Good reading for a newbie above. Not sure if I will carry everything I read on me. Biggest problem is where to put my VHF. No clip on the back of my jacket. Any tips or jacket recommendations? Dealer said Kokatat has a new one coming which is good.

I guess I'm a minimalist, because I carry nothing in my pfd.

DogPaddle,
My VHF is too big to fit into a pocket on my life jacket. To get around that I've used a climbing locking carabiner over one shoulder strap with my vhf clipped in on a very short tether and tucked inside my vest. Not always as comfortable as I'd like but it seems to work.
Michael

bought a new vest with pocket for VHF but it is so tight I can't hardly get the VHF out of it. Kokatat should have made the sides elastic for some stretch.

Another option for your VHF is clip it to a small loop of webbing attached to shoulder strap as shown in the photo. I girth-hitch the wrist loop to the shoulder strap as well. It's within earshot and you can reach up and hit the talk button without taking it off the strap which is nice when conditions don't encourage fiddling with pockets.

thanks I'll have to check that on my jacket. I can also get something sewn on the jacket if need be. I keep it on my deck now with a leash. As I get more skills this year I will venture into rougher water. Then I will definately want it on my body in case I get separated from the boat. Thanks.

For paddling in anything except the most sheltered/populated conditions or area, I think a personal locator beacon with GPS is the single most important thing one could possibly carry.

With the push of a single button, your beacon will notify Langley Airforce Base of your precise location and that you need an immediate rescue (the GPS locator elimintes the "search"). They will then be sure that the appropriate rescue team is activated pronto. The technology is extremely reliable and robust, and has been used successfully for decades for troubled ships and downed planes.

You can get one now from McMurdo for $250 (or less) which ways only 5 ounces and is absurdly compact. It is completely waterproof; however, it does not float, so be sure to keep it tethered. There are others that do float.

I can think of no good reason why one would not carry one of these at all times. You've already invested big bucks in the rest of your gear...how much is your life worth? By carrying it on your person, you could still summon a rescue if you became separated from your boat.

Seriously...just buy one.

I would add only one comment to Illusion's remarks about paddling with a Personal Locator Beacon: all such sea kayakers should plan their trips, and make their paddling decisions, as if their beacons were broken. As Doctor Johnson remarked many years ago, nothing so wonderfully concentrates a man's mind as the prospect of being hanged in the morning. Similarly, edge-seeking kayakers should maintain a healthy skepticism about the reliability of the PLB unit, and, more importantly, of its unintended enabling of bad decisions on the water.

Great advice by Strange Magic.

Having safety gear is a great set-up for making one less cautious in ones paddling.

Yet that applies to ALL safety items/issues. They are BACK-UPS. That includes any hardware you carry, and includes anyone you may be paddling with.

Prepare these back-ups carefully; paddle as if you had none.

Nevertheless, I still believe the single most-likely-to-save-your-life item you could carry in your PFD or kayak is a gps-equipped PLB. (The single most likely item to save you for most is appropriate cold-water-immersion clothing...but that's a separate matter). This is not theoretical...there are hundreds of lives which have been saved by them.

The chance of the unit itself failing to operate is exceptionally low; these have far higher construction quality that typical electronics. The more important qualifier is the time it may take for help to arrive. There was an illustrating case last year on Lake Superior in the fall (water temps likely 50 degrees). A couple wet exited their double and failed to self-rescue. They activated their PLB, and the rescue operation was promptly set in motion. Nevertheless, the closest rescue vehicle took three hours to arrive. If you're bobbing around in rough, cold water, that's quite a long time...likely far too long if you're not dressed for such an occasion. Still, they were rescued. Without the beacon, they almost surely would have perished.

So one definitely has to consider delays in the arrival of rescue due to remote location and/or prohibitive weather. Still, there's nothing else that is more reliable in summoning life-saving assistance.

If you study the course of actual survival scenarios, you will see one other clear benefit of having such a device: other than cold-water shock, the thing which is most likely to quickly do you in is panic. The panic of being in a life-threatening situation. Simply the fact of knowing help is on the way will keep many from crossing over into that debilitating panic.

So do yourself and your loved ones a favor: carry one. Just keep StrangeMagics advice in the forefront of your mind, and do not paddle in conditions in which you think you might need to use it.

just got this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTxR8oLoSf8

great light long life with batteries on 4 LED's Four lights are bright. I wore it one night and passed 5 boats and 4 commented on the light I put it in my Kokatat hat.

So, Dog.... I went to the navilight website and it wouldn't come up and was Norwegian anyway. Where did you get yours?

S

I'd add that new VHF radios like the Standard Horizon HX851 have DSC built in--you can press a button and summon the cavalry in an instant. Having a GPS-based locator and VHX radio all in one box is a wonderful technical advance.

ebay for 58 USD few other kayak suppliers have them for similar price. try google

OPEN DURING EMERGENCY

anyone try one or two flaps with pockets opening as a book page outward from sternum ?

A FOLD OUT PFD is less commercial than individual or DIY as thicker tools as the VHF would pocket on the inside flap with the adjacent outer flapped tool, Cliff bars ? folding over near the center left or right side, thin tools as mirror pocketed at margins for easy folding to perimeter Velcro.

The VHF could come out thru a swinging door in an outer flap or a top cupped out, enough room for VHF and H20 bag.

Add pockets on the outer outside folder and we have 2.4X the usual space.

Cut cardboard templates of the current pfd, lay out your tools and see flap !