: Well the Little Auk is finished. It doesnt have bulkheads so I need some
: floation. Air bags are the usual but I am curious if anyone has tried any
: other alternatives particularly home made alternatives. I am just a little
: underwhelmed at paying $150 (say $110 US) for a couple of blow up bags
: (which is the local cost of these). I know that you cant put a price on
: safety but if there is an alternative I would like to at least think about
: it.
: thanks
: David

Mesh gym bag from a sporting goods store: Under $15.

Empty 2 liter soda bottles to fill the mesh bag: Free, if you have thirsty friends.

Clean out the bottles and stuff them into the mesh bag.

Want to sae more? Sew your own mesh bags. You can sew TWO from a yard of 60 inch wide fabric for under $8.

Simple instructions: fold fabric to make a rectangle 18 inches by 60. Sew up the 60 inch side. Sew a seam diagonally from an upper right corner to a lower left corner. sew another seam parallel to this but about an inch away. cut between these two stitched seams and you have two triangular bags. weave a string into the mesh at the opening and you can pull this tight to close the bag once you have stuffed it with empty bottles.

If you are short on bottles, fill the bags with chunks of expanded styrene foam, which you can usually get free as packing material around TVs, and other items. Or you can use chunks of foam for building insulation. Just keep them in the bag so they are under control.

You can remove the bag and let it drain so the boat can dry out. If old flotation gets moldy, dump it and wash the bag in your washing machine with some extra borax or a bit of bleach. Then restuff it with fresh floatables.

Mesh bags are easy to tie down. Be sure you do so. You don't want to risk being caught in one.

You can make inflatable bags from a waterproofed fabric (paint your own with a few coats of polyurethane after sewing it to the shape you like.) Check out dry bags and see how they seal. you can seal your own the same way, with the same easily available plastic fasteners. Or, you can buy a heat sealable fabric and assemble your bags with a lothes iron. Just lay a piece of aluminum foil over the area you want to seal so your iron doesn't stick to one place, and press in a nice seam, fusing upper and lower layers of cloth together. No stitching that way, but the fabric is a bit more expensive. Check Seattle Fabrics online.

Hope this helps. good luck with your project.

PGJ
PGJ