Jim said: >If I remember correctly Doug likes a minimal PFD. What about this one >Doug? I wonder if the straps would chafe? I suspect they might if wearing >light clothing like I wear much of the year in the American South. Still >it looks pretty minimal. http://www.astralbuoyancy.com/02/hybrid.php Jim et al< Jim, I like the look of this minimalist PFD. You don't need a PHD in ergonomics to see the benefits afforded by increased mobility, comfort, and adjustability - all within a defined criteria of approved buoyancy provision and other water-born activity requirements. I prefer my Mustang inflatable when worn over a drysuit for truer freedom of motion, but the Astral buoyancy aid might be the ticket for summer paddling - though there again, the inflatable vest is so minimalistic, that there is never an occasion to be tempted to stow the aid under the bungee cords. I'm not sure about chaffing. I doubt any well designed product tested true by paddlers would be prone to chafe at the normal points of contact. Most of my chafe-inducing experiences were due to various buoyancy aids restricting my "undergarments" (be they paddling jackets, etc). And in other news:: Hey - got my kayak up on some new "J" saddles finally, along with a Yakima easy loader which actually take the weight of the Nordkapp when extended without unduly flexing. I bought a small aluminum step ladder kept under the back seat for strap tightening. The kayak looks kinda weird with the kayak sitting on its edge atop my GMC Safari. I went with some no-name saddles, shoehorned on to the Yakima bars off the old Caravan, mounting them on the 4" outboard overhang section of the bar. Now there's room for the whole fam damly to put kayaks across the rest of the roof racks. My two daughters were waiting in the van for me the other day, behind smoke glass windows. A guy was looking at my kayak up-close, unaware he was being observed by the two girls. My daughters reported he was muttering to himself, trying to figure out what all the accessories were and what the functionality was for all the modifications I've done. And they say cedar strip kayaks garner all the attention. Well, the old Nordkapp looked fairly cool with snow piled high on the leading edge recently, then subsequently cooler with icicles dangling down the underside later on after the big freeze ended. Unfortunately didn't get out paddling - split a finger wide open on the tablesaw - again. Was using push sticks - just absent mindly shoved my free hand into the blade after pushing some cove molding across the blade at 45 degrees. Duh.Was hoping to get one more snow paddle in before heart surgery. Doug *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:43 PDT