What bouyancy aid

General advice for SUP is no pocketson the front or similar as it's harder to get back on your board.

My BA (and my kids' one) has buckles but doesn't seem to hinder us getting on, but could do it you didn't have enough arm strength I guess

Have a Jobe 4 buckle one, can tuck my phone (tethered and inside a case) beneath a couple of the buckle straps

paddle boards on order but just as likely to hop in a canoe or a kayak or crew a trapeze boat if I get the chance.

At least two different types there! Sailing and paddleboarding can be the same but AFAIA a canoe one would ideally be cut lower to give more freedom in the arms shoulders.
Realistically though probably just get a sailing one!

Something nice and simple tends to work best for SUP and Sailing. The classic - go try one on for best fit.

We have 4x Yak [s]Blaze's[/s] Kallista - they Just. Work. and have done for years.

General advice for SUP is no pocketson the front or similar as it’s harder to get back on your board.

Best not look at my BA with pockets (complete with knife, tapes, krabs etc), with buckles, and low down below armpits - but more prominent as a result, or the fact I have to climb over a canoe gunwhale. IMO, some of this 'advice' is rather splitting hairs on safety.

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Thanks Matt, the yak was on my shortlist. I do like a pocket though, I'm a misplacer of all things and like a decent sized one for phone and camera etc.

Where is the go to paddle shop for a good selection to try on?

I also need one for the dog 😁

What size of dog? I'm thinking that anything larger than a Chihuahua is going to be too big for a pocket.

Good point scotroutes 22kg would be a bit of a stretch!

Slightly different principle but I use a Restube Extreme for Watersports. I can fit it on my Kitesurf harness or round my waist for other Watersports. Has the same buoyancy as a standard pfd when inflated (50N).
Nice thing is it’s there for me if I need it (have never done so far…) but also I could use it to help someone else if need be.

Thats really not got a place in a river though.

Palm Meander is a good option, quite good VFM and a pocket for a small dry bag or phone / keys

Aquaplanet do some nice PFD ‘s too

I do like a pocket though, I’m a misplacer of all things and like a decent sized one for phone and camera etc.

Bum bag - there's a few waterproof (enough) ones, or add a dry bag.
(When I'm on a big River, my bum bag has throwline and more krabs/tape/pulleys in around my waist).

Shops I'm not sure since the local ones closed here. Sailing chandler's may be more widely in existence.

Honestly, I thought this was Singletrackworld…Yak Blaze/Kallista? Surely nothing less than Kokatat or an Astral Greenjacket will do the job!

personally i am a big fan of Peak Paddlesport gear as it has always struck a good balance of quality v price. The Tourlite is quite a versatile pfd with a couple of pockets, low cut form factor and very strong ripstop outer without breaking the bank.

I got this one, the best thing about it is the pocket. It means I always wear it because the pocket is so useful. Otherwise I might be tempted not to bother as I only ever go on the canal.

Mix of Rooster and Crewsaver PFD's in this house. Really though any major brand with a high enough cut and the right fit could be a winner.

Rooster kit is well made and they're local so they tend to be the default for a fair bit of our kit.

We've got a couple of cheap Decathlon BA's as well. Not as good and tend to only come out when we've got friends to take afloat, mark laying and lifting (mucky) or for days in waders retrieving Toppers from the shore break at events.

Joshvegas - not sure why you consider a Restube unsuitable for a river or for SUPing. You have more freedom to paddle, can swim faster and the same buoyancy if you need it, plus the ability to help others. Arguably safer than a PFD.

Joshvegas – not sure why you consider a Restube unsuitable for a river or for SUPing.

I'm swift water rescue trained. I know how to swim out of flows and I want as mush floatation and my arms free to do it at the same time. Plus anything tied to me with ropes is a snagging risk.

I'm not against the concept in a nice big open waterbody on a light day but it's just not for me as a general everyoccassion pfd.

Joshvegas – not sure why you consider a Restube unsuitable for a river or for SUPing. You have more freedom to paddle, can swim faster and the same buoyancy if you need it, plus the ability to help others. Arguably safer than a PFD.

I come at it having paddled rivers that are likely outwith what most paddleboarders are thinking,
1. has a leash which can be caught on a rock.
2. Said leash is attached to what looks like plastic waist strap - point of failure should it catch.
3. Because of leash/way it attaches, the buoyancy it gives offers no alignment of body. While PFD doesn't keep mouth above water like a Life Jacket, it does default to a head upwards, feet down position - and this Restube doesn't.
4. Vulnerable to a puncture, and in doing so loosing all it's floatation.
5. When swimming defensively or actively, you can actually use the floatation of a PFD to help - eddy line rolls for example.
6. You have to inflate it....? What happens if you are knocked out or similar...
7. Everytime you inflate it, it costs a CO2 cylinder.
8. LOok carefully at the advertising - I can find one image of a Restube ambassador on a river wave (yet most recent images of him he wears a PFD on river), the rest are flat water, I think this says a lot.

It has it's place, but IMO it is not really the solution to moving water, and I don't see many downsides to a PFD other than fashion coming from paddleboarders. The fashion in paddle boarding seems at odds with many other watersports - even a pal who runs a SUP, kayak and canoe business was expressing this last week to me. He has huge concerns over some folk with no wetsuit and no PFD on cold water venues, and a lack of any helmets on rivers on SUPs too.

9: nowhere to stuff your hands to thaw them out...

