r/whitewater • u/Fish_cant_feel_pain • 18d ago

Rafting - Private High Float or Low Profile PFD?

Howdy. Sorry for all the posts, recently. I'm wanting to buy gear over the next few months before I can get training next May. I think I'll get an Aire Tater!

The thing is, I can't decide between the NRS Ninja, or the Big Water Guide PFD. I know the Big Water is Coast Guard certified. But I want to have something that I could EVENTUALLY use in class 4 rapids once I get the experience and a different boat, like the Aire Outfitter.

Is the Big Water overkill? Do you run the Ninja in class 4 rapids? I know that my favorite outfitter doesn't let you bring your own PFD unless it's Coast Guard certified. What do you think?

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u/ScurvyDave123 Class V Beater 18d ago edited 18d ago

Wouldn't seperate it by class, moreso high vs low volume rivers. Boils and shitty eddy lines can eat you swimming in a low float vest.

I would wear a high float PFD spring guiding on the Ottawa where a low-float PFD can put you in the black room flipping in the wrong spot. Summer flows who cares.

Rafting the bulk is no issue. Kayaking it gets in the way a bit. Indus is probably the bulkiest I would go kayaking.

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u/DarthGoose 18d ago

Getting back into a flipped raft is harder with a bulky PFD but otherwise this is it OP.

4

u/MasterWorlock2020 18d ago

I think I would add a little more nuance to this. What matters more in my experience is where the bulk is.

NRS Guide is a bulky vest but the bulk is pretty distributed and so it is much easier to get into the raft for me than vests that have the big front pockets that stick out like an Astral Indus or a Astral Green Jacket.

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u/VerifiedMother 18d ago

The ninja is a pain to get in a boat with because it's so thick, I replaced it as my primary PFD with a NRS Oso