Picking a PFD...

[Robert Scott]

...for a big guy with a belly. (6'2", 250lbs.)

After reading this, I'm kind of discouraged:
http://www.kayaktrips.net/sea-kayak/000981.html

I currently use an MTI PFD that fits OK and is somewhat comfortable. I'd
like to get another PFD that has no floatation in the lower back for
paddling comfort in my Pungo 140. I'm considering the Stohlquist aSea.
http://www.stohlquist.com/dyn_prod.php?p=STO5205&k=29467

Any big guys out there have any experience with this one?

Good paddling,
desmobob

[Bob Noble]

I've been using a Kokatat MS Fit extra large for about eight years now.
Works great. It has an inter lower strap to keep it down and if it is all
fastened up right, it won't ride up.
MS means it is for women, but men have chests too and it fits better than
most of the others I tried.
I yak almost every day and likely don't really need one on most days, but I
found that if one falls in the water and has a pfd on, you don't need to
spend time saving yourself and can retrieve your equipment. I've seen where
people that think they can swim and don't wear one, are too busy keeping
themselves afloat to deal with their equipment, as they watch it go down the
river. I also wear one to set an example for the kids on the river that are
too smart to wear one.

I don't' think a pfd has to support all your weight because you float some
without a pfd anyway.
I've only falling in a couple times in the eight years I've been going and
the pfd has worked great. I'd fall in more if I did more white water, which
I did for awhile, but that's not the kind of water in my immediate area,
most of the time.

--
Bob Noble
http://www.sonic.net/bnoble

"Robert Scott" <desm...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:87qdncxv64N31pzR...@earthlink.com...

[Walt]

Bob Noble wrote:

>
> I don't' think a pfd has to support all your weight because you float
> some without a pfd anyway.

Right. That's why the US Coast Guard requires adult an PFD to have a
minimum of only 15.5 pounds of floatation. If you wore 200 pounds of
flotation, you'd look like the Michelin Man. (c:

Anyway, the safest pfd is the one you actually wear, so getting a
comfortable pfd will enhance safety since you'll wear it more. I can't
say what's going to be more comfortable for a particular person, all I
can say is try them on to see what you like.

My current PFD is a Stohlquist, and the one before that was an MTI.
Both were pretty good in the comfort arena.

//Walt