon as they get wet, then deflate slightly when you >stop for lunch in the sun, then re-inflate back on the water. Hopefully, >you remembered to re-close the valve at lunch. Then deflate a bit so >that they don't pop while the car is sitting in the sun. Makes for a >cheery round of "Blow, blow, blow your boat..." > >I believe my Bell Wildfire canoe has rubber expansion valves built into >its air chambers for this reason. > >Steve Sounds like a good reason to use a kayak:) instead:( Dana *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 05:05 PM 12/17/99 -0500, dldecker_at_se.mediaone.net wrote: >> >>I believe my Bell Wildfire canoe has rubber expansion valves built into >>its air chambers for this reason. >> >>Steve > > >Sounds like a good reason to use a kayak:) instead:( >Dana Oh, jeez, let's not get into that one, too. I get enough of it on RBP. ;) -- Wes *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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