Many kayaks carry labels that warn users that kayaking can be dangerous. How does safety play a role in the design and manufacture of your kayaks?

All of our kayaks have warning labels. We believe in redundant flotation: All of our kayaks have built-in sponsons along the sides. We have also pioneered the use of good fitting sea socks, which greatly limit the amount of water getting into the kayak after a capsize. Available float bags offer a third level of flotation. (They’re standard with the Khatsalano.) We feel that most people benefit from the flex that our boats have in heavy seas. They often tell us that the boat "takes care of them". We encourage our customers to learn about safety on the water and to take lessons about safety.

--Doug Simpson, Feathercraft
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We build our kayaks with bulkheads to provide flotation in case one section (usually the cockpit) becomes swamped. We have a variety of kayak designs for different conditions and ability levels. Still, it comes down to common sense. If an inexperienced paddler takes a kayak into conditions that are beyond their ability level, or if they take a kayak designed for calmer conditions into rough water, they are inviting trouble. That's why we have warning labels. Even then, you'll sometimes see experienced paddlers get into trouble if they push the envelope in what is possible to paddle. See "The Swim" under News / Greg’s blog on the Epic Kayaks web site. Ultimately it's up to the individual to assess the risk they are willing to take.

--Greg Barton, Epic Kayaks
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Since our market is primarily long-distance touring paddlers, it's common to find full bulkheads fore and aft securing positive buoyancy. Beyond that, we look for the ability to quickly release the skirt and exit the boat should an underwater exit be necessary. We also maintain a very clean and uncluttered cockpit layout, thereby minimizing latches and buckles that can cut and grab on a quick underwater exit. But it's impossible to make a kayak inherently safe and still remain completely useful. The best approach to safety is to train the paddler as to the limits of their skills and to read the weather and conditions. We encourage all customers to pursue proper paddlesports training and invest in the equipment beyond the boat associated with safe ocean kayaking.

--Jim Koutros, Seda Kayaks
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Kayak safety is extremely important. Safety equipment, kayak safety classes, and good judgment are all required. My kayaks are designed to handle wind and waves without the aid of mechanical devices such as rudders or skegs that can be bent or broken and fail. Good flotation and a cockpit design that securely holds a spray skirt are a must. The two most important elements are a boat that behaves well and good judgment.

--John Lockwood, Pygmy Boats
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Great point! My belief is that 90 percent of the people do not even read the yellow warning label telling you to be cautious. The manufacture is ultimately responsible to provide a predictable and safe platform to each kayaker no matter what length of kayak he or she chooses. For instance, why make a sea kayak with less than two bulkheads? Is this safe? NO. This rationale is why I believe that our 12.10 is a prime example of what a price-conscious kayak should be- it has two bulkheads, two hatches, sliding seat for trim and fit, hard-chined to learn edge turns, rockered and rounded for easy rolling, thigh braces that fit, expedition bungee configuration, paddle-float rescue straps, cold finger dimples for the bungees, and a full hanger of hi visibility safety rope that is loose enough to get gloved hands around if you ever end up out of your boat.

--Mark Hall, Delta Kayaks
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Safety is obviously hugely important to us, as we believe it is to most manufacturers. This is an industry full of excellent people who genuinely love kayaking and wish to see others enjoying the sport. Things like solid outfitting, secure bulkheads, perimeter lines, durable construction, ease of exit/entry, are all important, and tested. Sometimes this focus can hurt you from a shelf appeal standpoint because function is not always flashy. Still, we will always default to durability, function and field serviceability. For example, our composite seam is the toughest in the industry with tongue and groove, bonded and taped construction, and our kink-free exotic alloy skeg wire won’t let you down. Our rudder can be field repaired and even re-strung with parachute cord. These innovations are all about safety and durability, even though they cost us a bit more.

--Murray Hamilton, Johnson Outdoors
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Sea kayaking like any activity on the ocean is a risky pastime. Most of my designs are built by do-it-yourself craftsmen in basements and garages. I don't have the opportunity to attach a label to their finished kayak. The builder needs to take responsibility at every step of the process, from protecting themselves from flying saw dust to choosing the conditions they will go paddling in. I inform builders of the potential risks, provide the information required to make a sound judgment and then hope that they will be honest with themselves when they make decisions.

