"Clas Hagelstam" <clas_kayaker_at_hotmail.com> wrote: <SNIP>>>>>If / when I capsize it's no big deal to yank the float from under the bungies - push the paddle blade in - move tha paddle out sideways and heave up. Please check www.paddlefloats.com <<<<<< I suggest that 16 pounds of buoyancy (1/4 cubic foot) would provide enough extra buoyancy that your rolling technique would not need to be nearly as good to succeed. Of course, a float this big would be more in the way on the front deck. Nothing to stop you from putting it on the back deck (to start with anyway--or putting a partially inflated paddlefloat there). Maybe a little more practice would be needed to be sure you could grab it but at least you wouldn't then have to bulk up the deck you paddle over with every stroke. I would hate to have to do this even with the thinner float pictured. Rather than all the complicated construction why not just cut a slot into a foam block (twice or more thick as the foam pictured being sewn together) with a keyhole saw and then bevel the opening so that the paddle slips in easy. I've made several foam floats this way for rolling instruction aids. Better still, why bother putting the float on your paddle blade at all. I contend it is far easier to learn to use a float to hand roll the kayak than it is to learn to roll up using the paddle even one with a float on its blade. This also cuts out the time taken fiddling while underwater putting the float on the blade. The reality is that very few paddlers hang around calmly under water and fiddle with a gadget unless of course they already know how to Eskimo roll reliably and are testing something else out. Most hardly wait for the kayak to get turned over before starting to bail out. Full directions for doing a float roll are found in the Rescue Float manual in the "Manuals" section of www.marinerkayaks.com. 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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