Use flotation bags?

Been looking at flotation bags for my Hobie Adventure, especially the ones with storage space in the middle of the bag and a mouth-tube to inflate the bag.  Also think one of the black-on-one-side bags with a camp shower nozzle to create sun-heated water looks pretty good.

The idea of an extra margin of safety for me and my gear - not to mention the 'yak - seems top make sense. Ocean and freshwater fishing, diving, touring, and sailing combo trips are my main goal - with day trips to fine-tune the rig.

Thoughts? Comments? Experience?

Thanks.

Personally, I use flotation bags in sit-inside-kayaks and not in sit-on-top kayaks.  Unless you have a lot of big holes  or poorly sealed hatches in your sit-on-top there really isn't any reason to worry about, sit-on-tops are themselves a giant flotation bag.  If you flip over, simply flip it back over and hop back on.   However, in sit-inside kayaks (where my eskimo roll is only about 50%) having the extra flotation helps a lot with keeping the kayak from sinking as well as displacing much of the water that ends up in the kayak if you flip over.

Now I realize one of the longest posts on this board is about adding floation to sit-on-tops for extra safety but seriously, it's a bit over kill.

Anyway, I didn't vote in the poll becuase my answer isn't one of the options.

Brian

I'm the direct opposite of Brian.

THere's an inflated drybag in my Scupper Pro as I type. It just lives there. Put a hole in the hull of any boat that doesn't have bulkheads, and be really prepared to kiss the whole thing goodbye. Put a hole in a boat that has bulkheads, and you're in trouble, but at least it isn't going to sink. Thus the drybag in the SPTW, but I don't bother with bags in my SIK.

My perspective is that it is just as likely for me to get back upright in a SIK as a SOT. 95% of the time I'll just roll back upright. The other 5% I'll buddy rescue, or exit-rentry-floatbag assisted roll. So I'm worried about hull breach, not a cockpit filled with water.

I'd be hard pressed to go out and buy kayak floatation bags for a sea kayak though. Dry bags work just as well, and can serve double duty.

I voted always, but you can interpret that as meaning "always have at least some internal means of floating the boat after a hull puncture"

Regards,
Scott

It all depends how far out you are going to go and how good a swimmer you are.