Seeking advice on what to look for in PFD for male & female. We have folding kayaks and our past kayaking we haven't needed a PFD. Would like some info on style/brand/etc and what is ideal for touring. At the moment I'm looking @ a Stohlquist Motion or the Extrasport Retroglide Sabre - without access to a 'kayak outlet' here - it is a case of purchasing via the net, so I'd prefer to have some advice/comment.

I get what your saying about not having a 'kayak outlet' near ya. It's much easier to find the right PFD when you can try it on, just like a pair of pants. I'm a large Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) guy. I own a 14.5 foot Perception Carolina with a rudder system. It's a beautiful kayak, and the PFD that i bought for it is a STOHLQUIST aSEA. It's a 4 front buckle system, with 2 primary webbing tightening system, with dual front pockets, but the key thing is the back padding. Whats nice about it, is that the back floation padding only goes halfway down your back, which leaves plenty of room for your back to lay comfortablely on the seat, not on the PFD. If not that exact PFD, i would strongly look into ones that have the back padding that only comes halfway down your back. If you want to look at the STOHLQUIST aSEA just go to EMS.com and follow the map through till you find the PFD's.

Happy Paddling

I like Lotus PFDs especially the Sea Sherman. No ride up, even in larger double. The Extrasports just do not fit all that well and really ride up.

Forty2,
I don't have a brand to recommend, but I do recommend you buy one before your next trip. Don't go out without a PFD. EVER! It could ruin any further kayak trips.

When I shop for a new PFD fit is numer one. I look for a vest that is cut short enough that it won't be shoved up under my chin when sitting in my boat with the spray deck secured. A life jacket that isn't comfortable doesn't get worn as often as it should be.

From there features I like are the means of having the following attached to my vest.
1. Waterproof strobe light - attached high enough to be visible with me in the water.
2. Place to attach and store my knife and whistle
3. Storage for flares (small ones on PFD, large ones in boat)
4. Attachment point for my VHF radio.

If the PFD doesn't come with retroreflective material on the shoulders I add it. We once had a safety report in which the Coast Guard helicopter located the boats and paddles at night because they were white but couldn't find the paddlers till daylight. Checking core temperatures it was determined they had been alive when the helicopter found the boats but they were invisible. That one accident was certainly enough to get me to change my visibility at night.

I spend time touring and fishing in a sit-in sea kayak. There are 2 items that I find indispensible: an NRS Chinook PDF and a custom Wildwasser spray skirt.
I never kayak without my PDF! The Chinook PDF is ideal for many reasons, some of them are:

1. The Chinook fits just right for safety, active paddling and using a spray skirt. All the right straps are there to adjust for a safe & comfortable fit. The back floatation is very high and does not interfere with the spray skirt tunnel or ride up on the seat back, this trait is even more important in an SOT kayak because they often have very high seat backs which push the PDF shoulders up around your ears.

2. Sides and arm holes do not restrict movement for paddling, bracing, fishing or Eskimo rolls.

3. There are loads of different kinds of pockets (8 total) to store everything from leaders, license, signal mirrors and other flat items to small compartment boxes of lures, hooks, sinkers etc. I find that 8 small pockets are better than several larger ones to tailor the choice of tackle that I carry to a specific kind of fishing. The larger bottom pockets can hold small flares and a small VHF radio.

4. There is a Velcro attached fly patch over the right top pocket to store flies. I have several fly patches each with different kinds of flies to match a hatch so I can quickly switch out my selection of flies.

5. There are several tabs, loops and D rings to attach various odds & ends. A Velcro rod holder is located over the right top pocket to quickly secure your rod while you do something else with your hands (like make a course correction or take a picture).

As full featured PDFs go, the Chinook is very inexpensive at $75.00. The Chinook lacks reflective tape, so you might want to add some at the shoulder tops.

My Wildwasser spray skirt is an all neoprene rand seal skirt designed for a sea kayak but built like a whitewater skirt. The special feature is a water-tight zipper in the front deck top that gives me access to the cockpit interior without popping the skirt seal. I can reach into the cockpit to retrieve water bottles, live bait a VHF radio or other items that are stored out of the way. If I take on water I can insert a hand pump but still keep the deck sealed (in rough conditions you can take on water faster than you can pump it out if your skirt is popped) . I tried slipping the pump down the tunnel but really had fight an contort to get pump bottom where the water was. If it gets too warm below deck, I open the zipper to allow for some cool air circulation. High end all neoprene rand sealed spray skits cost more than basic “one size fits all” skirts but the higher level of safety and performance they provide is well worth the extra money. I think you are better off to purchase the right item the first time rather than to try and save a few dollars on a cheap item only to purchase the better one latter.

After kayaking for a few years now and finding out what I do and don’t need, I just bought a new PFD for the up-coming season. After lots of research the PFD I chose is the Kokatat Bahia Tour (www.kokatat.com/product_detail.asp?code=bht).
This PFD has just about everything I needed in a life jacket;
Two big pockets for things you need to carry when out on the water i.e. flairs, whistle, mirror, food, and so on.
An electronics pocket for a VHF radio or GPS if you don’t carry a radio.
Front and back lash tabs for knife and strobe.
Reflective tape so you can be seen at night.
It has the high back so you can sit comfortably in your kayak and nice wide open arm holes so you have ample freedom of movement.
Multiple shoulder and side adjustment straps so you can fit it perfectly to your body.
And finally not a bad price, I found it for $99 on LLBean’s web site.
This jacket has it all and I’m very happy with it.