Pool Noodles For Flotation

How many of you are using pool noodles for flotation? I found some "monster" pool noodles that are almost twice the size of regular pool noodles and stuffed 4 in my PA. there is room for more, will buy more and see how many I can stuff in the PA. need to do my son's OB too.

I doubt that more than 4 are needed. Seems I heard someone say that two kept his up when flooded. Find a pool and check it out.................ck

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Never argue with an idiot, they will just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

One 4 inch noodle floats the bow of the Adventure high enough to pump it out, from the water. I keep one, plus one extra life jacket, in the bow. A 4 inch noodle provides about 30 lb of floatation, a life jacket 20 lbs. I see no problem loading the kayak up if you don't need the space. If you are sinking positive floatation is a good thing.

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I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

well, so far I stuffed 9 of the monster pool noodles in the hull of my PA, mostly in the stern area and there is room for more! I bought all the monster noodles that Bass Pro Shops had left (17). I will use the remaining 8 noodles and see how many I can stuff in my son's Outback.

Well, that's using your... noodles!

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

I got 8 monster pool noodles in the hull of my son's Outback and there is still room for more

Be careful. Too much floatation and your yak might start hovering above the water.

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Absolute kayaking corrupts absolutely.

Hopefully, they want interfere with the rudder system........................ck

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Never argue with an idiot, they will just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Here in Northern California the authorities are paniky about stoping the spread of zebra mussles. We have to pay for an inspection with pretty much every launch and if they find so much as a damp hanky in or on the hull we are probably not going to be boating for the next 5 days. At least so reads the rules. For this reason, stuffing a spare pfd in the hull may not only stop us from sinking, it may stop us from boating.

The pool noodles seem like a better plan, for here anyway, but I would think 8 of them in the hull would inevitably trap at least a little water. Have any of you using the noodles observed any such, or do you remove them each day?

The one I have does not absorb water. If they are exposed to the sun for a summer they will get a bit spongy and start to fall apart. I open all the hatches and soak up the water in the hull after each use. Everything is dried out by the next day. I remove the lifejacket, wash it, and hang it to dry. The only thing that is still wet the next day that would be a problem in your area is the sponge I keep in the hull.

Ranger908 it sounds like you have the plan. I wasn't concerned about the noodles absorbing water but trapping a little bit where they contact the hull, especially with several noodles, but it sounds like you have it covered.

My goal is only to keep the kayak from sinking and floating it high enough to pump it out. One 4 inch noodle and a life jacket will do this for my Adventure. One reason I purchased the Adventure was for the extra space. I don't think lots noodles would keep the hull from flooding under the right conditions. Like, with a breach in the hull or a turn over with one of the hatches open the hull is still going to take on water and have to be pumped out before it could be boarded or operated. One 4 inch noodle has 30 lbs of lift and one lifejacket has about 25 lbs. The Adventure only weighs about 70+. When I tested it, 30 lbs was enought to accomplish positive floatation.

One should note that if you open all three hatches and turn the kayak over it will not sink or take on water unless you try to turn it back over without closing the hatches. If you close the hatches while upside down you will only have about a gallon of water in the hull. If you don't close the hatches it will sink in less that 3 min. I am going to try to get the local dealer to lend me a replacement hull so I can do some testing of a hull breach.

Yes I have a plan while on the water. The last of which is putting my extra life jacket on whatever beer I have left, setting off my Eperb, calling on my waterproof VHF, and start swimming for shore. Before I retired I rescued a lots of people without a plan and recovered quite a few who paid a high price.

Lots of extra line on controls,, In the Revo i used 6 in.lenth
of pvc pipe to connect the pool noodles. Cut to the front noodle to length and they will stay bowed into sides and don't tangle with lines.. Plug ends also,,Royg

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09 Revo

Ranger908 I understand the concern about sinking but I am a little puzzled by your concern about pumping out a flooded boat. Your trials have determined only one way to flood it without breaking it and you now know not to try righting an inverted boat without making sure the hatches are closed so that isn't likely to happen. If the hull is breached, pumping out is futile. It would seem you would be better off perhaps with another noodle and you may not need the pump. If the hull is breached, a second noodle will be more useful than the pump, if it isn't breached you shouldn't have more than a gallon or two in the boat at worst.

By the way, how does it flood so quickly turning it upright with the hatches open? If I remember your tests, flipping it inverted with the hatches open only took on a gallon on so, why does flipping it back up take on so much more?

I'll try to answer your questions.

First the test.

Withour any floatation and all the hatches open, if I flip the kayak and close the hatches while it is still flipped and then right it, I only have about a gallon of water in the hull. When I flip the kayak with all the hatches open and then right it without closing the hatches the hull sinks before I can do anything to prevent it. This appears to be because once water starts to enter the front hatch combined with air exiting the rear hatch its a quick process. The hull was on the bottom of the pool very quickly. If one was to close the stern hatch under the same conditions the kayak would not sink very quickly at all as air would be trapped and provide floatation.

As for my concerns. The test was done in a pool. I am sure any wave action at all would put a lots more water in the hull. I wanted to know what floatation was necessary to keep the kayak from sinking while allowing me to provide a self rescue (clear the hull of water). One reason I am concerned with pumping out is that I found that I could not reboard the kayak with it over 1/3 full of water. For me, with my Adventure, 50lb of floating in the bow does this. I found that I could use minimun floation if it was located in the bow. I tried more floation but space limited how much I could get in the bow. I had to have the bow float because the front hatch was the only one that I could get completely clear of the water. Floation in any other part of the kayak seemed to be counter productive.

You are correct that a leak in the hull is by far the most likely cause of the hull sinking. The likelyhood of someone having all the hatches open while being in a turn over situatiion would be close to insurance fraud. The whole reason for the test was to gain information for a leak occurance. Turning it over and flooding the hull was the only a way to test floation. I have no doubt that with anything less than a 6 inch hole I have enough floating to keep the kayak floating long enough to patch the leak, pump it out, and get to dry land. Leaks large or small can be slowed a number of ways with onhand materials.

Everyone should do their own test and make their own decision on any additional floating they think they need.