Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 06:32:29 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent Topics

[Today at 05:07:22 AM]

[March 27, 2024, 10:53:01 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 08:00:55 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 07:25:42 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 07:05:39 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 04:18:57 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 12:35:34 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 11:18:23 AM]

[March 26, 2024, 07:45:07 PM]

[March 26, 2024, 06:19:03 PM]

[March 26, 2024, 05:47:06 PM]

[March 25, 2024, 07:10:08 PM]

[March 25, 2024, 03:17:35 PM]

Support NCKA

Support the site by making a donation.

Topic: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?  (Read 1417 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

eastonkayaker

  • Salmon
  • ***
  • View Profile
  • Date Registered: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 663
This happened this morning in MD, I have been thinking about inflatable. Anyone have experience in cold weather?

From Maryland Natural Resources Police

An Anne Arundel County man was rescued Thursday morning from the ice-clogged Patapsco River as he clung to his overturned kayak.

Randall Heath, 46, of Pasadena fell from his boat while duck hunting about a quarter-mile offshore. His life jacket did not inflate and could not get back inside.

An officer patrolling nearby heard the 911 call for help and launched a patrol boat from Stoney Creek at about 10:45. Racing at top speed and picking his way through the ice floes, some six-inches thick, the officer reached the scene in 15 minutes.

“I didn’t see anything. It was a field of ice,” Officer Antonio Colvin said. For 10 minutes, he methodically searched the area until a firefighter on shore guided him by phone to the victim.

Colvin came alongside the nearly submerged kayak, where Heath was trying desperately to stay afloat. The officer maneuvered the victim to the stern of the patrol boat and tied a rope to his belt to keep him from sinking. From there, he wrestled Heath aboard.

"It was amazingly difficult to get him in," Colvin said. "Luckily, the ice quickly reformed around my hull and gave me a nice, steady, level playing field to get him in."

Meanwhile, Anne Arundel County firefighters in survival suits launched a dinghy and began rowing to the scene. Colvin picked them up and they began reviving Heath, who was shivering uncontrollably and unable to speak. The patrol boat fought its way through the ice to the marina at Celebrations on the Bay, where emergency medical technicians were waiting.

Heath was taken to Baltimore-Washington Medical Center for evaluation and further treatment of hypothermia and a broken hand.


Hojoman

  • Manatee
  • *****
  • View Profile
  • Location: Fremont, CA
  • Date Registered: Feb 2007
  • Posts: 32187
Probably the last time he uses an inflatable PFD.


eastonkayaker

  • Salmon
  • ***
  • View Profile
  • Date Registered: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 663
Probably the last time he uses an inflatable PFD.

I asked some of my friends on FB who live back there, I was told that some inflatable PFD cannisters freeze up in cold weather, not worth the risk, that guy is fortunate they got to him and to the hospital.


NowhereMan

  • Manatee
  • *****
  • 44.5"/38.5#
  • View Profile YouTube Channel
  • Location: Lexington Hills (Santa Clara County)
  • Date Registered: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 11259
Never used an inflatable but always assumed that you could manually inflate one if it failed to self-inflate...
Born in Arizona
Moved to Babylonia
Got a condo made of stone-a


E Kayaker

  • Sea Lion
  • ****
  • View Profile
  • Location: Vacaville
  • Date Registered: Sep 2010
  • Posts: 4429
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=42846.msg470404#msg470404

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.  ~John Buchan


Archie Marx

  • AOTY Committee
  • *
  • Hobie Revo 13 & 16
  • View Profile kayakcity.com
  • Location: Auburn
  • Date Registered: Dec 2008
  • Posts: 5260
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.

I think you’re right. The way-too-expensive inflatable pfds that I wear for work have a big warning label: Do not use at or below freezing temps.
1st - 2013 Angler of the Year- All time high score
1st - 2016 Angler of the Year
1st - 2016 CCKF AOTY - All time high score


piski

  • Sea Lion
  • ****
  • View Profile
  • Location: Dolores Lagoon, SF
  • Date Registered: Jan 2008
  • Posts: 3502
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.

I think you’re right. The way-too-expensive inflatable pfds that I wear for work have a big warning label: Do not use at or below freezing temps.

Who reads warning labels on life-saving equipment?
Catch & Repeat


NowhereMan

  • Manatee
  • *****
  • 44.5"/38.5#
  • View Profile YouTube Channel
  • Location: Lexington Hills (Santa Clara County)
  • Date Registered: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 11259
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.

I think you’re right. The way-too-expensive inflatable pfds that I wear for work have a big warning label: Do not use at or below freezing temps.

Who reads warning labels on life-saving equipment?

The same people who read the end user license agreement (EULA) when installing software...
Born in Arizona
Moved to Babylonia
Got a condo made of stone-a