anybody need a safety flag?

After 4/21 at DB and seeing Yaknitup's x-factor at work, adding a safety flag was at the top of my list.

I wanted an 8 foot staff, but the atv/snowmobile shops around town only carried 7 footers. I stopped by the biggest distributor in the NW over in Boise, and they only carry 7' flags as well. I sent a few emails to the manufacturer and he says he'll ship direct to me.

He also said "The shipping can be costly, so if you need more than one or know anyone else who might need one, its a good idea to combo up an order.  Shipping doesn't change much from one to several pieces."

So anybody that wants to get a Firestik flag with the 8 foot staff let me know. I spend time in Portland and Central Coast, and can meet up to deliver to you. I'm planning on going to ORC 10 and could meet you there, or maybe somebody you know is going to ORC 10? Let me know if anyone has a need.

Why the need for an 8' instead of the more widely available 7'?  It's fairly easy to make one.  Check out TAP Plastics... you can get acrylic or fiberglass rod up to six feet.  Mate that to a larger diameter tube 2.5' long and you're in business.

I'm sticking with my 4' flag setup.

Another cheap ass way to get a light flag holder would be to use an old 8' fishing rod (think Goodwill).  Cut off any eyes you don't want, zip tie the flag to a few of the tip eyes and you now have a sturdy flag whipping in the wind.  

If you are dead set on an ATV style thick stick, and need the extra foot of height you could go this route.  You could make a PVC roll bar like Yakintup did to give your flag a solid mount base. Then add extra rod holders that keep your rods up out of the way of the tank well.  

There's an ATV shop in Oregon City that I picked up my flag at.  Thin (pencil thick), durable fiberglass stick, 7-8ish foot long, nice orange flag and less than ten bucks.  A longer flag is a good idea as they are much easier to see at a distance in larger swells. Four foot would be way to short for my taste off the Oregon coast.  In areas with decent boat traffic I want something a power boat can see clearly from a distance even if I'm in the trough of a 6ft swell.

Hmmm... I haven't really ventured out into open water where I'd experience troughs like that.  Makes sense to need a taller flag I guess.  I would go with INSAYN's tip and pick up a cheap, durable e-glass rod like a Cabela's Whuppin' Stick ($15) so that you'd have a backup rod as well as a flagpole.

Im using my $2 bicycle safety flag from Bi-Mart. Attached it to my plastic milk crate. Acording to beachgoers at PC my yak blends in with the water, but they could see my flag from the the beach. Hopefully the dory boaters are paying attention.

My kayak is Bright orange and yellow (mango!) and my Springfield XDm is black.

lol, maybe I should pick up a flag.


Back on Topic, I'd buy an 8 ft ugly stick before I went around ordering stuff like that!

Im using my $2 bicycle safety flag from Bi-Mart. Attached it to my plastic milk crate.

Good call Mean Joe. That is a cheap and easy way to knock out a couple of birds with one stone. You get the storage and functionality of the milk crate, and also get a place to mount a flag. I picked up my fiberglass whip flag pole at Joes, but it was in the atv dept., so as mentioned above, any atv store should have a decent option for you.

While we're on the topic, I have talked to some of the dory men that frequent PC and the biggest suggestions they have for kayakers are: 1.) have a nice long flagpole with a bright flag on it, and 2.) don't hang out in the surf area that dory's launch/land through. So I would like to suggest to anyone that frequents PC to try and have some kind of flag pole system on their kayak that can be seen from a mile or so away if they don't have one already.

I wonder if it would be successful to get a tow through the surfzone?  Have them pull ya with a ski tow rope.  Let go when you feel ya gotta let go, otherwise shoot through the zone as fast as they do, and up to the beach. 

Ok, probably not a good idea, but I'll buy a beer for the first person to try it.   

INSAYN, we've already been through this   

If I had a rudder, I would totally give it a try. 

INSAYN, we've already been through this   

If I had a rudder, I would totally give it a try. 

Rudder, schmudder. Get a sack then get a tow! 

Saw the old thread and wondered if there will ever be another run of nwka logo flags.
They do look ever so sharp.   

INSAYN, we've already been through this   

If I had a rudder, I would totally give it a try. 

Rudder, schmudder. Get a sack then get a tow! 

Will I be buying you a beer soon? 

I wonder if it would be successful to get a tow through the surfzone?  Have them pull ya with a ski tow rope.  Let go when you feel ya gotta let go, otherwise shoot through the zone as fast as they do, and up to the beach. 

Ok, probably not a good idea, but I'll buy a beer for the first person to try it.   

I've gotten a tow across Silver Lake, does that count?

I wonder if it would be successful to get a tow through the surfzone?  Have them pull ya with a ski tow rope.  Let go when you feel ya gotta let go, otherwise shoot through the zone as fast as they do, and up to the beach. 

Ok, probably not a good idea, but I'll buy a beer for the first person to try it.   

This sounds like it could end badly..so, whos gonna do it!