Great information about carabiner safety. I use a locking carabiner. As a sea kayak instructor and guide I have seen the locking biner on PFD to keep one's spray skirt out of the way. Especially for spray skirts that are larger or have a combination of materials like nylon and neoprene (unlike stiffer/tighter all neoprene skirts). Having your spray skirt up out of the way on the beach as you move between clients instructing, squatting holding a boat for a client during surf launches, or on your knees aiding with foot brace adjustments is helpful. During surf launches and landings with groups it is nice to quickly clip it out of the way while you swiftly go to help with landing and launching. I definitely think that I will continue to use a locking carabiner on my PFD when I'm on the beach aiding clients or during steep launching areas where I need to have my skirt on me ready to go to launch between sets of waves. However, I now think I'll keep the biner stowed inside my PFD pocket when on the water to keep from getting accidentally clipped-in to deck lines etc. Thanks Zach!
I've seen several people use a (non locking) biner on the shoulder strap to tie up the sprayskirt by its release handle. I understand the use - but I have simply cut open a plastic D ring that I then placed on my shoulder strap: A slight bit more fumbling around to get the release handle in (compared to a carabiner); quicker to get out (just pull) and so definitely not going to trap you.
That is pretty wild whew. Years ago some buddies and I flipped a boat long ways on the Ocoee like that guy almost did. I got worked pretty hard in a hole and it unzipped my PFD completely and only the bottom buckle was holding it on. Lost my crocs too.
I have gone to only auto lockers. They are quicker to open and can’t be left unlocked. Screw gates are too often left unlocked. As a private boater I don’t lose a lot of gear so the extra expense of auto locker is worth it.
That's funny. I see people with carabineers on their life jacket and have always wondered what it was for. I could never figure out a logical reason for it. Glad I'm not alone. All locking on my rafts.
That video from Fast Fred is what I️ always reference when people ask why. I️ carry cheap china locking biners for guests and friends that hop on the boat. Don’t care if I️ lose them, so great to offer.
I use a smallish locker on my pfd to hold my hat strap so the hat doesn't blow away. It's not really much less clean line than the rest of the pfd, & it has never banged on me. I do keep more recovery gear in the pfd pockets. I agree, no non lockers on the boat.
Completely agree on the biners but having a knife outside of the pocket is nice in the event you need it while entrapped eitheir in rope or whatever. I like knowing where my knife is exactly. My friends do have good suggestions on using small zip ties to connect it to the vest so the break strength is lowered in the event of a snag. Just a perspective
Zach has talked about this before and converted me a few years ago to his camp. I used to think having the knife on the outside looked cool and made it accessible but after having it catch when getting pulled into a boat a few more times than I care to admit, I decided to take his advice and put it in a pouch that i could get to with one hand, and I practiced getting to it to the point of instinct, so that in a high pressure moment, I don't have to grasp around. To each their own, but I just thought I'd share why I switched to an internal knife set up
I've been putting my locking carabiners on the straps under the armpit with the opening facing inwards. Doesn't bang around and I don't even notice they're there except when I'm putting it on or taking it off. They eat up all the real estate of my pocket if I put them in there.
Really though, this is a great PSA. At the risk of sounding pretentious (not my intent): this type of stuff is what separates the hobbyists from the professionals. Oftentimes, hobbyists wanna look tacti-cool and have all their gear hanging out and they love to use nonlocking because, hey, it looks like some professional hardware and its cheaper than those fancy locking ones! The professionals tend to go for a clean, minimal, safe set up, and use locking for anything external because they know how sketchy it can be when something gets caught when you don't want it to....Speaking from experience at launches, the guys with all the bo-jangles are walking around like they're experts, but the people with the super clean and minimal set ups all look at each other and instantly know who really spends time on the water
On my first Whitewater Safety and Rescue Course (UK). (Side rant - why do North American boaters call their course “Swiftwater Rescue”, we don’t paddle swiftwater). The instructor told a story, where he saw a kayaker with a non/locker clipped to a grab loop on the back of their boat. They flipped, biner clipped their PFD shoulder strap and pinned them to their back deck. They couldn’t roll up or reach forward to pull their deck. Got saved by a hand of god rescue in the end, but it was a near miss.
"Im pretty sure im right on all of this" hahah love it
Great information about carabiner safety. I use a locking carabiner.
