Other Help me invent something . . .

[blaster800]

( note : in 15 ft of water the the pressure is roughly 7 psi )... use a pressure sensor in the hull to set off a relay or co2 or whatever you want it to do . however put a small orifice tube in front of the sensor '' as a delay '' to keep instant pressures ''' hull back fire or big re-entry '' from setting it off . that way when the hull slowly sinks and the pressure increases it will trigger the relay. we can all stand on the beach and place bets when it will surface!!! .............. But I still think you need to foam your hull to the point of positive boyancy IMO , there is really no need for sinking skis . ........... its still fun to dream a little

 

[T.B. Kind]

it's expensive, large, heavy and would need modification, but it works for what it was designed for.

SRD - Equipment sinks below a certain depth, co2 inflates flotation bag and equipment is on the surface. If you look at the picture on the link, SRD is about 1 meter long. I do not have one onboard to measure.

Sonardyne Pop-up buoy - Very expensive and floats are large. - has a locator mode to notify when you are within 500m and releases float when activated.

http://mitchamindustries.com/Product...eval%20Devices

http://www.sonardyne.co.uk/Products/...tion/7986.html

Perhaps: some clever person could make use of this. Might be able to get them free as they are replaced on an inspection schedule.

http://www.sailgb.com/p/hammar_h2o_hydrostatic_remote_release/

 

[red_ak_ranger]

mount an epirb with a 200 ft line. Then you'll have GPS technology and the coast guard will automatically be called to rescue you.

Just don't submarine your jetski for fun..

 

[WFO Speedracer]

All this talk makes me want to figure out some form of foam for my ski. I think it's less of an issue for flatwater riders in fairly shallow lakes but finding something in surf is a lost cause unless it's floating. Even then you may not find it. What I'm getting at is... You can't eliminate all risk. If you run good foam, your risk is low. If you run no foam, your risk is high.

Figuring out a way to eliminate the risk is awesome but at the same time, your backup has to be reliable and that's the part that is going to be difficult. I guess a secondary tether would work but I'd hate to blow $5-$10 of cartridges and then have to repack my air bladder every time the ski got away from me. Granted, it's rare for me to bail or to even let go of the ski but still an inconvenience that may or may not be worth it to some.

There are parts of the lake I ride on that are 300 ft deep so the flat water rider deal does not hold up.

 

[eeerieski]

Electronic pressure sensor in the hull, when it sees 2.5psi (6 feet deep) for longer than 10 seconds it inflates a bladder from a co2 cartridge.

 

[Mark44]

I like the idea of just building a ski that floats.

Mark44

 

[eeerieski]

or take an electronic water witch (has a built in timer delay of 6-8 seconds) mounted high in the engine bay, when it detects continuity between it's probes it opens a solenoid attached to the co2 tank and bladder.
should be able to build one for under $100 bucks.

 

[Peter123]

I like the idea of just building a ski that floats.

Mark44

Why do you want to ruin our fun and dash our creativity?

 

[Boris]

But that would be addressing the problem, and not the symptom!
This is America, dammit! :biggrin:

Tee hee hee, how true.

What do snow mobile riders use when they race on water ?
I know they have some safety device that blows a bag but I prefer the simple stuff.

My ski floats and if the rear is painted bright enough, it may make spotting it easier. Coastguard orange anyone ?

 

[Matt_E]

That was actually the number one reason why I painted my last hull bright orange. I went to drain plugs and polystyrene and wasnt entirely sure it would always float.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

My thought was to use the space under the rub rail for the inflation bag storage, tightly rolled up and vacummed down you should be able to get a fairly decent sized bag under there.

 

[swanny]

"This is a disposable sport, insure it or get another one." Jim Shankland

 

[OCD Solutions]

What do snow mobile riders use when they race on water ?
I know they have some safety device that blows a bag but I prefer the simple stuff.

I did it for years and all we used was a 2 litre plastic bottle jammed up against the windshield, with a rope tied around it and attached to the ski tips. If you stop moving, hit the kill switch and start unraveling the rope as your ski slowly sinks, hissing and spitting, beneath you. depending on the water depth we were usually able to stand on the hood or tunnel until the tow boat arrived. We were pretty low tech compared to the big time racers so they may have something a little more complicated going on.

EDIT: I looked up watercross and all they are using is 40ft of 1/2" rope tied to a bouy.

 

[Shonuff]

Essentially that's what I was thinking. Everyone is trying to overengineer this.

 

[Boris]

I could have sworn they had something more high tech on those things where the rider had to pull a rip cord. Mind you, this was quite some time ago and it was too farking cold to remember every detail.
Guess not.

Anyway, an air bag and a canister could be adapted to fit a scupper tube that is no longer used.
A manual release on the rear of the ski could be used if the rider was still holding on to a sinking craft. The front of the scupper tube could have a wet switch or a pressure switch that would activate the gas.


All that would weigh much more than the foam in the tray and nose of the ski that keeps it afloat in the first place but it's doable.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Try this on then, a short tube just long enough to hold 40 ft of floating 1/2" line with a tennis ball or other suitable float sealing the end of the tube.

One end needs to be attached to the ski with a strong enough tether to haul the ski around with.

100 ways to do this but the trigger is always the real trick. Manual may not be activated and auto may be activated too soon.

I say focus that energy on adding foam and making your ski float.

Back to a point I made earlier about the avalanche bags, here is a link to a site, I see there is a few more styles avaialable since i last looked at them 4 years ago.
http://www.snowpulse.ch/v5/home/en/
They make a waist attached belt that could be adapted fairly easily if one insists on going further down this road. :biggrin:

Here is the ABS Bag in action. This is the model my buddy had. He paid $700 for it and had to import it from Switzerland.

 

[FlightPlanDan]

we mark offshore fishing spots with a foam brick wrapped in "x" amount of string. as the 3 oz weight sinks, the brick unrolls.

It would work if you could deploy it in time.

Paint the foam a crazy neon color.....maybe spot it in the surf.

 

[FlightPlanDan]

we mark offshore fishing spots with a foam brick wrapped in "x" amount of string. as the 3 oz weight sinks, the brick unrolls.

It would work if you could deploy it in time.

Paint the foam a crazy neon color.....maybe spot it in the surf.

Deployment Automatic: Take that theory, build it into a retractable system (like one of those dog leashes, but buoyant) and mount it on the ski. Where? I don't know.

 

[vitalikol]

Just found this one. I think it's can be adopted to jetski without big problems

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=744994

 

[shanes]

surfboard leg rope best idea yet as at least you'll never be faraway from you ski :-}}

i was think of that 2 months ago when i came off on the way to the island and my ski ended up 50-60 feet away in 4 foot choppy swell