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What goes in/on your PFD?

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I took a WW class at Nantahala this past fall. The instructor spent quite a bit of time on pfds. He didn’t like mine because the back did not come down far enough to protect my back from rock collisions should I have to swim. I have noticed that many pdfs have the back cut high for yakker. Mine isn’t cut that high, but it is higher than the one he had me wear instead.

He also emphasized the knife attachment. His pfd had a narrow sheath at the bottom of the front, which closed with Velcro for a knife. I think I remember the point of not having the knife attached by a lash tab where it could catch on something.

In researching available pfds on the web, they seem to be either very basic recreational style with no gimcracks, or extremely elaborate ones with a welter of rescue equipment that would be overkill for me.

Now I have found this article:

What Should I Carry in my PFD?

Just take a look at the photo at the beginning of the article, and it looks like everything but the kitchen sink.

What do you wear and what do you carry attached to your pfd?
 
During the winter I wear mine the most. It has two small pockets. One will hold a whistle and the other holds my phone. I like wearing the short style like you are talking about. The longer style rubs a little more. If a race requires full time PFD during the summer generally means getting in to cool off if the opportunity arises. So no pockets to hold water or to hang on anything.
 
Whistle and light. Knife and other stuff sometimes, but whistle and light always.
 
Match safe, lanyard to a alox Swiss Army Farmer knife and a fire steel in the only pocket on my PFD, don’t like dangling stuff, so don’t have anything attached.
Had a friend capsize in the Yukon River, when he got out, he tried to open the blade on his folding knife. The silt from the glaciers had filled the space around the blade that he couldn’t open it. So, I carry a Puukko on my non-dominant side, for fast deployment for cutting rope entanglements or whatever. I’ve never needed it for anything except cutting up lunch fixings while boating, but…….
 
It really depends on the circumstances. I usually use an Astral Greenjacket PFD with a sizable zippered front pocket. In this pocket I would usually have at a minimum my car keys and I have a rescue knife attached to the outside of my PFD. I also have a whistle on short lanyard attached to the shoulder strap of the PFD but I tuck the whistle itself into the pocket of the PFD.
On a whitewater trip in which it might conceivably be necessary to set up a drag system to free a pinned boat I will have three mini-pulleys, four aluminum carabiners, at least two eye-to-eye Prusik cords, one length of tubular 1" wide nylon webbing, and a small folding saw inside the pocket.
 
The silt from the glaciers had filled the space around the blade that he couldn’t open it
i believe that about the silt on the Yukon. Silt is so thick that you can't see a millimeter into the water, and it sounds like sandpaper scraping on the bottom of your canoe as you paddle through the water. My Yukon race pit crew wife was chatting with a First Nation guy while waiting for us to finish. He told her that first of all, locals don't get much opportunity to learn to swim in the cold waters. And when someone does fall in, the silt gets in their clothing and fills pockets and weighs them down in the fast current so much that they can't get out anyway.

Race rules mandate a number of required items to be carried on our person, as well as a separate emergency kit with longer term survival and medical gear. In the PFD is some kind of waterproof firestarter, a signal mirror, a small knife, a whistle, a plastic garbage bag, a mylar survival blanket or mini bivy, and a credit card plus $20 US and also $20CDN in cash.

I use the Kokotat "orbit" PFD because it has a pocket large enough to carry most of what I must have and is comfortable and nonrestrictive for all day hard paddling.
 
Big heavy duty garbage bag is real good idea. One of my favorite authors Jim Harrison wrote about keeping one in his back pocket while out walking. Big storm catches you, just open it up, step in, pull it up over your head and enjoy the storm.
 
Right now my PFD is bare bones. I have a whistle and that's about it. Most of my paddling of late has been local, day trips on the Susquehanna River. I do carry a phone, small first aid kit and other items in a dry bag but they are in the boat; not on me. For something more intense, I'd add a bit more "safety" to my PFD.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
The left pocket has my InReach, the left has a knife and whistle (and sometimes a headnet).

The instructor spent quite a bit of time on pfds. He didn’t like mine because the back did not come down far enough to protect my back from rock collisions should I have to swim.

Yeah mesh back pfd's are the latest trend, I suppose if you paddle in really hot temperatures they are ok but I don't like them and the lack of protection is the primary reason.



