Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: Adding visibility to a canoe
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justpaddlin |
My fingerless paddling gloves are safety green and I think they add quite a bit of visibility due to the constant movement. I like the padded Bontrager bicycling gloves. One easy way to add visibility to your boat would be to just buy a couple of high visibility pool noodles and cut them in half and put two lengths on your bow and two on your stern. Pool noodles are typically hollow and I think some come with a slit (or just use a utility knife)...the hole in the center is usually about one inch diameter and will clamp onto the gunwale. I agree with the blaze orange hat. I wear one if I think there's a good chance of being near hunters. Safety green might be better if you don't want folks assuming that you are a hunter. You sound like a good candidate for an air horn too! |
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gravelroad |
SouthernKevlar: "A bunch of Roman Candles and a big Hunter Orange Hat?" I wear the latter and a bright PFD when paddling my kayak on Gitche Gumee. Not much traffic out there, however, in the months with an “r.” :-) Can’t stay to chat. Gotta go throw the boat onto my truck rack. There is a very handy calm today before the storm! |
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bwcamjh |
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Savage Voyageur |
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SouthernKevlar |
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AlexanderSupertramp |
These The alternative would be high-vis tape to break up the grey, I find that orange sticks out more than the yellow when on the water but that could just be me, I dont know if there's any science around that. I see more orange buoys than I do yellow. With that said, I dont know that bright colors really solve the problem. These solo canoes are extremely low profile and even on a slightly choppy day with some rollers, half the time your boat is dipping out of sight, add that to the fact that boats are always nose up to some extent and 99% of boaters are mostly idiots the second they get behind the wheel. The flag at least places a bright object high enough above the waterline that it can be seen. A light on a rod is useful really only at dusk or night and I personally I wouldn't be out in a solo canoe on lake with boats at that time. |
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OldScout48 |
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keth0601 |
The bare IXP gray looks really cool, but it also seems like just the right shade of gray that it will blend in with the surface of the lake pretty well. Granted I won't be paddling around motorboat traffic as much as backwaters and wilderness, but it's still a concern. Any ideas or things other people have done to make themselves more visible in a canoe? I was thinking about painting a portion of the ends (similar to how Grey Duck canoes finish theirs), or maybe adding a length of red decal tape along the length of the canoe, something along those lines. Now I wish I would have paid a bit extra to have the boat pigmented/colored red, yellow, green, etc. Some will probably say I'm overthinking it, but knowing how many people like to booze and cruise on some of the lakes I paddle from time-to-time, I'd rather be as visible as I can be. |
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JD |
Congrats on the Phoenix, by the way! |
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A1t2o |
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Minnesotian |
When I spot a canoeist on the lake at a distance, most of the time it is the flash of reflection off the paddle and the movement of the paddle that catches my eye first. Next is the height of the canoeist themselves. No matter the color of the canoe, it usually looks like a black line on the water, unless it is kevlar and is backlit. Then the canoe color really sticks out. I share your concern about being visible to motorboats, especially on lakes that a person in a canoe is a rarity, basically any lakes outside of the BWCA. I wear a pale, white, brimmed hat, and a high visibility PDF in orange. Sometimes if I am questioning if a motorboat has spotted me, I will exaggerate my paddle movements, sometimes actually raising it above my head and waving it around, much like a Tusken raider. |
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Wally13 |
I was told silver/white and yellow to be the most visible from afar. A bright colored PFD and Hat can add to your visibility. SOLAS REFLECTIVE TAPE |
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keth0601 |
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A1t2o |
bwcamjh: "Lots of ways to increase visibility." Sometimes less is more though. For example, up at my parent's retirement cabin, there is a guy that goes out out on the lake every year during the 4th of July weekend wearing only a pink speedo. No matter how hard you try, you can't miss him. Just ask around, everyone knows exactly what color the speedo is. |