NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing => Drillin' & Cuttin' => Topic started by: pmmpete on March 28, 2022, 11:01:29 PM
-
Hobie only offers the 12' and 14' Pro Angler 360 Drive kayaks in green and blue camo. Those colors aren't very visible on the water. I want to add a bright orange stripe about 8 inches (20 cm) wide and 8 feet (244 cm) long to the side of my Pro Angler to make it more visible on the water, for safety purposes. But it's hard to find something which adheres firmly to rotomolded polyethylene. Vinyl wrap material doesn't stick well to kayaks. I found some bright reflective material used on road signs and as visibility stripes on trucks which has an adhesive which seems to stick well to polyethylene, but it's so thick and stiff that it appears to be suitable only for attachment to flat surfaces. What materials can I use to add a visibility stripe to my Pro Angler? Orange duct tape will stick to polyethylene, but I'd have to lay down four strips of duct tape to produce an eight inch wide strip, which I think would look kind of shabby.
For safety reasons, I wish that Hobie offered the Pro Angler 360 drive kayaks in bright colors such as orange, yellow, and bright green in addition to the current two camo colors.
-
Safety Orange PlastiDip. Tape off the area you want to color, and cover up the area around from over spray.
Several coats are better than one thick coat. The more the better. Non permanent, non marring.
-
High visibility 180 strobes on poles … one on the bow and one on the stern. Take a 3 week trip to Chernobyl you’ll come back with a glow! :o :o
I remember seeing a guy in the big blue at Pacific City that had a flag that also had a tinsel pompom on it….. you could see that thing glimmer from shore when he was out at Haystack rock.
-
I think you would be better off with a high visibility flag and hat than trying to add color to the kayak
-
what are your goals with the added visibility, it may help guide people's suggestions. Is it to help assist a S&R team spot you from the air if you are in distress? or is it to be seen by other boaters on the water?
-
what are your goals with the added visibility, it may help guide people's suggestions. Is it to help assist a S&R team spot you from the air if you are in distress? or is it to be seen by other boaters on the water?
My primary purpose is to make the kayak be more visible to motor boaters, but the stripe would also help searchers find the kayak.
A story: I was kayak fishing, and decided to move to a different spot about a mile and a half away. There was an obvious large red object in that area. I couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like a big traffic cone, or a very large buoy. As I got closer, I finally realized that it was another kayaker wearing a red Kokatat drysuit. From a distance, I couldn't see his kayak, but the drysuit was highly visible. I have also noticed that one foot diameter red buoys are visible from a very long distance.
-
I dont know how much a stripe would do for you then since the kayak has such a low profile against the water and any reasonable chop would obscure you from afar. Seems like a big flag and investing in bright clothing/life jacket may be the better option.
-
I dont know how much a stripe would do for you then since the kayak has such a low profile against the water and any reasonable chop would obscure you from afar. Seems like a big flag and investing in bright clothing/life jacket may be the better option.
I have a large and high safety flag - see my post at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=15155.msg164358#msg164358. I chose a red drysuit and a red PFD, and when I'm not wearing the drysuit I wear bright clothing. I spray painted my hard-sided cooler red. But I think that adding an orange or other bright colored stripe on the side of my Pro Angler will make it more visible, particularly since I do most of my kayak fishing in fresh water, where there isn't (hopefully!) enough swell to hide the hull of my kayak.
-
More glow more better! If I find myself in a boat that's not a bright color, aint no dinky orange flag or strobe gonna make me feel any safer.
I'm not familiar with the contours of the PA, but I've pondered how I could make the hull of a green SOT more visible. It would probably require screwing a couple of fasteners to the hull, but what I arrived at was strips of reflective cloth (the stuff they make high-vis vests out of) fastened in front of and behind the cockpit, and decently above the waterline. I'd go heavy on the fasteners, otherwise the fabric could be an entanglement liability.
I don't understand the proliferation of 'camo' kayaks. Maybe there's a big kayak duck hunting contingent that I'm not aware of?
-
More glow more better! If I find myself in a boat that's not a bright color, aint no dinky orange flag or strobe gonna make me feel any safer.
I'm not familiar with the contours of the PA, but I've pondered how I could make the hull of a green SOT more visible. It would probably require screwing a couple of fasteners to the hull, but what I arrived at was strips of reflective cloth (the stuff they make high-vis vests out of) fastened in front of and behind the cockpit, and decently above the waterline. I'd go heavy on the fasteners, otherwise the fabric could be an entanglement liability.
