no really, what about floatation foam in your kayak?

I was joking before about flotation foam, but maybe I'm serious now that I
found the link for my joke. 

bluekayak had that episode where his kayak was swamped. the kayaks that
did get hit by whitey sank.  If you get hit by a boat even if you dive off in
time, your yak is probably cracked. There you are with the hatch open, you
flip, you are swamped. etc.

So what about this flotation foam for the bow and extreme nose of your yak?

I saw the packing bags chuckE put in, but those could pop under the pressure
of water entering the hull. not to mention what teeth would do.

This foam would be pretty darn bullet proof, so to speak. it's for marine flotation
after all.

It says the 2lb per cubic foot foam floats 60lb per cubic foot. So to keep 240lbs
floating you only need 4 cubic feet of of this stuff in your yak, only 8lbs worth,
less than $40.

I figure I could stand the yak on its stern, pour the mixture into my center hatch,
let it run down the the stern and expand. Same with the bow, but there I have
the front hatch to make it easier. should still be left with plenty of rod storage
space etc. heck, you could have a flat foamy surface to put stuff on. with cutouts
for your gear...

it does say that it's best poured @ a temp of 75 to 80 F or higher, which is an issue.

I need you handy dudes like erik and scwafish to evaluate the silliness/effectiveness/cost
ratio matrix for me here.

Check it:

http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html

or maybe you can just show up somewhere and get your yak filled with foam? I don't know.

I think it is easier, cheaper, and generally better to throw a few pool noodles in there if you are really worried about it. The added foam is going to and a lot of weight with not a lot of benefit IMHO.

or maybe you can just show up somewhere and get your yak filled with foam? I don't know

I'm no expert on the matter but filling your yak with foam would add more weight on the yak. I agree with Bill =  a couple of pool noodles should do the trick.

well, the weight of the foam is clear: 2lbs per cubic foot.

and each cubic foot floats 60lbs.

So you need 8lbs of foam to float 240lbs of you and your yak.

the weight and bouyancy of the pool noodles needs to be quantified for
us to do more of an apples to apples here.

the foam might also stay at the bottom of your yak while the pool noodles
would float to the top if the yak gets swamped. Not sure about that one.
certainly if you filled the whole thing then just cut out the storage space
you wanted the foam would never move.

So I think it's definitely superior to pool noodles, but the noodles woud be
better than air-filled packing bags.

you can also buy buoyancy foam slabs instead of pool noodles, but the foam
seems like it's what you are supposed to use for this kind of thing.

Does anybody know the volume of a kayak like a scupper pro? I guess I can
estimate the volume, but I'm sure somebody else has done this exercise before.

During the summer I have pulled the hatches off my yak and filled her with water. I was able to sit on the yak, and paddle my mini sub just below the surface. This was in fresh water, so I imagine that it would float even more in the salt. I'll try to find the pictures. There were no air pockets. A couple of pool noodles would have kept the yak above the water line for sure.

-Brian

I think the pool noodles would be better, They can be taken out and the inside of the kayak can totaly dry out.
If you pour the foam I don't think it sticks to the plastic, so you might get water in places that don't dry out when in storage.
Maybe causing a mold, or a smell problem....    Plus if somebody or something is falls on the yak, it might dent the foam giving more room for water to hold up in during storage...   Thats why I changed my mind about that stuff...

Craig

the pool noodles would be a squeeze under the seat into the back of my scupper pro.
not sure they would fit and once stuffed in, they might not come out.

also, are they more dense than this foam? we need some real pool noodle materials
engineers to weigh in. they might weigh more, shift around and provide less flotation, which would suck(tm).

now, not being able to be a mini-sub is a clear drawback, however,  .  a check in
the 'con' column, thanks brian G!

wait, how about fill it totally with harder foam (4lb or more), then cut off the plastic and cover with kevlar/epoxy instead,  .
then carve out the foam where you want storage.  result: space-age one-of-a-kind yak with a proven hull shape!
unsinkable. I'd call it the 'titanic'  .

well, I might try the 2lb foam. I'd like to hear some reason to definitely not do it. right now I feel like sinking or swamping
is a concern if you get crazy with conditions and solo kayak fishing. the foam would put your kayak in a completely new
category of sea-worthiness.

we need some real pool noodle materials
engineers to weigh in.

