what do u guys carry for safety equipment?

Forgot the food/water.  I've usually got a half gallon of gatorade and at least a bag of sunflower seeds to eat (they help fight seasickness).

An anchor is also considered safety gear on powerboats, because if you are dead in the water, you can put it out and at least hold your position.  A folding kayak anchor would probably be good for that, I usually don't bring my mushroom anchor, but I do have my sea anchor most of the time.

Hmmm ... does anyone carry a bilge pump?  I at least carry a "bailer" but was looking to pick up a pump the next time I ran across one.

I also don't carry a sea anchor, but some people do.

-Allen

I have seen a lot of guys carry those manual "super squirter" water guns. They are pretty small and you can fight off Joel when he tries to bananna your yak.  

Currently only a PFD.  I do have one of them tiny can powered air horns, but it's put awauy in my boat stuff (12' aluminum) I guess I could dig it out for my outback.
  Oh yeah, I do have a compass, but I keep it in my truck.  I'm still really new to kayaking, and i'm gathering information and componets.  I'll have it all eventually.
  For right now, I only plan on yaking small lakes (Loch Lomond, and Lexington)

GO BILL GO!!!  

-Allen

You can almost always swim to shore in a lake, so I wouldn't really sweat that, but blown offshore on the ocean could get bad quick.  A couple boy scouts out of florida died a few weeks back after only 2 days...

A tow rope or bow line.  Also, when I'm on the ocean I keep a 1-2' rope tied off on one of the handles.  If you wind up in the drink with the yak upside down it makes it a ton easier to right it.  You use the same technique as the "push down, pull back on handle(or scupper hole)" except you use the rope and get more leverage.

the pfd contains....

3-pack of handheld flares
cyalume light stick
air horn
whistle
waterproof vhf radio
waterproof gps

I basically carry the same thing as Alan plus a knife.  The air horn is good thing to have especially around lots of boat traffic.

The post below (from coastside) was from a boater regarding "flags"....


Coastside Commander

 
Posts: 7753
Loc: Beautiful Pacifica   Re: Trooching [Re: prometheus]
      #158518 - Thu Mar 24 2005 10:41 PM   Edit     Reply     Quote     Quick Reply    
 
 

One thing I would suggest is to doe something to make you visible. We were out there one day when therewas a bit of a swell - kinda steep - and I saw an US flag just above the swell. It was a little aluminum but the guy had the foresight to put a flag on a mast. Otherwise it could have been a problem - even at 2.5 knots

--------------------
Mike - Fishing Luhrs
Support Coastside! Tell a Friend!

I know Pierre used to paddle around with a flag until he lost it at Muir Beach when he dumped.  It was kind of like one of those bicycle flags on a flexible pole.

Since many of us usually have a spare rod sticking up in the air somewhere on the yak, it might be a good idea to rig a flag that can simply snap onto your spare rod... mostly for those crowded salmon fishing days in the ocean.

Erik

The post below (from coastside) was from a boater regarding "flags"....


Coastside Commander

 
Posts: 7753
Loc: Beautiful Pacifica   Re: Trooching [Re: prometheus]
      #158518 - Thu Mar 24 2005 10:41 PM   Edit     Reply     Quote     Quick Reply    
 
 

One thing I would suggest is to doe something to make you visible. We were out there one day when therewas a bit of a swell - kinda steep - and I saw an US flag just above the swell. It was a little aluminum but the guy had the foresight to put a flag on a mast. Otherwise it could have been a problem - even at 2.5 knots

--------------------
Mike - Fishing Luhrs
Support Coastside! Tell a Friend!

Hey guys I am pretty sure I am going to be able to get some flags made. I think I have a decent logo as well. I am going to get the materials this weekend for the flags and poles then I just need to find someone that can screen print them.

Okay, so I must confess that I've been a little bit cavalier about safety stuff. Because I do a good bit of swim training, my bail out plan has always been just that...anything less than two miles, if worse comes to worse, I'll just have a miserable swim. But that whole idea is based on the assumption that I am not injured or incapacitated, and that conditions are manageable...which is dopey thinking.

So I'm coming around to thinking more clearly about this, and realizing that I need to do a bit better, particularly if I take friends out. So I'm off to West Marine to shop for a radio, and maybe a strobe and an air horn.

Thanks folks, for helping me see the light!


 

West Marine, for me, is my last minute goto place. I find items there, VERY expensive. You'd do much better shopping the internet, craigslist or e-bay.

A word to the wise for those shopping for a VHF radio... and I know this has been discussed before.  

The designation of "waterproof to JIS-7 specifications" does not mean that the unit is waterproof.  It can withstand some water exposure but water can still infiltrate into the inside of the unit.  

I'm seeing a lot of units marked "submersible" which appears to be a more waterproof designation.  I'm told by a West Marine sales guy that "submersible" means they are rated to withstand submersion to 3-feet for 30 minutes.

I have a Uniden Voyager that I am sending back for warranty service because of some problems related to saltwater intrusion, even when the unit wasn't dunked per se.

If I were going to do it again, I'd look for a unit with no "twirl" type knobs and no port for accessories such as microphones and such.  These types of features are avenues for water intrusion.  

West marine has one nice little unit on sale right now (VHF 50) that looks pretty appealing... they are made by Uniden but under West Marine's brand.  No twirl type knobs and rated as "submersible" and very light weight... plus they'll throw in a free waterproof VHF bag for it.  Here's the link...

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=132279