In message
"RuFf!!" wrote:

I've heard folks claim that having airbags helps them in white water by
giving added bouyancy. I don't try to explain that they don't make any
difference because it is too counter such myths. Physics should really be
manadatory at school :-)

Ewan Scott

I'll second the physics at school motion, if this was true I'd be paddling
quite funny, what with my single sided air bag and splits in the other. I
paid £13 for my motion research airbag and it's fine, taken a beating this
season since sept (...ahem) and still isn't punctured.

As for Milk cartons, they work till the boat fills with water, then they
give up on life and either pop the lids off or go wondering down stream. The
air bags on the same side sounds as if it might work, if it fills with a
large quantity of water it's easier to pull it up from the side to let some
water out, then lift it on it's end (the one with the airbags in so they
displace the water) and drag it onto your deck to empty. If it's just
displace water while it's being towed to the side then I'd place two at the
rear as this is the most common place to put them (unless it's a creeker
then I'd also have some infront of the foot plate. Maybe this will help with
re-surfacing...... *cough*)


And this might be a suitable point to repeat advice I've seen elsewhere -
when rescuing a boat, i.e. deep water rescue, lift the heavier end first. By
heavier in this context I mean the end which floats lowest. It's harder to
do initially, but as it usually results from one end of the boat having
airbags, then the water will run from the end being lifted, and cannot run
into the other end. Thus the second part of the lift, onto your boat,
becomes much easier.

If you lift the airbagged end first, you then end up with the far end of the
boat full of water, and it's very hard to get it past the balance point.

Of course, drybags with kit in work as airbags too, just not so well.

I find a good system is to put the airbags in the back, uninflated. The
drybags go on top, then the airbags are inflated. This locks the drybags in,
and holds them out of any water in the boat, so they are less likely to
leak. It doesn't keep them dry when you're swimming of course, but that
shouldn't last as long.

Alan


--
Alan Adams, from Northamptonshire

http://www.nckc.org.uk/