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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:38 am 
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HI Gang,

Not specificlly Hobie related but, how would you wear a PFD / Life jacket with a drysuit, inside or outside of it?

Thanks,
SRG

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:52 am 
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Definitely outside. You want to be able to take if off without compromising your dryness.

Same reason you wear it outside the trap harness. Basically, it's the last thing you put on (unless you're wearing a pinnie/rashie).


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:21 am 
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Inside for me. This allows me to remove my dry top without removing the PFD. Something I often do as the day goes on and the temp comes up. But I never want to be on the water without my PFD on.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:08 am 
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Location: Central Oregon
Always outside drysuit.

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 3:00 pm 
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Thanks Folks!

Current score:
Outside 2 : Inside 1

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Hobie 16 1990 (storm damaged)
Hobie 16 1996 (my latest)


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:38 pm 
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Outside
Outside
Outside
Outside
Outside
Outside
Outside
Outside
Now its 10 to 1 :mrgreen:


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:05 pm 
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I have done a lot of WW Kayaking in past...never seen anyone put a pfd inside a suit.
Added bonus of having it outside...your suit wont puff up near as much 1st time in the drink. :mrgreen:

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:29 pm 
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I've never seen any of the guys I sail with put their PFD on outside of a suit.

As long as you have it on, I guess it's all good.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:57 pm 
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Tom Kirkman wrote:
As long as you have it on, I guess it's all good.

Not necessarily, and that's why you should wear it on the outside.

There may be a time when you need to take it off - in a hurry. Like when the buoyancy is pinning you against the underside of the trampoline of a turtled boat. Or when you need to swim quickly (ever tried to swim in a PFD?).

Wearing the PFD under your dry top just so you can take the dry top off later without removing the PFD isn't really a good reason. Even the racing rules of sailing allow you to remove a PFD "briefly while changing or adjusting clothing or personal equipment."

On the other hand, you should always avoid opening up a drysuit on the water, especially if the water's cold. You never know if you're going to get suddenly wet (like falling in) - and then the dry suit becomes "undry" at best, an anchor at worst.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:59 pm 
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If you watch the videos from most of the serious regattas, they all wear their PFDs under their suits. This isn't something I just came up with on my own. It's the norm for most of these guys.

I'm not going to argue if one way is better than the other. Use what works for you. I tried both and like wearing it underneath.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:33 pm 
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Tom Kirkman wrote:
If you watch the videos from most of the serious regattas, they all wear their PFDs under their suits.

I'm "one of those guys" - I've been racing Hobie Cats for 41 years. And we're not wearing PFD's under drysuits - they're worn under a rashie/pinny to improve aerodynamics and (more importantly) keep the PFD from snagging on anything (or having the tiller end go through the arm hole). The rashie comes off very quickly.

I'm not trying to be argumentative - I'm just pointing out something you may not have considered - there's a safety aspect to wearing them outside your drysuit.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:41 pm 
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I do appreciate the advice. I know what the guys who do what I do are wearing and why. I plan to keep wearing my PFD under my suit. It works better for me. Thanks.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:38 pm 
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There is a big difference between a drysuit and a drytop (or splash gear or a rashie)!

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:07 am 
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I wear the pfd over the dry and wet suit
First the wet/drysuit ,trapeze pfd and then the lycra /rash

And when on warmer days the wetsuit ,trapeze spraytop pfd ,lycra/rash

There,s no room for a pfd onder the drysuit

drysuit
Image

spraytop

Image

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:40 am 
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I would say outside a wet/dry suit... for sure.

But under a spraytop/rashie... I sail most of the summer with an under armor shirt over my PFD.. It helps keep buckles and places to snag contained.

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