Cooper Oversize Floatation

[Christov]

I've just this morning ordered a set of the Cooper bags, and apologized to Wanda for trying to be funny and applying her name to them in a previous post.

She said they've decided to quit making them, but still have some in stock, so order yours before they're gone.

Cheers,

Chris

[Karovaldas]

I don't have anything named after me. A flotation bag would be nice Sorry, Wanda, if any feelings were heart with this innocent abuse of your name.

CHRIS: do you believe Folbot oversized bags will fit the Cooper better than Pacific Outdoor bag? Did they not work well for you?

Let us know what you think when they arrive.

Also, the picture on the previous page does not look to be of the Cooper, or did you manufacture your own plywood frames and struts?

[Christov]

Dude, if I'd had a lick of sense, I would have asked Wanda to autograph the bags for me with a Sharpie pen. It occurred to me on the water this morning. D'oh!

To judge by the factory tour photo, there's nothing the least bit bag-like about Wanda. I was trying to be funny by coming up with a clever name for the bags earlier in this thread. It was an unfortunate association, and I'm guessing she was teased, good-naturedly, as a result.

I don't like to talk about it here, but I've got a couple of wood-framed Teutonic folders built in a city located in the region formerly known, though not briefly enough, as German Democratic Republic. So no, it's not a Cooper. The yellow bag fits the space well enough, but that boat's got way more, like another two feet or so, of stern before the backrest.

Wanda said the Cooper bags are HUGE when fully inflated, so I plan also to use them in the behemoth 18' tandem folding kayak we've got.

Hope to get a Cooper eventually, but I'm guessing its older European cousin isn't going to wear out any time soon...

[Christov]

They were here when I got home this evening. Both of them are fully inflated now on my bonus-room floor, and look wider and a bigger around, but about the same length as the dry storage bag. They're also lighter in weight. They have about standard length inflation tubes, and a grommet in each corner.

I'll try them out Saturday and take some pictures for comparison beside the WXTex bag.

[Christov]

I can't believe not enough people have purchased these bags to justify Folbot continuing to manufacture them. They're lightweight, inexpensive, perfect sized for filling the ends of a 16.5' folding kayak, and have grommeted corners for securing in place.

My best guess is that Folbot messed up by not showing photographs of the bags in the ends of a Cooper frame in their online store. Bare mention of them on the Cooper "Buy-Me" page probably didn't cut it, as far the customer base was concerned. And no mention of their availability is made, as far as I recall, in the safety or flotation sections of the Folbot online store.

My best advice is to buy a pair while they're available, and have Wanda autograph them with the shipping department's Sharpie marker.

Here are some photos I took this evening after work. I left the bags inflated overnight and found them full of air when I got them out of the shed.

The first picture shows one of the bags inflated in Campsis Radicans' bow-section. I've got it wire-tied in place, although if swamped, there's no way that bag's getting past the rudder pedals and heel-plate.


The second photo shows the inflation tubes of the WXTex Large Seabag alongside that of the Folbot Oversized Cooper Flotation bag. The WXTex product's going to be easier inflate or deflate from the cockpit without performing contortions that will amuse anyone who happens to observe.



The third photograph shows the Folbot and the WXTex bags fully inflated and side by side for comparison. The Seabag's additionally stuffed full of the "emergency" stuff I've always got along - waterproof matches, fleece blanket, towel, nylon hooded anorak, Petzl headlamp, water purification tablets, toilet paper, hunter's handwarmer packets, quart of Gatorade, maybe some other stuff - I forget.


This boat's got a long, buoyant stern-section. Although not completely accounted for by the Folbot bag, it's a large step in the right direction.


P.S. D'oh! it was Davekru who first called them Wanda bags! I absolve myself of all guilt in the matter

[Christov]

In another thread I participated in a discussion with at least one other user whose Cooper oversize floatation bladders failed. I searched for, but did not find that thread - it's on the forum somewhere.

After the first set I'd purchased failed within a week or two of normal use (which meant left inside the assembled boat in my backyard, but only partially inflated, and two or three longish day trips on the water), I contacted Wanda, and she sent out another set. The second set failed pretty quickly, too, under same type of use. One of this second pair had only a slow leak that I could not find. I found it yesterday when assembling my single-seater in hopes that my shoulder will improve sufficiently I can get on the water again soon.

Here's the leak:

Each of the four Cooper bags I have developed leaks of this sort. It appears whatever mechanism the factory employs to heat-press the two halves fails to make contact all around the pattern or form.

Leak-Example-1.jpg (109.89 KiB) Viewed 145 times

Here's a photo intended to illustrate what I meant by the heat-press mechanism failing to make full contact all the way around the bag:

It doesn't appear to have been crimped, if that's the word I want, fully all the way around.

Not-Pressed-Well.jpg (114.4 KiB) Viewed 144 times

I managed to smear in a little vinyl adhesive on this and another bag's leaks in hopes of repairing them well enough I don't have to buy another large WXTex seabag - they've nearly doubled in price since that first one I got.

By the way, that WXTex bag continues to work flawlessly, but weighs considerably more than the Folbot bags, and is of smaller volume.

[davekru]

Not an adequate edge seal aat all. Those are doomed to fail. You might check out the 6.0 bags from Voyageur: http://www.kayakproshop.com/Voy_6.html Can't tell how these are edge-sealed. NRS sells flotation bags for canoes that will do the job, but they are expensive.