I don't understand the proliferation of 'camo' kayaks. Maybe there's a big kayak duck hunting contingent that I'm not aware of?
I don't understand the camo patterns either and Hobie charges a premium for it...I chose a bright red kayak for this exact reason. The more you stand out the better, there are videos every few years that surface of 18-20'+ powerboats being rundown on the Columbia, B10 or the Willamette. I don't have any ideas on how to help you with the stripe you want but I have a whistle hanging from my life jacket as well as a mini airhorn in the cupholder just incase.
-
Pete,
Would white work? https://solastapes.com/
I don't see a color other than white, which is,traditional for SOLAS . I've had triangular sections on my T 15 since I bought it back on 08 and they're still reflective and have not budged at all.
Edit: this page might help too. https://www.grimco.com/Catalog/Search?searchString=3m+reflective&c=&utm_source=adwords&utm_campaign=3M+-+Reflective&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=3m%20reflective&hsa_src=g&hsa_kw=3m%20reflective&hsa_tgt=kwd-26947216&hsa_cam=1614072844&hsa_ad=383321128941&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_grp=59967971454&hsa_ver=3&hsa_mt=e&hsa_acc=6995058817&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl7qSBhD-ARIsACvV1X2KO5wy0evDKILQIKtS9GG9E7VGBTgGzqoGs6WZlAn8_XDPqx5xjzQaAm3cEALw_wcB
-
Pete,
Would white work? https://solastapes.com/
I don't see a color other than white, which is,traditional for SOLAS . I've had triangular sections on my T 15 since I bought it back on 08 and they're still reflective and have not budged at all.
Edit: this page might help too. https://www.grimco.com/Catalog/Search?searchString=3m+reflective&c=&utm_source=adwords&utm_campaign=3M+-+Reflective&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=3m%20reflective&hsa_src=g&hsa_kw=3m%20reflective&hsa_tgt=kwd-26947216&hsa_cam=1614072844&hsa_ad=383321128941&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_grp=59967971454&hsa_ver=3&hsa_mt=e&hsa_acc=6995058817&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl7qSBhD-ARIsACvV1X2KO5wy0evDKILQIKtS9GG9E7VGBTgGzqoGs6WZlAn8_XDPqx5xjzQaAm3cEALw_wcB
Thanks for the link, just bought 4 feet of 6 inch.
-
I bought a roll of 4 inch wide racing orange T.R.U. CD-36 industrial grade duct tape from Tape Supply for $24.47, free shipping. It's pretty good quality duct tape - not as high quality as Gorilla duct tape, but better than the typical hardware store duct tape. A picture of the roll of tape is shown below. I put a strip of the tape along the side of my 12' Pro Angler, lining up the top of the strip with the mold line along the top of the side of the kayak. When I get pictures of the kayak on the water, I'll post them to show the extent, if any, to which the strip makes the kayak more visible at a distance.
Laying down the 4" tape without any wrinkles or bubbles is challenging. While you can find wider tape on line, wider tape would be harder to lay down without any wrinkles or bubbles.
-
Looks partially translucent(if that’s the word) I can see through it a little.
-
I participated when the U.S. Coast Guard and the Coast Guards of nine other nations did on-the-water tests for the most visible/recognizable colors for searchers/rescuers, and orange was the second from last recognizable/visible color, just in front of red. Bright blue is the most recognizable color from above. Just sayin'
In order:
1. Blue
2. Yellow
3. Chartreuse
4. International orange
5. Red
-
I participated when the U.S. Coast Guard and the Coast Guards of nine other nations did on-the-water tests for the most visible/recognizable colors for searchers/rescuers, and orange was the second from last recognizable/visible color, just in front of red. Bright blue is the most recognizable color from above. Just sayin'
In order:
1. Blue
2. Yellow
3. Chartreuse
4. International orange
5. Red
Interesting! If my orange stripe gets beat up, that suggests that I should replace it with a blue or yellow stripe. But I suspect that any of those five colors is better than camo green.
-
Interesting! If my orange stripe gets beat up, that suggests that I should replace it with a blue or yellow stripe. But I suspect that any of those five colors is better than camo green.
My bad, pete. Your original post mentioned a camouflage blue and it got stuck in my head. Yes, I an see how any bright color could be an improvement over green camouflage - but I can't recall whether or not we tested a shade of green. ???
-
Here's a couple of pictures of my visibility stripe on shore at a launch site. When I get some pictures of the stripe on the water at a distance, I'll post them.