Shawn wrote: <Snip>>>>>>The Mariner kayaks, with sturdy 1/4" braided nylon rigging; and Nimbus and Seaward, with 1" webbing and side-release buckles both offer solid attachments for a fixed paddlefloat rescue. Pacific Water Sports' rear deck paddle park is good, but not nearly as good. Most of the other kayak manufacturers out there have stretchy 3/16" bungies, that IMHO offer a false sense of security when rigging a "fixed" paddlefloat outrigger. If it's going to be solid, it needs to be solid, and you need to be able to rely on it. If it's not going to be solid or reliable, you're better off never using it.<<<<< Actually the Mariners (except the Coaster which uses 1/4") use sturdy 3/16" Dacron line (lower stretch, doesn't stretch and shrink as much when wet and dry than nylon) for the gear and outrigger paddle hold down lines. The towlines are stretchier (shock absorbing) nylon so you don't need to add shock cord to cushion towing forces. Many if not most sea kayaks built in the USA have some sort of outrigger hold down system and many of those that use shock cord use 1/4" shock cord and double it up in the places that hold down the paddle. I think that is adequate. Seda Kayaks is one example of this. It is rare for British kayaks to have outrigger paddle holding systems (although sometimes they can be adapted from existing lines or deck fittings). Since anybody could add some eyelets (or a Nimbus system) to their kayaks quite easily I don't see why the ACA shouldn't also point out the advantages of fixing the paddle to the deck if it can be done with the kayak being used. ACA mention of using a fixed outrigger might encourage more manufacturers to make sure their deck arrangements work well for this method. Actually, I think the manufacturers are way ahead of the ACA in this regard. Even those with inadequate paddle hold downs are at least paying "lip service" to this rescue (although sometimes I think the shock cords may just be there because those manufacturers see shock cord in those places on other well respected kayaks so need to put some of that "chrome" on their kayaks to make them look good in the kayak store). Scads of minimally functional shock cord may be the kayak equivalent of the race for the most cup holders in cars and minivans. Matt Broze www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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