C-Forum

Greetings and solicitations!! I'm new to this board, having only recently found it browsing the web for C-1 info, when lo and behold, it appears I hit the mother load! I've been an open boater for years, most recently paddling a Viper 12. I found a great deal on a dagger atom recently, so I had to buy it to try out the world of decked boating. I've been wondering about outfitting it with floatation, and would welcome any suggestions. My main question though, is how do I affix the float bags to the inside of my boat? I wondered if there was some way to clip them in like I do with my open boat in the bow and stern.....course, I really don't think I can crawl that far up into that skinny sucker. Also, any suggestions as to what size bags I would need would be appreciated. I don't plan on carrying much gear other than maybe a sandwich and snacks with some water, and of course my throwbag. All input is welcome!

I punched holes, small ones through the bulkheads, tied em together, orient them to the ends. this works fine, try NOT to swim, lol

Heck,Fill it with spray foam...why spend the $$ on bags.

I dunno about the spray foam, I can forsee where I might wanna put some gear in the boat, and I think I would rather have the option of removing a bag to place the gear in. A friend of mine suggested that when I do put any gear in it, to put it on my on-side. When you say the bulkhead, do you mean the minicell dam running down the middle or through the actual deck?

it's nice to attach 'em somehow, but don't worry too much about it, a lot of kayakers don't tie 'em in at all.

in my boats, i put in four 6" loops of small webbing... 2 in front and 2 in the rear, not in the ends of the boat, but near the cockpit opening. actually the front ones are attached to the bolts that hold in your saddle (or the footbrace bolts in a kayak hull) and the rear ones are attached to the rear safety bars. i don't think the atom has those, but you can figure something out....any ways, i clip my floatbags to those loops with those cheap little keychain carribeeners. i also clip everything else to those loops..lunch...dry bags.. first aid kit..pin kit... overnight gear... super handy dandy..

good luck with that boat! the atom was my first c1 also. i had kind of a tough transition after 7 or something years in oc (the vipers were my favorite) ..but i haven't gone back.

squeakyknee wrote:Heck,Fill it with spray foam...why spend the $$ on bags.

I suspect that monsieur Le Squeakyknee's response was, shall we say, ummm, le tongue en cheek. I shudder to think how many cans of spray foam it would take and what a pain it would be when it cracked and got soggy. Shaving cream might be cheaper and when you see that it works almost as well, easier to clean up!

My budget solution is empty three liter soda bottles - in my small play boat, 4 do nicely. In an Atom, you might need a few more.

I paddle an Atom- have a float bag on oneside in the front and the other side in the back- I don't tie them in and they have never moved. Just inflate and they seem to stick(and I have been know to take the occassional swim, so I can tell you from experience that water in the boat does'nt pop the bags out ). A bag for each end does the trick, and leaves me room for gear fore and aft.

If you leave them in while travelling - tie them in. I have lost them at interstate speeds...

...if you swim, most of the time they stay in. but if your boat gets worked in a hole, they will most likely come out and then you're pals have got more things to deal with. i know that it's way more fun to run a creek than to chase an empty (full of water) kayak down it, so i like to make thing easy for my rescue crew..i tie 4 bags in my creek boat. i don't worry about it in my play boat because i don't usually run anything harder than class III-IV in it, and haven't (knock on wood) had a swim, i've got two little bags stuffed in front of the bulkhead, not tied in...

sbroam's right too... They get sucked out on the top of the car!

I used LEW's suggestion of some foam wedges glued into the tunnels to hold air bags in place. They are glued in at a point slightly less than the size of the airbag from the stern or bow when inflated. They are big enough such that the bag slips in when deflated and will not come out when inflated. I would say the wedges are about 5"x 3" x 5" made from mini cell foam.

Appreciate the info, I hadn't thought about clipping them in from the cockpit side....duh....still looking at things from an open boat perspective. In my viper, I clipped them in with the same cheap little carabiners, ('bout a buck apiece) and attatched 'em to the grab loops. I have some places on the factory saddle that look like I can attach 'biners, and then clip bags there....seems like the most feasible option. And as far as the transition, it seems to be progressing rather well, although here in AR, everything is in drought mode, so everything has been flatwater practice and roll sessions so far. Jonesin' for some water!!

On my Cascade, I have a line through the minicell braces running the length of the boat, pretty much where they line up on their own when inflated. One line for the two in front, one for the two in the rear.

I can untie them if I want to take them out, but they pretty much stay in there all the time. If you deflate them, you can pull them out for cleaning or inspection without untying them. Inflated, they stay put. If I need a little extra room (like a thermos of soup when it's cold), I just let a little air out of my onside front bag to make room. Some of the newer bags actually have a storage compartment in them, if you are in need of new bags.

Now that I have a pretty good idea as to how to fix 'em into the boat, any suggestions on affordable bags? I went to NRS and also to the NOC store, but both of those seem somewhat pricy for bags. (I know, I'm cheap, or as I like to call it, I paddle on a budget) I been keepin' my eye out for used ones that would work....both on here and also on my local paddling club board.....

the nrs bags are pretty good. and they're light.

Keep an eye on Sierra Trading Post, I've gotten bargains on bags from them before (OC-1 and decked boat).