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When I agreed to help our local kayaking club a few years ago with the safety training phase for beginner paddlers, it really gave me an opportunity to try out the many different products that are available for use during assisted rescues and/or self rescues. During these years I have practiced & demonstrated rescues with inflatable paddle floats, hard-sided paddle floats, rescue stirrups, inflatable sponsons, or the scramble method of re-entry for self-rescues. This is all for the benefit of beginner paddlers, senior citizens with slight mobility restrictions, disabled folks, or anyone else that has not mastered "the roll" yet but still want to enjoy kayaking with a bit of self-reliance & confidence.

After much practice with students and other instructors alike, we sort of got into the habit of timing each other to see just how fast & accurately we could accomplish self & assisted rescues in real open-water conditions.

I must say that after years of trial-and-error with every kind of safety rescue device imaginable---that the "North Water 4-play paddle float" is the best quality and most durable paddle float that I have ever used. It's solid construction and design make it so much faster and easier to use than any inflatable type. It is very simple to use and can be quickly taken on & off your paddle allowing for less immersion time in the water.

When some of my students observed (and timed) how fast I was performing a paddle-float rescue with this top-of-the-industry paddle float, they all decided to relegate their old inflatable floats to the bottom of Davey Jones' locker as they say...

NOTE: North Water also produces the best top-quality rescue stirrup on the market as far as I am concerned, which I have used quite a bit in working with disabled veterans that might be missing limbs or other disabilities that they will not allow to subtract from their enjoyment of the challenging sport of kayaking and they also realize that the best safety gear or equipment in the world, (which I believe describes North Water's gear) is USELESS if you don't know how to properly use it in an emergency.

I personally feel very confident in the quality of all my rescue and safety gear made by North Water and would stake my life on it at anytime.
We all thank you, North Water.