I was “admiring” the places where my PFD has rubbed my back raw, and I was starting to think how you’d design a PFD that wouldn’t rub when you’re paddling hard. It seemed to me that you could do alternating horizontal bands of floatation material and spandex, so that they could flex as you rotated your torso.
But then I realized a couple of facts
- the “real” racing paddlers I know don’t wear their PFDs, they strap them to back of the kayak.
- most paddlers as fat as me don’t have a proper torso twist racing technique
What about trying a different type of PFD such as one of the inflating ones with the gas cartridges? Then you wouldn’t have anything on your back. (Don’t get the auto-inflating ones, of course!)