MYOG PFD – Round 2: Foam/Bottle Hybrid

Here's the super light setup with half the float (5 lbs total). Not for big water, but it's a mere 5.8oz and super compact (for a foam PFD).

Nice! Would you feel comfortable with something like this in class II water?

The 5 lbs float PFD is for class I-II water. The 10lbs version is for the bulk of backcountry use (up to class III). I anticipate using it a lot.

Dan,

Do you feel that you need a PFD on a lake? I'll confess I didn't use one last summer on a trip in the Wind River Range. I pieced together a route that was arguably safer on the water than the adjoining scree field and cliffs. I tried to stay a few "dog paddles" from shore, and stayed out of the wind. I felt safe…although I admit appreciating the durability of the Scout, I paid so much for, when I knew I was in deep water!

Looking at your lightweight setup, I'm wondering if there isn't a dual use PFD/sit pad/pillow on the market like what you've done. MLD no longer sells their The Thing. I have seen some of the inflatable PFDs, but no one seems to provide the weights and they all seem to be overly complicated with pockets I don't need.

Interested in what you have tried for lakes? I travel solo, so I don't try fast water.

i would think that rear design could be dangerous by making it hard to float on your back in an emergency while in any sort of moving current.

Maybe use a small inflatable pillow and some sort of webbing/netting on the front to hold it to make a low profile inflatable with most of the flotation on the front. plus then you have a pillow for sleeping too. i would think a small pillow (cocoon hyperlight) or something would not interfer with your paddling or spray skirt as much.

Tim: PFD's are a personal call, so learn what you can and make a decision that suits your situation/skills and risk tolerance. I personally don't use a PFD on lakes, but that's not to suggest that's what everyone should do.

Ted: Can you expand on how the rear section could be dangerous? Are you suggesting the current will grab the protruding bottle?

I took a class II swim this past week and this PFD (in 10 lbs float setup) worked well enough that it never occurred to me during the swim. I used this for 40 miles of up to class III plus some flat water paddling over the course of 7 days.

PFD's have more flotation in the chest area to keep you face up in an emergency / loss of consciousness. i would think that large float on the back might push you onto your chest in an emergency in swift water. having 5lbs of float on the front and 5 lbs of float in the back will not keep you face up.

Its your call. I have worked as a raft guide, and i don't care how much experience you have, you can't out swim a river (even in calm areas), and in remote situations, i personally would want 12+ lbs of float, with 2/3 of float in the front to flip me face up. I'm pretty happy with my kokatat pfd with 16 lbs of float. i bet it could be stripped down and lightened up without removing the amount of float if i ever wanted to.

if i were floating something really shallow (the paria river from whitehouse to lee's ferry comes to mind), i wouldn't worry about much a minimalist pdf, but that's a very low flow river you can easily walk in.

Fair enough, I tried to put a bit more float in the front than the back so it may help to float me face up. But of course as the total amount of float drops the usefulness of the PFD drops and the river increasingly gets its way.

In "10lbs of float mode" with the bottle (I'm using 710ml volume), there is 3.9 lbs on the back and 5.1 lbs on the front, so it's a 43%/57% weight split.

In "5lbs of float mode" sans bottle, there is 2.4 lbs on the back and 2.5 lbs on the front – so nearly even but at 5 lbs the PFD isn't doing much anyways. Even if it did keep me face up I'd likely drown from being under half the time.

Thanks for the comments on how much float you'd want and the front/back ratio. This kind of info is super hard to come across and I'm sure I'll end up making a few more PFDs over the years ahead.