C-Forum

In the market for a new pfd, any one tried the Astral Willis or the new Stolquist Descent?

opinions please

D-Caption

Wish it had more flotation. It has the standard Astral 15.5 I think.

FWIW, I really like my Kokatat Ronin. It's the only PFD I've owned that doesn't ride up. AT ALL. Quite comfortable too.

Doug

Wendy wrote:Wish it had more flotation. It has the standard Astral 15.5 I think.

Yeah, they're the ISO standard 70 newtons (20 more than it's predecessor the Newton which was CE 50N) Can I ask why you'd want more floatation, It's tiring enough to swim with a standard BA, let alone anything bigger.

I'll happily reccomend the Astral BA's (I have a now dying newton, and a green jacket both are excellent) and the Kokatat Ronin (I have the Pro version, and it's genuinely the best BA I've ever owned, masses of pocket space, provides back support, and adjusts to a wide range of body shapes).

I have been looking at the Ronin Pro and really like it!

I probably weigh more than you do. When I swam from Broken Nose to SLice and Dice on the Ocoee the Astral Willis was not adequate. About half way down my nose was below water with not eddie or rock to get a safe harbor. The OCoee is very wide.

there are a lot of vests out there that do good things, some of the cool low profiles dont float me enough, (tho I am fat) I would never buy a green for that reason (that and theyre a pull over).
But it does look like the smartest most comfortable vest I ver tried on dry land. pockets are out of the way too.

I wear a big bulky extrasport with enough floatation some people could paddle it down the river, but thats me.

Wendy wrote:I probably weigh more than you do. When I swam from Broken Nose to SLice and Dice on the Ocoee the Astral Willis was not adequate. About half way down my nose was below water with not eddie or rock to get a safe harbor. The OCoee is very wide.

I can empathise with that, swimming in the middle of silverback I had to swim agressively at the surface just to keep breathing for a while before I could make the 500 yd swim for the bank.

I put it down to the principal that you're not meant to go swimming down a "class five" rather than weight though.

never having tried either (so why am I posting) ...

... the Descent appears to be rather short waisted. Which in a kayak is a good thing, but for us open boaters I find sort of silly. Just speaking in generalities, and not about a specific jacket. These short jacket tend to put their bulk up front on your chest, which is almost in the way. While IMHO the same amount of float in a longer jacket, may help to float you higher, as your body will be getting more air down (off the surface) into the water. And with a longer jacket, there's also more area of protection (kidneys and back). Not sure about length of the Willis, it looks a bit longer. BTW that is why I said no to a Green Jacket, it felt to have all it's float just where a canoer doesn't want it.