# Color choices



## smoldrn (Sep 10, 2006)

Still thinking about getting a yak before spring. I like a muted color (like gray). but am wondering how safe it would be out on the water with boats around. Just how visible do you feel you need to be?


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## Wilber (May 20, 2003)

Go bright, bright Yak, cloths and a big ol' bright flag.


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

Do everything you can to be seen on the water. If you go with a muted color yak, then the flag, reflective tape, bells, whistles, etc all become more important.

A yak is anywhere from 4 inches to a foot above the water. Add swell or chop to the mix and you disappear from view very easily.


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## clpoudnine23 (Dec 21, 2005)

*Colors...*

When I bought my used kayak, I was not crazy about the bright RED color. After being in the ocean, rivers, and the Bay, others being able to see you is very important. I would pick a red, yellow, or orange yak over the dark colored ones.


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## notso (Jul 18, 2005)

clpoudnine23 said:


> When I bought my used kayak, I was not crazy about the bright RED color. After being in the ocean, rivers, and the Bay, others being able to see you is very important. I would pick a red, yellow, or orange yak over the dark colored ones.


It seems to me that I read something where a test had been done to see what colors provided the best on water visibility. The results showed that red was one of the hardest colors to see on the water for some reason. If I remember correctly, yellow & orange were the best. As was mentioned above, flags, lights, & PFD's probably make way more difference than the yak just because it's so close to the water line.


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## Wilber (May 20, 2003)

I bought my Prowler 13 used and it is Dark Green, been scared a couple times. Now I have a bright yellow "Don't run over me Shirt" and a Flo Green Flag.


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## clpoudnine23 (Dec 21, 2005)

notso said:


> It seems to me that I read something where a test had been done to see what colors provided the best on water visibility. The results showed that red was one of the hardest colors to see on the water for some reason. If I remember correctly, yellow & orange were the best. As was mentioned above, flags, lights, & PFD's probably make way more difference than the yak just because it's so close to the water line.


I remember being way out off the beach and when I got back in, the group I was with told me it was a good thing I had the red color because it was easy to see from a distance. This picture shows a good contrast of color between the yak and the water. I bought a new yellow PFD to replace the dark on I had. Maybe the red is like the new red fishing lines you see now, loses color when it sinks to the bottom.
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## notso (Jul 18, 2005)

I found the "article" that I was referring to. It's on that site that has 'kayak fishing stuff". Look under articles for one titled fishing kayak colors. Yellow could be seen from the farthest away, blue the worst. Other things I've read listed mango as being pretty much even with yellow


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

I paddle a brick red Manta Ray 14. I have a VISIPole that I subbed a pair of safety tails ( 1 foot long, 3 inches wide, blaze orange w/ a SOLAS stripe). Reflective stickers in a couple of spots on the yak, and I plan to add a NITEStripe kit.

I haven't had any close calss during the day, so I'm more concerned with being seen in low light because I like to launch before sunrise.

One thing you can do in the lighter colored yaks (yellow, lime green and orange work best) is toss a couple of the cheap LED stick on lights inside the hull. Turns those on and the whole hull glows.


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## news_watch (Jun 1, 2005)

Too Busy,
That is one of the more original ideas I've run across in a while.

I have a clay colored Ride and I've been concerned about being seen. 
If I light it up, way better at dusk and dawn.


nw


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## J_Lannon (Jul 23, 2003)

Go yellow........its the most visible color.


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## kq6 (Dec 16, 2003)

during the day your yak is low in the water, especially if there is some chop. Besides the list given before me, here is a thought; Your paddle blades are the most visible, they are moving and are rotating high. bright blades and reflect tape at night.

ken c


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## Bobmac (Oct 11, 2008)

Yellow is the best for for my money. Blue and the darker greens are too hard to spot unless you are deliberately looking for them.


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## Big Ham (Dec 2, 2008)

Blaze orange, man! The hunters know what they are doing. Looks a lot like the Mango, I think.


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## FC61 (Oct 6, 2009)

Bright & bold for sure.


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## smoldrn (Sep 10, 2006)

I'll probably go with Mango, that yellow looks a little too 'industrial'. lol

Whoops, that almost sounded gay.


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

i definitely want to be seen, all my kayaks have been mango. picked up a flag and rigged it to an old rod that may daughter used. usually wear bright tee shirts in the summer and put a yellow nylon wind/splash hoodie on over chest waders belted with my manual inflatable pfd. even with all this color you still need to have eyes in the back of your head especially on busy weekends. buddy i fish with has a sand ride 135 and its real hard to see at a distance without a flag.

it might look stupid but if you wrap the top of your flag pole with aluminum foil you can be seen from a long way away on radar.


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## smoldrn (Sep 10, 2006)

I guess on busy weekends I could always take "Charlie" fishing with me. Them drunken boaters tend to move out of your way when your plinking at their boat with a 44mag.


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## Caught Myself (Sep 14, 2004)

Yellow without a doubt. I've also had red and blue but in low light yellow stands out. I've even turned on a flashlight and put it inside a hatch. Actually lights up the yak.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

smoldrn said:


> Whoops, that almost sounded gay.


Almost? 

Ya left yourself open for that one. Couldn't resist.

Anyway, so I'm not a complete threadjacker, I have a red yak, but wish I had a yellow one for a little better visibility. I do have a few 3m Solas patches on it, and a really bright light and I try to wear brighter colors while fishing.


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