Easy pool noodle installation

[Dale L]

This might seem like a no-brainer to some but it worked so well for me that I thought I'd put it out there.  Might help someone.

After a cracked hull incident I decided to put noodles in any yak I owned,

I just got a new one and was thinking of the easiest way to put them in and have stay where I wanted them, and still be able to easily remove and replace as needed. I ended up making 13ft noodles, they slde in thru the front hatch and down the side of yak behind the scuppers. their length holds them in place out of the way and makes it really easy to remove as necessary.   

Here's some pics of how to make a 10ft out of 2 fives, from there you can make them an length you want, I used 1/2 pvc in 8 inch lenghts as connectors.

[yester]

Thanks Dale! 

[shasta_steve]

Ok I know this has been talked about a lot but has the group come to a consensus on how many pool noodles we should be putting in our hulls.   I am trying to get my Outback ready for the ocean.   I was in Walmart the other day and they had them on clearance for a dollar a pop for the monster ones.  I bought the last 8 they had.   I put 5 in my hull and I think that should be good but there seems to be many different opinions. 

Thanks

Steve

[BillS]

I need to find that walmart!  I picked a few up the other day and they were still 4 bucks each.  I should check again  :smt004today.

[PISCEAN]

that's a huge noodle!

[BigGabe]

I went by a pool shop before MBK and bought them for $1.97 each. They're a bit smaller in diameter than the Walmart ones, but for the price they're perfect.

[Eric B]

Those $2 add up...  next thing you know you coulda bought one of these:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/55603?pi=930407&qs=3012739-Google_Base&subrnd=0 

Not to discourage anyone from stuffing their hulls with pool noodles, but if I had to do it over this is the route I would have taken.

[PISCEAN]

Those $2 add up...  next thing you know you coulda bought one of these:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/55603?pi=930407&qs=3012739-Google_Base&subrnd=0 

Not to discourage anyone from stuffing their hulls with pool noodles, but if I had to do it over this is the route I would have taken.

That's what I picked up earlier this season, stern & bow. I'd still like to put a few noodles in for the "noodlebag combo", but the flaot bags work great so far.

[piski]

That's what I picked up earlier this season, stern & bow. I'd still like to put a few noodles in for the "noodlebag combo", but the flaot bags work great so far.

Now that you mention it, I'm thinking an ideal combo would be these long noodles (like Dale put together) along the sides and a float bag at bow & stern.

[finaegelin]

I love the install method! Gotta try it.

I calculated that for each standard noodle, about 10 pounds of water was displaced. So if you want your yak to be able to float 100 pounds, you need 10 noodles. Clearly that won't hold me, so I would still have to pump. The concept of 25 noodles in my boat was not gonna happen, both for storage space and cost.

I've jammed in 10, mostly bow and as far back as I can jam 'em. Gotta try the long noodle approach, tho.

Andy

[shasta_steve]

Funny I was doing the same calculation today with my pool noodles and came up with about 17.5 pounds of water being displaced.  They are the larger ones.  I don’t really think it is all that necessary to have enough to hold up all of our weight.   I am pretty sure if you balance the noodles out front and back you would still be able to get the yak back in if it were flooded.   A class 3 life vest only holds up about 16 pounds.   

The bags look like a good idea but do they take up all the space in your hatches?  If you only had one it looks like the kayak might not paddle very well if you flooded it.  One thing I do like about the noodles is I can put two folded up in the back, two folded up in the front (I only put one up front so far) and one on each side of the seat.  I still have space to put things in my hatches. 

[Eric B]

You're not going to paddle a kayak if it's flooded.

The idea is to keep it afloat so water can be pumped out, or at least keep it on the surface in the even of a catastrophic failure.

[Tigerfish]

Check out your local .99 cent or dollar store for noodles . Thats where I got mine ...

[Sailfish]

Those $2 add up...  next thing you know you coulda bought one of these:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/55603?pi=930407&qs=3012739-Google_Base&subrnd=0 

Not to discourage anyone from stuffing their hulls with pool noodles, but if I had to do it over this is the route I would have taken.

I put 3 of those in my Raptor.

[RHYAK]

Those $2 add up...  next thing you know you coulda bought one of these:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/55603?pi=930407&qs=3012739-Google_Base&subrnd=0 

Not to discourage anyone from stuffing their hulls with pool noodles, but if I had to do it over this is the route I would have taken.

Indeed those would help the bow and stern but having the noodles down the side of the yak to take up the space and displace the water also helps.

I really like erics idea of food saving the noodles not only do you get a larger noodle that cant hold water and they dry quick some air will be in the middle of the noodles depending on if you just sealed and did not vaccuum the noodles A ballon pretty much on the sides and out of the way.