Addition: bic lighter in zip lock bag (I need to check it this year, it's been in there for a very long time)
 
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Knife, whistle, mylar blanket, small flashlight, fire starter. For a day paddle, also my car keys. I use an NRS Ninja which is low profile and not terribly well endowed with pockets. Sometimes I envy those "fishing" PFDs with copious pocket space, but I'm not sure I'd want to wear one all day in a summer race.
 
Camera in the left pocket and I USED to carry SPOT in the right but now I have an Inreach that doesn't fit in the PFD so it's just a camera.
But then I don't paddle in big water.
 
Yeah mesh back pfd's are the latest trend, I suppose if you paddle in really hot temperatures they are ok but I don't like them and the lack of protection is the primary reason.
What pfd do you use that has good back protection?
 
I've gone the full range from a bare bones horse collar one to a fishing PFD with every gadget made, each inventoried and cataloged in their own pocket, but over the years it's been stripped down to a few basic items in a decent tripping PFD- a spare swiss army knife, a whistle, a fire starter, bug juice (in a freezer baggie), and a few snacks. If I'm running WW I'll add a rescue knife (I really miss my Gerber shorty), and a couple of 8KN locking biners. For deep wilderness I add a skinner-type knife on my belt. BUT I also have a "ditch bag" hip belt with 1/2l of water, matches, a silnylon tarp, poncho, 6mm static rope (1500lb test), light, small 1st aid kit, a sierra cup with coffee fixin's and chicken soup base, and a FD meal. That bag is right under my seat for normal tripping and has a useless pocket on the back (too short for a map, and too fight for anything thicker) that I put a sheet of closed- cell foam in to make it buoyant. when it looks like the SHTF may happen, that go bag is strapped to my waist and pushed around behind me. Twice that bag has saved my butt, and other's multiple times- the tarp and poncho were used during a nasty un-forecasted storm when I was forced to spend the night on an island during a day trip, and another time when I ditched and required copious cups of soup base to remove the ice from my innards.... I can't count how many band aids for blisters or cuts I've handed out or how many cups of hot soup and snacks I've handed out to cold swimmers...
 
Knife, whistle, a few snack bars in pfd. I wear a fanny pack bailout bag with keys, phone, wallet etc. in waterproof case, basic compass...and whatever depending on the trip.
 
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Just a whistle, a small bug juice, and a lighter in one pocket on the vest, and a new Mylar blanket every year in the other pocket. I carry a folding lock back knife on my belt, and a fire starter kit in one cargo pocket, and my SPOT X in the other cargo pocket of my pants, another lighter and a small camera, all in HD zip locks also in my pants or shirt pocket.
While my trips are still somewhat remote, I don’t do white water and I sit out the wind for the most part.
 
I took a WW class at Nantahala

On a whitewater trip I would carry some rescue equipment that I don't on flat water trips. For example, I would carry 50' of rescue rope in a pocket that attaches to the back of two of of my PFD's and probably some carabiners. I wouldn't take that stuff on a flat water trip.

In a hot climate like Florida, I would put high value on comfort and coolness for a PFD and not be worried about rock protection. I bought a Kokatat hybrid PFD just for Florida and summer use elsewhere—that is, a PFD with only 8 lbs. of foam flotation that I can quickly inflate to 22 lbs. of total flotation with 10 puffs of air (or a CO2 cartridge that I don't use).

For flat water trips I want at least two large pockets. I now carry my phone and electronic car key in waterproof cases in the pockets . . .

PFD.jpg

. . . plus a whistle attached to the lanyard, and a folding rescue knife clipped inside the pocket on this particular PFD, which isn't my rescue PFD or my hybrid PFD. I used to carry a small waterproof camera in my pockets, but the phone now takes good enough pictures through the case.

When I was sea kayaking, I would also carry a VHF radio in or on my PFD, but I don't do that in a canoe on inland waters. On a trip in actual wilderness or out of cell phone range, I used to carry a PLB in my PFD, but I've been negligent in replacing the expensive battery for the PLB because I haven't taken a real wilderness trip in several years.

My first aid kit, change of clothes, compass, signal mirror, and some other things are in a small waterproof day bag I take on all trips.
 
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