Kayak Paddle Floats
A paddle float is one of those items you hope you really don't need, but if you do,
you want it to be reliable.
Two chambers give you either extra floatation or a back-up chamber if one fails.
You want it to blow up quickly and keep that air in.
Being able to attach it to the kayak temporarily with a bungee cord might come
in handy.
My personal favorite is the Gaia with Wildwasser coming in a close second. Since I teach kayaking
I have used many of them and these hold the air and have enough volume to be good outriggers.
Also very important is knowing how fast you can deploy, set-up and use it when you need to.
Practice is the other half of a reliable paddle float.
When going out in a kayak it is always good to be prepared for all of the "what ifs"!
A minimal safety kit might include a personal floatation device (PFD, lifejacket),
a whistle on the PFD, spare take-apart paddle, a paddle float for self rescue, bilge pump,
three flares, a light (headlamp or flashlight).
Additionally consider water, snacks, a spare warm and sun hat, extra clothes.
Moving on from there you can get really technical and get charts, a VHF radio, GPS...
it all depends if you are going out on a warm protected lake for an hour, or on a more exposed trip.
Here in the Northwest we have the Puget Sound with cold water (we always wear non-cotton,
protective clothing), with current and wind. The fun part is, no matter what the
weather report is, you never know what will happen!
