: Ben -

: I'm probably going to build my first Greenland SOF this winter. I've got
: Cunningham's book and Morris' book. Do you use float bags for flotation in
: your SOF?

: Thanks - Jim

They are a must unless you are just playing around along the shore.

A SOF is much harder to re-enter after a wet-exit and without floatbags I would consider it just about impossible.
I have done a bit of experimenting dumping my boat and self rescuing with and without floatbags and I was really surprised at how hard it was to get the water out. Without the extra floatation the boat would sink past the cockpit when I tried to re-enter. There is nothing to stop them from completely filling with water and I sure wouldn't want to risk sinking my boat in the middle of the bay.
I came close to sinking it on one practice session while swimming it back to the shore in some choppy water, I was unable to get enough water out to re-enter it on my own.

One bonus of the SOF is that it's much easier to roll and a wet-exit is less likely but you need to keep current on the practicing....darn

By the way, homemade float bags are really easy to make with heat-sealable nylon.

Ben Staley