safety gear that is. packed a plb, mirror,tape, emergency blanket, leatherman, glow stick, whistle and a miro towel (doubles as compression bandage) into my 3l camel pack. some of the stuff hangs off the straps. i would have to say it affected my down wind run. the upper body swing weight is noticeable along with just the sheer weight factor. a run from say snapper to the alley, i would only take the plb, mobile phone and some tape . i have ordered a ultra pinnacle pfd, so i will give that ago with just the plb , phone and tape. for bigger and further out runs, i thing i will don the pfd, carry a flare, plb, mobile and bank on my leggie being solid and attach the rest of the gear to the board. any thoughts on this?
cheers

Two leg ropes attached to 4 plugs should help stop the board wandering off !!!

Just taking a swipe Lacey thats way out there. but safer out there than running around the streets with the crap thats happened in the last week

Hey Lacey, the river rafting guys have super light weight folding short blade knives. I'd be ditching the Leatherman and taking something like that if you really feel you need a knife. What about the micro towel - couldn't you use the blanket and tape to make a compression bandage or even your T shirt or boardies in a real emergency?

Not advocating taking risks but too much crap can make you more tired and unbalanced, I find that even the bulk of the Ultra Pinnacle pfd makes me more tired, think I'm going to work on modifying one of the inflatable ones or just use the regular inflatable with a bum bag style camelbak.

JonathanC said...

Hey Lacey, the river rafting guys have super light weight folding short blade knives. I'd be ditching the Leatherman and taking something like that if you really feel you need a knife. What about the micro towel - couldn't you use the blanket and tape to make a compression bandage or even your T shirt or boardies in a real emergency?

Not advocating taking risks but too much crap can make you more tired and unbalanced, I find that even the bulk of the Ultra Pinnacle pfd makes me more tired, think I'm going to work on modifying one of the inflatable ones or just use the regular inflatable with a bum bag style camelbak.

hi, the blanket is a reflective sheet type. if you have come in some where it stops you getting cold. i've been left to mind the boards and have got very cold. yeah, the towel and tape is the first aid kit. some people have taken out some of the foam on the pinnacle to make it feel better. dale found the bum bag type filled with water and became real heavy. the leatherman has stuff if you need to fix a rudder or something.having said that, yep, that gear made me tired for sure and i would rather not take that stuff. at the moment i'll try the pinnacle, but i'm very open to better ideas
cheers