Can anyone recommend decent bow+stern bags for me? I have a Phoenix Vagabond (Poke Boat) i plan on solo canoe camping with 50-100lbs of gear and I weigh 125lbs. I think the manufacturer is optimistic about its claimed 550 lb weight capacity.
By accident i ordered “split stern” float bag set, the two bags say “NRS Rodeo Stern” i learned these super small bags are for kayaks with vertical deck support inside the stern, one on each side of the deck support pillar…they are too small for decked canoes/canaks like the old Vagabond.
Any ideas? …Thanks!
pop
don’t leave a float bag in the kayak inflated like a balloon in the heat. They will pop! I always let some air out when I store the boat. I inflate them just enough so they can’t get out of the hatch opening not rock hard like the first ones that popped.
Ordering NRS “Standard” size MEDIUM
thanks Celia, im ordering NRS “Standard” bags size MEDIUM, they should fit my Vagabond well and allow for some storage space.
Yes thanks Paddledog, I’ll be slightly under inflating to avoid hull damage from pressurized air expansion damage from the hot sun. I heard some stories of hulls fracturing open from fully inflated float bags stuffed in hard, but i don’t know, better be safe than sorry
i doubt that
it would have to be an awfully flimsy kayak to rupture from flotation bag expansion. The seams will blow out on the float bag before that happens.
actually not
I know of several people who sustained severe gunwale damage to their canoes due to over-pressured flotation bags. The bags exerted enough force to dislodge or deform the gunwales without the seams giving way.