C-Forum

...a good Airbag to be/have? Any special features? Which opinions do you have on weight, valves, eylets, ...

Cheers
Florian

I have exclusively used Mohawk bags for my entire OC1 career (just over 2 years). Here are my opinions:

-Seams. The seams on the Mohawk bags are kind of weak at times. I have had many bags leak at the seams, particularly in corners.
-Dump valve. This is also a a weak spot in my opinion. The clear ones that come on Mohawk bags are stiff plastic, and they don't seal well. On two separate bags, I have had to shoe-goo the valve shut to stop it from leaking, making it where I can only inflate / deflate from the stem valve.
-Stem valve - no issues from the ones Mohawk uses.
Material. I'm torn on this. Mohawk's two layer material with vinyl inside and nylon outside is tough. However, many of the bags I have had start to delaminate. When delamination happens, often there are pin-holes that form as grit or other things get between the vinyl and nylon.

I'd like to see a nylon outer/vinyl inner bag that has the two layers bonded very well, more robust seams, and a dump valve like the pyrannha bags. The dump valves I am talking about have a screw cap and a one-way valve in them so that they don't leak down quickly while you are trying to put the cap on. I might even be willing to pay up to about $100 per bag if they were proven durable and the owner stood behind them.

get a Pyranha canoe airbag and duplicate it exactly...

What Craig said except add a tether for the screw cap.

Toddhunter

you are only the second erson to complain about our bags. They are all that I have used in 4 years and I still have my first set, they leak a little but that comes from Never taking them out of my boat. Hit me up your post interest me.

Richard - messaged you on FB.

MOhawk bags have been great for me. The last set has been going for over 5 years. NO failures. I have left them in all the time. Do you have any purple ones Richard? I gave mine to Joshua when I traded boats.

i've had the same problem with the mohawk bags delaming, and one has a slow leak, but the leak may be user error. i do like the bags tho.

So far I like the Gaia ones that came in my Option the best. They hold air, don't weigh a ton... did I mention they hold air?

I've got some vinyl voyageur or harmony ones as well... one leaks from somewhere I can't pinpoint and they weigh a metric ton.

I've got 8 year old Mohawk bags in my Probe-14. They now leak slowly but not enough to be a problem.

+1 to tnbound, no option but love the gaia bags no issues with them left in the boat....had NRS and they were tempermental some days they would leak some days they wouldnt.....never tried mohawk

I ve got a beef with gaia's "lifetime guarantee"... I bought a pair and one got a couple of holes within a couple months of use . Don't ask me know, I was careful. I called the company and was informed that the warrantee only covers leaks from delimitation but not punctures. Truthfully, this is fair for a set of airbags... they re always going to be punctured at some point... but the airbags can't delaminate because they aren't laminated. It's deliberately misleading, if you ask me.

A couple of things that I do like about them is that the material stretches a little and they seem to fit the nooks and crannies in taureas, sflys, l'edges, etc really well. The other good thing is that, when they do get a hole the plastically material dries almost instantly and can be reliably patched with duct tape. They re relatively cheap too.

ian123 wrote:I ve got a beef with gaia's "lifetime guarantee"... I bought a pair and one got a couple of holes within a couple months of use . Don't ask me know, I was careful. I called the company and was informed that the warrantee only covers leaks from delimitation but not punctures. Truthfully, this is fair for a set of airbags... they re always going to be punctured at some point... but the airbags can't delaminate because they aren't laminated. It's deliberately misleading, if you ask me.

A couple of things that I do like about them is that the material stretches a little and they seem to fit the nooks and crannies in taureas, sflys, l'edges, etc really well. The other good thing is that, when they do get a hole the plastically material dries almost instantly and can be reliably patched with duct tape. They re relatively cheap too.

actually, airbags CAN delaminate- it happens at the seams, the glue sometimes doesn't hold. also, 2-layer bags, like mohawks, are notorious for having the top layer come apart. basically, what gaia is saying is that if the bag fails because of a weak spot, or the seams don't hold, they'll replace it- that's a VERY good warranty on an airbag. they just won't if it gets punctured.

any1 know where i can find a brand new set of the old Voyager bags? .. still using the original set in the skeeter ... got patches on them but still cant beat them

SkeeterGuy86 wrote:any1 know where i can find a brand new set of the old Voyager bags? .. still using the original set in the skeeter ... got patches on them but still cant beat them

Aren't the Harmony bags the same thing with a different name now? You thinking of the silver/vinyl/extremely heavy weight ones?