Kayak Color
When I chose my Kayak I chose the color yellow top and white bottom,Very good visibility,Orange paddle blades, I just spent 3 months down in the keys and I do want to be noticed when I’m off shore paddling in a combustible engine zone, some of them fishing guys in their deep sea fishing outfits will flat run over your butt if they don’t see you out there,The water down there can have a cross color, blue water deep, green water shallow and brown for sand bar-- Match the kayak color to your car color ??? another thing about my yellow kayak is when I come out of the grocery store I have no problem of finding my vehicle-
yellow
I too have heard that orange is the most visible.
For what it is worth, and it’s probably not much, there was a pretty well-known kayaker in the Southeast with an outdoors store who would never paddle or sell a yellow whitewater kayak.
He claimed that the dye somehow weakened the polyethylene and said that he had seen more yellow kayaks wrap on their occupants than any other color.
point made—
proves the point that yellow is more noticeable by seeing more yellow whitewater wrecks than other colors, I’m sure there is just as many other colored yaks that reach havoc on whitewater, besides color don’t mean nothing when you’re shooting whitewater-Now if I attempted to take my “Trylon Hull” boat on whitewater I’m sure I would be another “Yellow Wreck Victim”–
Color
On television last night there was a “shark” program on the Animal Channel hosted by the survial guy Les Stroud. He did a totally un-scientific test to see if color has something to do with great white shark attacks.
They chummed to attract Great Whites and had several circling the boat for the experiment.
They tossed a small shark cage into the water with a mannequin colored in all black with little to no interest from the sharks.
The all red mannequin definately attracted interest and some cage nudges by the sharks. Apparently great whites can see in color? They thought the blood-like color would increase interest.
The all yellow mannequin attracted more nudges and some bite attemps. Definately more aggressive activity towards yellow, but no explanation?
Not sure if the multiple mannequin dunkings increasingly aroused the sharks or if the color had something to do with it? I wanted them to toss the black colored mannequin back in to see if the arroused sharks were biting anything or if color was a factor.
Might make you think twice about that yellow boat???
YOU NAILED IT
Robin’s egg blue is the most visible color in all light conditions.
Paint
I painted my carbon blades yellow.
"Yum Yum Yellow"
Lots of references to “shark experts say…” that yellow attracts sharks, but real data is much harder to find.
yum yum yellow
I had herd the nickname yum yum yellow came from the fact that the majority (of what is admittedly a small sample size - only 2 or 3 over all the years) shark bikes on kayakers in CA were on yellow kayaks.
I can’t see orange
I’m red/green colorblind, and it kills me that the “international safety orange” of daymarks and other nav. buoys need to be recognized by shape, under most light situations.I wanted to get my captains licence years back, but would have been restricted to daytime only piloting. Crap, I can see the red lights at night, but can’t see the red and orange buoys by day.
Maybe red
I think it is easier to see a speck of red in the distance than yellow.
Red better than white
In the ocean, red is more visible than white in the ocean, at least.
The South African equivalent of our Coast Guuard did a study with red and white surf skis. In the ocean the white surf skis got lost among the white caps. The red surf skis were easier to spot by a helicopter approaching the scene. I’m thinking of adding red to bow and stern of my white ski for that reason.
I have a piece of red refelctive tape on my stern, and white refective tape on the gunwales near the stern so my ski will be visible when I’m trailering it to the put-in. I agree the most important time for visibility is before you get the boat on the water.
My Choice Was Yellow
I’m a newbie, but I chose yellow. I think it’s more visible and looks sharp. I also have a bright yellow PFD and yellow paddles, so really, it was a combo deal, going with all yellow, not just the kayak to be seen, but also the vest and paddles, but of course, I don’t totally depend on that or actually depend on it at all, just hope it helps.
-Capri
What do you recommend for paddle paint?
My motto is the more visible, the better. I agree with all comments that kayak color and gear are important too, even the color of your hat. I always assume boaters are distracted. I live in Florida with the highest boat ownership in the US, and there is a lot of boat traffic in most places I paddle. I always have a light at night.
I have a question about paddle paint. I have 2 carbon paddles that are dark brown. What kind of paint you recommend for painting carbon paddle? Any “bright” color in particular?
Thanks,
sure?
I recall looking out over the S.F. Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge,I was watching three kayaks paddle towards the bridge, one I was sure was black and it turned out to be red. Red is black in the distance, it’s dark.
You’re Proving My Point
Contrast is more important than color when it comes to being visible at a distance. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse… black and white. Cape Lookout lighthouse… black and white.
My kayak is black
Posted this before, but I used to work in AK and had the opportunity to fly in several US and Canadian CG search aircraft.
From a 1/4 mile away, it made absolutely no difference whether the “object” we were looking at was orange, brown, magenta, or day-glo green.
Nowe, if you’re choosing a boat color simply for other boaters to see you at a close range, then that may be different, but when you start to move further away, boat color matters less and less and shouldn’t be relied on. From a SAR standpoint, have a backup plan - flares, a light on your boat, a strobe, and obviously a radio.
Red is better than white according to
an experiment that was run with the South African National Sea Rescue Institute.
Here’s the link from the original article.
http://www.surfski.info/content/view/759/155/