Canoe Air Bags explored and tested
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2023
- Canoe air bags are a useful addition to how we outfit canoes.
Often seen as being most useful in white water, here we explore their use in open flat water environments.
With different sizes and styles of air bag available I thought it would be useful to compare some and their effects on a similar style of boat.
The three prospector style boats are similar in style and weight, all being the tougher heavier types of three layer plastics for rocky rivers and trips, rather than lightweight flat water composite flat water boats.
There was no pre-practice with any boat re entry, and each boat film segment was simply shot off the cuff and had a genuine initial reaction. In short everything was improvised.
I hope this helps to guide and inform peoples choices for their floatation needs.
Cheers Adam
www.outdoorinstruction.co.uk - Sport
Thank you for the video. I just bought a canoe. Very useful information.
Glad it’s a help. I would recommend some training for both safety and performance. Have fun
Very instructional vid! I particularly like how you actually tried the variables out to see their differences.
Many thanks hope it was useful
Great video Adam - top job!
Very rare and useful video, thanks. It looks quite obsious that in wavy conditions only the set up where buoyancy rise over the gunnels will actually help for self rescuing. With the two other set ups waves would fill the canoe faster than we can cope it. I'm thinking about making an inflatable rain cover for the half front of my canoe. That way I would still have room to strap my backpack inside at the bow, the weight could be enough to keep the stern out of water with a simple paddle float or hand flotaison device that I could then fix on the side to help me get back in.
Many thanks for the kind words
Great vid Adam.
Many thanks 🙏
Excellent instructive vid
Thanks
got my first "real" open boat last weekend....loving the airbag demos...but I must say wearing the knee pads look almost as critical as the bags themselves!
Absolutely! Knee pads help with connection and comfort and posture, all of which significantly improve paddling performance…. As well as add protection if you find yourself outside of the boat in a rocky environment 🤓
Great video thanks
Thank you
Good demo of the old adage, “some is better than none, and some is good but more is better”. Practically, foam blocks are far better for long term and low maintenance - they stay in the boat( almost a permanent part of the hull) and never get punctured like leaky air bags..the hassle of taking bags out-deflating then putting them back in for the next use…no thanks. A leaky air bag is less buoyant than a good old dependable float block..you can kick ‘em, you can stab ‘em, you can leave it in the boat while you drive @ 120/ km per to or from to paddle, you can stand or sit on them, you can burn them, hot, cold , frozen, windy, brand new or 30 years old…like a good friend…they’re there keeping your mis-guided canoe dreams afloat! Just one person’s opinion-
Thanks for the constructive comments. 👍🏻
I’ve used solid blocks a lot over the years and really rate them for group boats. Interestingly I’ve never had to remove air bags for transit and happily do 70mph with them. I totally agree, some is better than none and more is better for open water.
Great video, I’ve got a couple of tribal 36” bags in my prospector and I’m considering adding a couple of side bags. which ones did you get and how are they mounted?
Thanks for the kind words
I don’t know what the side bags are in the video as it’s not my boat, but I own a pair of BPM side bags that have two integrated wrap around straps to help fixing.
@@outdoorinstruction can you send me a photo of them fixed in and how you did it?
@@khmaul sadly I don’t have a photo to hand, but they are super simple as the straps that come with the tubular bags wrap around various wood and gear loops and clip in easily and quickly.
@@outdoorinstruction thanks
I have a question.. let’s say the you was doing a canoe camp… if you had a barrel with your kit in would that not also aid in keeping water out of the boat before trying to flip it over? Only asking because I don’t actually have a canoe yet.. but I’m about to get one for camping… and the medium air bags look like they take up quite a bit of space 🤔
The barrel would need to be lashed down hard inside the boat like an air bag to displace water, this can be a useful idea on bigger white water trips to minimise swamping before reaching the bank of the river. On open water it becomes a hinderance to rescues and emptying.
Thanks for the insight… nice vid by the way… I forgot to mention that before 🙌🏻👌🏻
Nice video. What are the pads you have on your seat
Thanks. I dont know unfortunately as the red boat isn't mine.
It would have been interesting to see how the blocks compared to 32" air bags.
They won’t be as buoyant and neither will have the capacity to keep the gunnels above the water when sat in afloat and filled. Both serve assist access and stop people being trapped underneath with no air
@@outdoorinstruction I was just curious as to whether the 32' bags were any better than 32" blocks .
@@p.istaker8862 slightly more floatation less rugged. Blocks are great for centres doing simple trips. Bags are better for paddlers and the more air the better.
Hello,
Sorry to go completely off topic of the video but what knee pads are you wearing?
Warmbac caving knee pads with Velcro
Thankyou !
who can tell me what those seat pads are for on the red boat?
Can anyone tell me how much and where you can stow gear in the event you want to use airbags in a whitewater canoe, for a several day trip? Talking about food, tent bedding, stove.....
This should be useful czcams.com/video/qv0KBsP5bfo/video.htmlsi=a0TqD5DOWi-bZMN3
your just learning.
I’m always learning
i'd say that those big air bags on big water and wind would the canoe way more susceptible to tipping. higher in the water, No
Do you mean big white water or big open water?
@@outdoorinstruction big open water
@@brentkelly5445 thanks for clarifying. I’ve spent the last two years with bags 95% the volume of these ones , but with heavy covers on paddling often in force 4 to 5 and once in force 7 and found no issue at all. I also know a lot of advanced paddlers, leaders and coaches that use highly similar systems and they found not ill effects. As the bags weigh only 400grams each it’s of no consequence on trim and they protrude much less than a paddler so the wind effects are negligible. Go try them they are great and give much more safety options for rescue.
Air bags seem to be getting bigger and bigger to the point you can no longer call them by open boats.
They do indeed. We can still call the boats “Canoes” though. I hope the video shows we don’t need fully bagged boats just thoughtfully bags ones
Fcking genius,,, who would have thought bigger air bags would give you more floatation.
Note also the shape of the bags aids as much as the volume, because the boat with then most bags wasnt the easiest to empty.
Okay learned something. Attach your gear/food bag on the opposite side as a counter weight when attempting to get into the boat
@@jonschmitz7189 glad noticed that. There’s another sneaky same side version too 😉