Traditionally, watercraft have been bulky, heavy, expensive, difficult to transport and required a degree of skill to use. Inflatable SUPs (and kayaks) get round all these problems and in the case of SUPs even have a 'cool' image. Problem is rivers, lakes and the sea can potentially be dangerous places and more to the point can change their nature in a matter of minutes. Earlier in the week I had to rescue a couple in an inflatable kayak who had become stranded on the wrong side of Old Harry rocks due to the tide changing and kicking up a race which they couldn't paddle against and would have capsized in. They had no PFDs on and could easily have drowned. In the end I had to tow them out round the race and I was seriously thinking about calling in a shout - I even gave the girl my PFD to put on and the lad my airfilled drybag just in case. This kind of thing goes now goes on all summer long with all of my mates having similar stories of dragging back Suppers blown downwind or just speaking to people on the beach when they can see their knowledge and skill isn't sufficient for the conditions.

When I'm on my SUP on the sea I will always wear a PFD with the leash attached to it on a quick release clip - a guy died last year when he went one side of a buoy and his board went the other and the leash snagged the buoy chain in a running tide. NRS do a really good waist leash. Those restubes and various other Co2 based belts look a bit of a faff to me and I question whether a lot of people using them even know how to work the manual inflation system.

In the time old tradition of suggesting what I have, one of these because that was what was available at the time and I'd got rid of all my old expensive kayaking ones thinking they wouldn't get used again! https://www.nrseurope.com/product/40062.01/nrs-surge-pfd-closeout It's ok, has pockets but not too bulky, however won't fit a large phone in a dry case, easy to get on and off and easy to paddle in. I also have a restube that lives on the HF SUP belt if I'm on flat water like a small lake or slow river and don't want to wear a BA, my instructions to other half are if you ever see me waving that around things have gone wrong and get help, I'm not just in cooling off or someone else is involved. Escape Watersports have some of the Yak ones on sale with an extra 5% off right now.

Isn't a Restube susceptible to the buoy scenario that Winston just mentioned?

always amazes me the amount of paddle boarders who dont bother with PFD / Helmets on running water.

even more confusing are those you see with the PFD strapped to the elastics.....

I think the buoy scenario mentioned relates to the ankle leash on the SUP.
Restube has a very simple inflate mechanism just by pulling a tag on it. There’s a small line attaching it the the bag, but only after you deploy it.
As mentioned I’m not sure it’s suitable for white water but for open water I like it. You can’t really wear a PFD kitesurfing so I think having any sort of deployable buoyancy is good. I personally think it’s a valid option if you’re a decent swimmer and unlikely to actually need buoyancy, especially since you are already leashed to a very buoyant object.

9: nowhere to stuff your hands to thaw them out…

I'm putting that as No.1.

You can’t really wear a PFD kitesurfing

I am intrigued as to why not.

I personally think it’s a valid option if you’re a decent swimmer and unlikely to actually need buoyancy, especially since you are already leashed to a very buoyant object.

As with any PPE, there are benefits and compromises - increased safety protection, limitations and negative impacts. Informed decisions about what works for you and accepting the limitations are what's needed.

even more confusing are those you see with the PFD strapped to the elastics…..

I partly agree. In a genuine emergency, will you have opportunity and presence of mind to actually don it...
...but then paddling in France or UK on really hot days, we've all taken PFD's off due to increased risk of heat stroke.

All a balance and judgement.

I should probably more accurately say wearing a PFD kitesurfing would be extremely awkward, likely to get in the way of the harness and QR system for the kite, plus limit flexibility and movement. There are impact vests designed for kiting which are smaller and don’t get in the way as much but they don’t have any buoyancy.

plus limit flexibility and movement.

Not sure I buy that.

There are impact vests designed for kiting which are smaller and don’t get in the way as much but they don’t have any buoyancy.

I may be wrong here - I thought many had 50nm buoyancy and some designed to fit with (windsurf) harnesses? Pretty sure I used to borrow one with connected harness back in 1994/5 season.

I'm not deliberately being argumentative (promise), but it does strike me and other paddlesport or sailing or windsurf coaches I know that SUP (and now I'm suspecting kitesurfing) have a serious issue of fashion before practicalities.

IME, a lot of things we said or did paddling back in the 1990's have now drastically changed. Better designed kit, someone daring to try a different approach, someone learning from an incident and much more have informed what happens now. For myself, I've a few things:
- I (and others) took the michael of a friend wearing a bumbag of rescue kit. Until the day my boat floated off while I rushed to get to a recirculating friend - and the boat had my rescue kit and throwline in.
- I was so happy the day I took a brand new slicey and long kayak out on the river. Right up until I tapped a rock, turned side on and then found myself pinned vertically by the long slicey tail I thought was ace...
- Squeezed into silly tiny boats, they were agony on my feet and legs. The day I got in a boat with a few cm more length and volume, it was like paddling a sofa with no downside in performance...

Kitesurf specific impact vests are certainly not PFDs and make a point of saying this on the blurb. I think Forward make one that might work but I haven’t seen it in the flesh.
Unless equipment fails fairly badly you can usually get out of trouble when kitesurfing using the kite. Plus of course you go out in conditions that lend themselves to getting back to sure ie onshore winds. My worst kitemare to date was when my kite exploded in 30 knot plus winds and big waves, about 200m or so off shore, but it turned out to be a fairly relaxed swim back in with no need to deploy anything other than the safety on the kite.
For me the Restube is a useful extra bit of safety to have that I’ll probably never use but like to have in case I ever have to ditch the kite completely.
As others have mentioned the main issue appears to be people just going out and buying equipment then heading out with little thought for conditions and potential dangers. Anybody that spends a decent amount of time in the sea learns to pay it respect.

Annoyingly I have ended up with two. Peak UK sea kayaking one for sea/canoe/sup but it's too bulky for Lasering, so had to buy a slimmer Gill one.