As a sea kayak instructor and guide I have seen the locking biner on PFD to keep one's spray skirt out of the way. Especially for spray skirts that are larger or have a combination of materials like nylon and neoprene (unlike stiffer/tighter all neoprene skirts). Having your spray skirt up out of the way on the beach as you move between clients instructing, squatting holding a boat for a client during surf launches, or on your knees aiding with foot brace adjustments is helpful. During surf launches and landings with groups it is nice to quickly clip it out of the way while you swiftly go to help with landing and launching.
I definitely think that I will continue to use a locking carabiner on my PFD when I'm on the beach aiding clients or during steep launching areas where I need to have my skirt on me ready to go to launch between sets of waves. However, I now think I'll keep the biner stowed inside my PFD pocket when on the water to keep from getting accidentally clipped-in to deck lines etc.
Thanks Zach!
I've seen several people use a (non locking) biner on the shoulder strap to tie up the sprayskirt by its release handle. I understand the use - but I have simply cut open a plastic D ring that I then placed on my shoulder strap: A slight bit more fumbling around to get the release handle in (compared to a carabiner); quicker to get out (just pull) and so definitely not going to trap you.
That is pretty wild whew. Years ago some buddies and I flipped a boat long ways on the Ocoee like that guy almost did. I got worked pretty hard in a hole and it unzipped my PFD completely and only the bottom buckle was holding it on. Lost my crocs too.
I have gone to only auto lockers. They are quicker to open and can’t be left unlocked.
Screw gates are too often left unlocked.
As a private boater I don’t lose a lot of gear so the extra expense of auto locker is worth it.
That's funny. I see people with carabineers on their life jacket and have always wondered what it was for. I could never figure out a logical reason for it. Glad I'm not alone. All locking on my rafts.
Ive been wondering about this. Thank you for sharing
That video from Fast Fred is what I️ always reference when people ask why. I️ carry cheap china locking biners for guests and friends that hop on the boat. Don’t care if I️ lose them, so great to offer.
You are on the money it will save lives!! Keep up your point it’s unknown.
I use a smallish locker on my pfd to hold my hat strap so the hat doesn't blow away. It's not really much less clean line than the rest of the pfd, & it has never banged on me. I do keep more recovery gear in the pfd pockets. I agree, no non lockers on the boat.
Completely agree on the biners but having a knife outside of the pocket is nice in the event you need it while entrapped eitheir in rope or whatever. I like knowing where my knife is exactly. My friends do have good suggestions on using small zip ties to connect it to the vest so the break strength is lowered in the event of a snag. Just a perspective
Zach has talked about this before and converted me a few years ago to his camp. I used to think having the knife on the outside looked cool and made it accessible but after having it catch when getting pulled into a boat a few more times than I care to admit, I decided to take his advice and put it in a pouch that i could get to with one hand, and I practiced getting to it to the point of instinct, so that in a high pressure moment, I don't have to grasp around. To each their own, but I just thought I'd share why I switched to an internal knife set up
I've been putting my locking carabiners on the straps under the armpit with the opening facing inwards. Doesn't bang around and I don't even notice they're there except when I'm putting it on or taking it off. They eat up all the real estate of my pocket if I put them in there.
Let's get down to serious talk, your shirt is sick. Where is it from?
They are amazing. Merino wool hoody from Duckworth.
Nah you're not on the crazy train. Non lockers are scary, especially when people just leave em on the shoulder straps.
Really though, this is a great PSA. At the risk of sounding pretentious (not my intent): this type of stuff is what separates the hobbyists from the professionals. Oftentimes, hobbyists wanna look tacti-cool and have all their gear hanging out and they love to use nonlocking because, hey, it looks like some professional hardware and its cheaper than those fancy locking ones! The professionals tend to go for a clean, minimal, safe set up, and use locking for anything external because they know how sketchy it can be when something gets caught when you don't want it to....Speaking from experience at launches, the guys with all the bo-jangles are walking around like they're experts, but the people with the super clean and minimal set ups all look at each other and instantly know who really spends time on the water
On my first Whitewater Safety and Rescue Course (UK). (Side rant - why do North American boaters call their course “Swiftwater Rescue”, we don’t paddle swiftwater).
The instructor told a story, where he saw a kayaker with a non/locker clipped to a grab loop on the back of their boat. They flipped, biner clipped their PFD shoulder strap and pinned them to their back deck. They couldn’t roll up or reach forward to pull their deck. Got saved by a hand of god rescue in the end, but it was a near miss.