# A Performance Reveiw of the Hobie Highback PFD



## ausbass (Feb 15, 2007)

Hi all,
For a while now I have been wondering about if the off I bought with my yak would be sufficient enough if saybsomething happened whilst out on the water, so I chucked it on and jumped in the river. First impressions about the PFD would be it wouldn't have enough flotation in it, I'm not really the smallest kid at 6' something and around 91kg, but even the so oversize didn't seem adequete enough. So as I bobbed down the river subjected to the wake of boats, jetskies and tour boats on the hastings river, I was suprised by the supprt the PFD gave me. I thought it held my head well out of the water and allowed me to 'stand' upright without any stability issues. It didn't ride up excessively like some boating pfd's do and allowed me to lie on my back without rolling over onto my side.

Another aspect I was keen to test was how easy it is to swim with on, because it is likely that in the event of a capsize the yak might be washed away from the user. So I tried swimming freestyle, breastroke and sidestroke whilst wearing the PFD. With this I found that the high back of the jacket to be slightly annoying as it prevented my head from raising to a normal height whilst swimming freestyle (headout of water version), therefore an issue if faced with swell or chop. With the other strokes it felt fine except with the same minor issue with breaststroke.

Overall I was pleased with my purchase of this essential safety item and only had one very minor issue of it slightly riding up when supporting my body, though this was minimized by tightening the straps that support the kidney area. If there was a scale if 0 to 10 with 0 being sh$t and 10 being topnotch, I would honestly give it an 8.5.

Well there's my opinion of the PFD and I hope it helps other yakkers choose a PFD.


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

The recomended way of swimming with a pfd is to lie on your back and kick. It's always going to be bloody dificult to swim freestyle - as it should be, any pfd that allows you to swim freestyle isn't providing enough support. Having said that... in white water stuff and strong current, you need to use your arms. Just keep your head above the water and live with the sore neck .


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## ausbass (Feb 15, 2007)

True I agree with your suggestion of swimming with your back in the water, but sometimes its neccesary like when your trying to get back in the kayak.


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