NCKA Rescue down at Shelter Cove, California

I guess I didn't realize how serious you guys are about your noodles

Never EVER make fun of a man's noodle.

-Allen

I guess my feeling is that pool noodles are better than nothing, it just seems to me that a porous surface that can absorb water would lose it's buoyancy a little bit more every day. The noodle relies on air pockets in the foam to provide buoyancy, if the pockets are all saturated, there is less buoyancy. Where as a non permeable material could never absorb water. Yes, float bags can pop, but if they are positioned properly in the boat, they should be out of the way of any action. I guess my concern is that pool noodles will degrade over time but so will bags, but for a buck a pop, they're easy to replace. I wish I was smart enough to test that hypothesis. How about a float bag and pool noodles?

I guess I didn't realize how serious you guys are about your noodles

A primary principal in safety engineering is redundancy of systems; i.e., relying on a thousand little bubbles is safer than relying on one or two larger bubbles, all else being equal. The most likely cause of degradation of noodles or float bags would probably be UV exposure. Degradation of the surface of a noodle might result in the loss of a small amount of function (with the interior shaded bubbles unaffected), while the degradation of the surface of a float bag could easily lead to total failure. I'm also pretty sure that pool noodle material is closed cell, thus not porous. A gradual leak that could lead to saturation would probably be noticeable and easily corrected. Extra flotation is most desirable for cases of sudden loss of hull integrity, where gradual saturation is unlikely.

Pool noodles may be ugly, inelegant, and unfashionable, but effectiveness is a much more desirable trait, IMO. Just because they were originally designed to be frivolous toys doesn't mean they can't have a higher purpose.

BTW, I'm not sure the noodles have anything to do with our seriousness. It seems we're just a bunch of geeks.

My pool noodles are the exact same color as my yak, so they look factory installed. 

It seems we're just a bunch of geeks.

Hey!  Speak for myself, Man.   

Good point, Sicko.  My thoughts exactly.   

Pool noodles may be ugly, inelegant, and unfashionable, but effectiveness is a much more desirable trait, IMO. Just because they were originally designed to be frivolous toys doesn't mean they can't have a higher purpose.

What came first, the pool noodle or water pipe insulation? 

It's open cell foam, so the water flows in and out. I pretty much agree with you, but the "air pockets" in the noodles don't really have any way to keep from filling with water. the only thing keeping you afloat is the hydrophobic nature of the foam, which if you've ever owned gortex or something with a dwr finish, you know it loses it's resistance to water over time. Now granted it's basically plastic, and plastic never goes away it just breaks down into smaller particles, so it would probably take 10,000 years to kill a pool noodle.

I have a closed cell foam back band in my sea kayak that will saturate with water if it sits in the cockpit for a couple days with water in it....it still floats, but it has to lose some buoyancy since water weighs more than air.

PFD's lose buoyancy over time. it takes on average 3-5 years and the PVC or Gaia foam is done and will not provide enough flotation. Same should hold true for pool noodles. They'll last longer because they aren't exposed to UV and water as often as (my) PFD, but they will lose flotation....So will float bags. It's a fairly vague point since we are talking 5-10 years of life for noodles.

regardless, a plastic boat pretty much has neutral buoyancy (unless you have 200 pounds of gear on board) and shouldn't sink to the bottom. A float bag fore and aft will leave allot more room in the hull than 25 pool noodles, and the boat will be balanced if capsized or filled with water, making it easier to bilge and recover.

My theory is that the noodles could be saturated with water and float bags cannot, and it does matter what the load weight is, because more weight would force the boat down and force water to saturate the noodles by allowing that trapped air to escape. Float bags would not ever saturate. They positively do not allow water to fill that space in the hull, and trap air. Granted if the boat sank to 20 or 30 ft they would pop from pressure, but you're toast at that point anyway.

In theory I am right, but in reality you guys are right. Pool noodle are fine and work great. I'm sticking with float bags though.....maybe I'll throw in a noodle or two.

What did the owner of the sinking kayak have in his boat? Noodles or nothing?

I have put some thought into this as I often go far offshore and the thought of swimming back is not really an option .  I want the best option that works for my situation.  In a fishing yak, or at least mine in particular, float bags would not work as their shape and associated bulk would limit space in my yak that I use to stow long items such as my rods down the centerline of my yak.  Pool noodles are a better choice and get will get used as their shape and length allows them to be stuffed along the sides of the yak (basically unused space) and thus don't take valuable space along the centerline of the yak that gets used to carry valuable rods and gear. Plus gaff hooks and big bags of air don't dance well together

and, for those of you who have "rec boat" style SInKs, or want to add floatation bags, here's a link to a super bargain on some;

http://shopping.msn.com/specs/harmony-recreational-kayak-flotation-bag/itemid999182193/?itemtext=itemname:harmony-recreational-kayak-flotation-bag

I have to think that pool noodles would be fine left in water, as that is what they are made for...a pool.  And for the most part they are used in the summer in the sun.  The upside is that you don't have to wait 5-10 years to find out if they degrade as cheap as they are.   Just replace them every year or three.   

Time for a Myth Busters way of finding out what works.  Put two kayaks of the same make and model, put float bags in one and noodles in the the other.  Then fill with water and see what happens.  I'd suggest this be done not far off shore (calm lake) and have the yaks tethered to something on shore to be able to recover them in the event that they really sink. 

Lets say they actually perform as hoped to, and just stay afloat but full of water.  Maybe play around with the heavy kayak for an hour and see if anything changes to the pool noodles in that time. 

That sounds like something I might do. Would make a good blog post anyway.

I'm working on an outfitting segment with float bags. When I get them in, I'll get one with noodles and test it out. i think the reality is they are both going to work, just depends on how you want to do it.

I might try this out in the pool my apartment complex has! 

I might try this out in the pool my apartment complex has! 

Can't wait for the YouTube video!

Just fill it with bobbers.  That way if you run into a school of perch or other pan fish you are ready to go. 

Time for a Myth Busters way of finding out what works.

Or ping pong balls.  Myth busters re-floated a sunken boat by filling it with ping pong balls.

So, after outfitting my new scupper pro, I agree that pool noodles are perfect for SOT's

the way the scuppers are positioned, the noodles will stay up inside the gunwhales and leave a nice long area for rods. Also, noodles are good for distributing flotation evenly from bow to stern, especially when you can't access the stern to put a float bag in. I don't think they provide as much flotation as bags, but for my weight with gear, it is adequate.

So, this doesn't happen very often, but I am conceding my argument to the pool noodle. I was wrong. You were right.

See? It does happen.