Yea I knew something was missing on this site it's Pool Noodle Engineers.

Hey jmairey,

    I'm not familiar with the particular foam in the link you provided, but I have used canned insulation
foam around the house, and 2 part packageing foam in a shipping process.  The 2 part foam I'm familiar
with created enough heat thru chemical reaction to possibly soften the plastic hull,  add to that the
expanding nature of the foam and you may create deformities in your hull.  I understand there will be
an opened end for expansion,  but any shape the hull takes would adhere to and be backed by a solid
foam core.  I'm sure some,  if not all the kayak mfg's have considered foam as a flotation option.  There
may be an issue you don't want to relearn, or maybe mfg's don't want to add any weight, as that is a key
factor in some of their sales.

Just my 2,  keep us posted interesting topic,

Ron

actually it looks like the malibu extreme(ly heavy) does have foam in it, but it hugs the shell.
I think potto paddles one of these aircraft carriers.

http://www.malibukayaks.com/kayak_extreme.asp

eXtreme
The eXtreme lives up to its name. Weight capacity is incredible, stability compares to no other kayak, at only 31" wide, it feels more like 40"+. Sleek fast 15' design and still very functional. Made from “Superlinear” polyethylene with a custom closed cell foam layer (totaling about a 1/2" hull wall thickness) that makes the eXtreme unsinkable!

viking ron, thanks for the comment on the heat buildup. hmmm.

it would be a comfort to be 'unsinkable'. perhaps not at the cost of being 'melted'. 

look at the comment on this page about boats under 20' being required to have foam flotation:

http://www.rhhfoamsystems.com/literature/mfb-1/

shouldn't that technically apply to kayaks?

I think that reference to boats under 20 ft applies to repairs.  They want you to counterbalance any flotation you've added
with additional floatation in an opposing location.  This would offset instability if the boat is swamped. IE: port side repair
with foam = starboard side underwater during a swamping.

Brgds,
Ron

I read somewhere the jumbo pool noodles give 300lbs of floatation. Probably was on KFS, they have some threads on this.
Under the tank well of my XFactor is allot of dead useless space, I packed it solid with pool noodles(like maybe five big and small ones), cheap and easy. I'd prefer them not  them up valuable storage space anywhere else on the yak though. All those pool noodles weight next to nothing. I forget they are back there and the center point of gravity is not even compromised. So why the hell not. I would be hesitant to do any irreversible modifacation for reasons already stated. Stock up on pool noodles during the summer at Walmart or else they are hard to find and cost 3x as much. I always find uses for those things. If you can't fit it into a narrow hull section, slice it down the middle with a box cutter.

Don't know if it would work in other kayaks but he is a link to noodles in a "FnD" looks pretty secure and out of the way.
http://www.allkayakfishing.com/rigged/jfloat.html

 
   After all this I can't wait for wally mart to start the pool display!
  It's difinately noodles for me and my prowler13.

A couple of thoughts:
      In doing your foam calculations, remember that if you are sitting in a mostly submerged yak (not completely submerged because the yak material floats) that maybe half your dry wieght will also be under water.  If you're out of it hanging on, most of you is submerged - and you can probably support that wieght with the bouyancy equivalent to a water polo ball.
       Not that you have many choices where you put the flotation in a yak, but if you can figure a way to keep it low in the vessel, you can get by with less foam.
      It might be helpful to run some hypos to see how much good you can expect any flotation to do: 1. big unrepairable (on the water) hole in yak. 2. repairable hole (or water came in open hatch and you still have the cover)  3. High wind/waves 4. You have/ do not have a bailing device and how effective it is.
    I have pool noodles shoved toward the back of my yak, but a couple of times they've slid forward when I was loading up (I sometimes haul it backwards for short distances).  This discussion has me thinking that maybe I ought to tie them together somehow to be able to wedge them in  so that if the hatch is off the bow and I'm somehow holding onto the stern that the noodles don't pop out the hatch and float away in the wind.
    One of those hot days when the fishing's no good on a lake, I'm going to flood the thing and see how well it paddles.  I guess I always thought I just wanted something to hang onto until help arrives.  I can't imagine leaving even a mostly submerged yak, but I've seen the photos of someone using their paddle to "swim" without a yak, and you might have to make that decision if help didn't come ( or if the help that you started the day with is no longer available).