After your common sense and conditioning, a PFD seems like the number one piece of safety equipment that is necessary for being a kayak fisherman. Since the kayak, at least mine, is a single person watercraft, it falls to the operator to ensure their own safety. The kayak isn’t going to throw me a life ring or jump in and try and save me if I go over. And from what I understand, flipping your kayak or getting knocked off (called a “Huli,” which evidently is based on “huli maka flip,” Hawaiian pidgen for falling over or making and ass of one’s self) happens. If you know it is a real risk, then you prepare for it. Huli maka flip on land, and you just embarrass yourself. Huli in water over your head, or in the surf, and you have a host of other problems
So, what PFD to choose? Since I am a noob at this, I asked my friendly sales people to help me narrow down the decision making process – by pointing me in the direction of vests designed for SOT kayakers or kayak fisherman. My love of pockets, webbing and Fastex buckles naturally had me gravitating towards vests designed for rescue personnel. “OOOOH, look at all of those pockets and zippers and attachment points!” I was saying to myself. And was quickly, and thankfully, steered away from them. Not that I wouldn’t love to have a Rescue PFD, but to be perfectly honest, I absolutely don’t need it. And part of this whole kayak buying business is about defining my needs vs. my wants (of course, buying a kayak is totally unnecessary, but hey…). Another great source of inspiration comes from my brief experience using an SOT for a couple of days in a very friendly lake a few summers ago, as well as hoisting myself out of many a pool without using the ladder.
My choices boiled down to the Astral V8 or the Stohlquist Fisherman. Both have about the same price point, and both come in a drab green color. Which I like. Perhaps not the best choice as far as visibility goes when the CG is out looking for you, but it fits my fashion sensibilities and reflects less in strong sunlight. Which is something I’m not sure very many people think about when they purchase a brilliant yellow or orange safety vest – especially for fishing. Quite a bit of what you do depends on what you can see, and if your clothing is highly reflective, it may cut down on what you can see.
Those of you who really know me, and may know a little bit about PFDs already, may be asking why I didn’t choose an inflatable vest? You know, the HSLD types that inflate using a CO2 cartridge. As cool as those are, not for me. You see, falling into the water is just the start of the problems. Falling into the water, possibly surrounded by various lines, cords, and et cetera, is an added risk, you know, of getting tangled. Underwater. Potentially in rough seas. Pulling a rip cord while possibly fighting lines, underwater, with the risk of getting hit in the head by a kayak, is just one more thing that can go wrong. There are vests with pressure triggers, but again, that's just asking for trouble. A passive floatation vest will float you even if you are unconscious. Which you hopefully aren’t. The other down side to inflatables is that they are limited use items. Fall in, need it, pop! Get home, and then what? Buy a new cartridge, dry and repack the vest. One more step.
The Stolhquist is loaded with pockets specifically laid out for fisherman. Basically it seems like a fishing vest plus flotation. Which is awesome. External surface of the pockets are smooth faced, there are two lash points on the chest, a rod holder, and the pocket covers, when fully unzipped, act as a rigid workshelf. One of the coolest vests that I have seen, and very well thought out. I mean, you have all of the pocket joy available for little fiddly bits, with an ergonomic layout. It’s like this vest was made for me, right?
Not quite. I actually bought the Astral V8. Two relatively useless pockets – an open top chest slot pocket on the left side and a snap closed mesh pocket on the lower right hand side. One lash point on the right chest. Totally slick faced, vented body, and very low profile.
Most of you who know me in my day to day know that I am almost never without a knife or three, two or more flashlights, and various other little bits of gadgety goodness. Heck, when I saw the Reef sandals with the built in bottle opener, the gadget fiend part of me just about wet myself. I go by the mantra that one=zero, and two=one. Expect failure at the least convenient moment. Murphy’s law and all that.
“So why,” you ask, “did you buy a PFD that has virtually no ergonomic storage?” Great question, and it comes down to setting limitations and having a clearly defined purpose. My PFD is first and foremost a personal safety item, and secondly a handy space to cover with gadgets and stuff. With that clearly in mind, I made the purchase. The V8 is slick faced. Zero pockets protrude from the front of the vest – the mesh pocket on the right is off to the side, and I wouldn’t really use it for much more than keeping a bottle of sunblock kind of handy. So there is little to snag on the side of a boat or kayak if you do have to make a re-entry while wearing it. The other thing that I have learned while fishing and carrying groceries is that, if I have a pocket with something in it that I need right now, the hand that can reach is occupied. So pockets, while wondrous creations that allow us to carry all kinds of goodies, are sort of a hindrance in this situation. And I already have a fishing vest.
The lack of pockets brings me to the next issue. Without convenient lash points or pockets, how can I carry all of the useful bits and pieces? The short answer is, “streamline.” I do not need super redundancy on the PFD. I will ideally be sitting on a kayak with plenty of storage space. I “need” the minimal gear on the PFD to remain safe in the water, and to have that gear immediately available while in the water. This equipment is, in order of importance to me
1. Knife - Having “only” one lash point for a knife on the vest is desirable. The knife that I choose for that attachment has to be the correct one. I am right handed, so the mounting option is the correct one for my handedness, and is in a location where I can reach it with my off hand as well. If you take a look at the picture, I have mounted the knife on the left shoulder strap, altogether foregoing the lashpoint.
2. Emergency strobe - The emergency strobe is not a flashlight. It is an emergency strobe. The PFD is such that if I am conscious and in the water and have to activate the strobe, it needs to be on the vest, and ideally on the highest point of the vest – so that it is visible from as many angles as possible. The V8 has nylon webbing for shoulder straps – this webbing is an ideal attachment point for a clip on strobe beacon. Check out high on the left shoulder strap, and you will see a Glo-Toob beacon light. Loads of settings, right now it is on slow strobe.
3. Whistle – Simple. Pea-less design attached to a lanyard just long enough to reach the mouth. Check out the orange thing on the right shoulder strap.
4. Reflector – this is going to be a signal mirror. Strobes are great at night, but mirrors you can point at search vehicles. Since mirrors are flat, this can fit in the pocket on the vest. You can just make it out on the lower right pocket.
5. VHF radio – this is not a “necessary” piece of survival gear, but is a mighty good thing to have on hand - just a hair off of "necessary". Once again, there are shoulder straps on the V8, and they have webbing keeper loops built in. These also happen to be sized right for radio clips, or more securely, a radio pouch. Right shoulder, I threaded a Tactical Tailor Small radio pouch over the adjustment straps. My Rino 530 was the stand-in for the VHF in this pic.
So there you have it. My minimal piece of survival gear, minimized. What you need, where you need it. And, to satisfy my super-redundancy wants, there are other ways of carrying gear separate from the vest entirely.
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