"John MacKechnie" <bigmac1_at_enter.net> wrote: > My guess is that the dry bags will not be as efficient as dedicated float > bags. Two ways to look at it: Dry bags with relatively incompressible, lightweight stuff : e.g., clothing, sleeping bags, etc., may be better, because they are not so vulnerable to punctures. OTOH, as you surmise, the net buoyant effect of a dry bag with things in it is less than that of a flotation bag with only air. When I paddle open-cockpit/no-bulkheaded boats, I use a combination of both, attaching the deflated flotation bags high (to the ends and to the sheers) underdecks, loading all my dry-bagged stuff low, and inflating the float bags to help trap the dry bags and to fill as much underdeck space as I can with flotation. For open cockpit boats -- Klepper, Folbot, Nautiraid, etc. -- this is critical in case of a capsize. If you use this sort of boat for day trips when most of your dry-bagged gear is ashore, the flotation bags need to be big enough to fill those underdeck spaces by themselves. In any case, consider the material which forms the outside of the flotation carefully -- pretty easy to hole some of the nonfabric-based plastic ones. For my money, the NRS 3D-End Bags (and similar) are a good compromise of light weight and durability. These come with D-tabs at corners to assist in anchoring to the inside of a folder. Inside a hardshell, you'd have to glass in attachment points or use some other adhesive. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Apr 08 2005 - 12:26:04 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:20 PDT