>I have been pondering the most safety-conscious way to arrange my gear in >my kayak. Currently, I have a length of cord attached to each item. The >cord has a clip on the end which is attached to the kayak. With a scenario >like this, gear cannot be lost unless it is unclipped. The challenge with >this is that if one gets separated from their kayak, they are doomed. > > Perhaps one should tie themselves to the kayak? It seems to me that, > although this would work, it presents an entanglement risk. Thoughts? For deck gear, net bags work best. They drain easily, withstand to a certain degree the stress of wave and surf - unlike solid-sided deck bags. Pockets in your PDF are secure places for small stuff and if a lanyard is required, stows safely with the attached item in the pocket. As for a bailout bag, that has long been a paddler's dilemma. Hip bags interfere with seating and skirts but are attached to you; front deck bags are usually connected by a lanyard - which we are trying to avoid, and are not connected to you; a rear deck mounted bail-out bag might be a safer location but is still not attached directly to you; a big rear PDF pocket might be a solution for some paddlers - with the attendant issues of buoyancy loss and regulation infringement; a bailout bag in the cockpit is effective use of space but there are issues with entanglement at accessing after a bail-out. So, there are no perfect solutions. Tethering yourself to your kayak is a solution, is done by a number of paddlers, can be safe, but should be done infrequently and for certain situations only. For every person that asks me about tethering options and risks, I ask them why they want to tether themselves in the first place and then I ask them what amount of practice they have done in rough water under controlled circumstances to assess their ability to bail out after an unexpected capsize/failed roll, etc., while keeping connected to their paddle and boat. If you have not done some real work in this area, I really don't want to foster tethering solutions as they are more of a backup to other what-should-be core skills. Feathercraft have a nice personal tether line they sell. I prefer a home made system and rarely use it. For myself, I've come to realize that I can only keep so much gear on my person. So, my kayak is my life boat. Hence, the important roll of a person-to-boat tether at certain times. If you do go in the water and do loose your kayak, depending on remoteness of incident and immediate help availability, I weigh heavily the option of good, waterproof communication being on my person. To that end, I have purchased a sub-compact VHF. I shall wait a little longer for the PLB, etc, to get more compact and PFD stowable. I'd consider the SPOT as a deck gear piece of equipment where the buttons are free of unintended pushing (as opposed to a PFD pocket, etc. I'd probably run an ultra-short lanyard. > > I recently purchased a SPOT, and it seems to me that this unit would also > be most effective if clipped to the kayak deck with the logo facing the > sky. One would turn it on when departing the dock. A single keypress > would activate the device, after which point you could forget about it. > One could put this device on their body, but since it works best when the > SPOT logo is facing the sky, you'd have to mount it on your helmet to be > effective. You could mount it on your shoulder, but there is no way to > know if your head is blocking Spot's view of the satelite. Thoughts? > Derek > > PS How do you press Spot's "911" button without removing your neoprene > gloves? The recessed button prevents false alarms, but..... Tough being a modern kayaker, isn't it? Where does my SPOT go, where do I get good signal, did my signal get through? Should I take my glove off and get my finger wet and cold or drown? :-) Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** 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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