--Nick Schade, Guillemot Kayaks
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We incorporate a number of design details: sealed bulkheads that section the kayak into watertight compartments, a bulkhead positioned immediately behind the seat so the cockpit may be drained completely by raising only the bow, a compass recess to hold and protect a compass, “failsafe” foot-braces that allow easy release of feet, and perimeter lines that permit a swimmer to easily retain hold of a kayak while moving around it without the lines becoming slack enough for possible entrapment. These elements are all considered industry standards now, but they’ve been design features of my kayaks since the 1970’s for both practical and safety reasons. The day-hatch for secure storage of loose items you need accessible while seated in the cockpit, (instead of having to store them inside the cockpit or on deck) has been a standard feature in all my kayaks from around 1990 onward. We offer options such as a front bulkhead tailored to leg length (reducing cockpit volume that could fill with water), and straps for securing a paddle for paddle-float self-rescue.

--Nigel Foster, Nigel Foster Designs
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Our boats carry the label urging paddlers to know what they are doing before embarking. We also highly recommend that the paddler know his or her health status, and that they train, prepare and use lots of flotation devices. The role of safety in the design and manufacture of the boat is obviously paramount and not taken lightly, and we make our kayaks stronger than they need to be for this reason. Experience also helps in knowing what will hold up, and we have had a lot of that in our 74 year history.

--Phil Cotton, Folbot
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What is the most noteworthy achievement associated with any of your sea kayaks?

We are proud that our kayaks are used on trips and expeditions, large and small, all over the world. Our most noteworthy achievement? Perhaps just the satisfaction that people experience paddling in natural environments. Those of us who are lucky enough to experience this want to preserve it.
Possibly a noteworthy achievement is being a small, privately owned company surviving in an ever changing global market place, able to shrink and expand with economic downs & ups. Being in business after thirty years can be called an achievement.

--Doug Simpson, Feathercraft
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Wener Stoltz is currently on an 18 month trip from the UK to South Africa in our Epic 18X Sport. He's raising funds to fight AIDS in South Africa. Previously he completed a solo circumnavigation of Ireland using the Epic Endurance 18. You can read about him at www.k4a.co.za

--Greg Barton, Epic Kayaks
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We've been independently manufacturing them for almost 40 years. That stands as a testament to our performance, quality, and workmanship.

--Jim Koutros, Seda Kayaks
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It’s noteworthy that I was the first North American kayak manufacturer to produce computer designed CAD/CAM sea kayaks. But clearly, for me, being picked by Sea Kayaker magazine’s readers as producing the best kit boat on the market is an achievement that is hard to top.

--John Lockwood, Pygmy Boats
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I guess I could talk about the 18.5 and how much dry storage it has, and in the hands of several west coast guides we enjoy monthly happy comments about how predictable and load worthy it is.
Given that it is the largest and longest thermoformed kayak in the industry we understand the load it handles!
Another note of recognition goes to the 12.10, 14.5 and 15.5, which after only 4 months of production we accepted a preseason order from REI.
Following an incredible spring and summer of Delta models having a high sell through over and over, the REI buyers were pleased to realize that they were justified in placing faith in these models from such a young company.

--Mark Hall, Delta Kayaks
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There have been many, but probably the most famous is Ed Gillet’s crossing of the Pacific Ocean in a Tofino double. Our products have been used on many extended expeditions world wide, adventure races, etc. While that’s flattering, it’s also rewarding to see our products in use everyday by everyday folk. It’s fun to be in some remote part of the globe and see Ocean Kayaks all over the place, or see some old Necky Arluk on a beach in remote BC! Our products are a conduit between people and the natural world, and that makes what we do rewarding.

--Murray Hamilton, Johnson Outdoors
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It actually has little to do with kayaking. One of my hand-built wooden kayaks was accepted for the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. What is really more gratifying for me however, is the pleasure I see when people are paddling a boat they built themselves from a set of my plans.

--Nick Schade, Guillemot Kayaks
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Probably that they have been produced continuously since 1933. We must be doing something right. More recently, we had a customer who sold his house in Texas, bought a Greenland II and paddled it through the Gulf, the Florida Keys, and up the coast to Maine without need of repair.

--Phil Cotton, Folbot
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