Here in Colorado I’ve learned that expecting your kick-boat to keep the air pressure that you had at the truck, before you make your way down to the water is a recipe for disappointment.

Here in Colorado, just a soon as you take the fully inflated kick-boat  out of the back of the truck your are already loosing pressure.  100°F in the back of the truck, and 90°F on the short trip to the water’s edge, and the air in the chambers have already started cooling.

Now down to the water, that is where I set it down at the water ‘s edge and use the seat to put on my flippers, and make last minute adjustments.  90°F air in the air bladders is now dropping even more as the water temperature here is about 75°F at the surface.  So the air is cooling and the pressure is even lower that what you felt at the truck.

I’ve found that after about 15-20  minutes, I need to pull over to shallow water, and get the pressure back up by refilling the chambers.  After an hour or so, I’ll have to do this at least one more time, before everything equals out, and the kick-boat remains rigid.  BY then I can fish all day with no worries.

Until it is time to go home..

After you are done fishing, now the concern is too much pressure.  More than one of the people I fish with here have burst a chamber, and had to order parts.

As the heat builds back up in the air chambers, so does the pressure.  The weakest part of the poly bladders used in most of the kick-boats here is the seam.

So what I do, if I have over 10-20  minutes of hiking to get back to the truck, is to let out just enough air to make the boat feel “saggy” but not limp.  I want it just rigid enough to be able to use it as a back-pack, without it falling over my face as I walk.

If I have a very short hike back to my truck, I’ll wait until I get there.

I find that even after I’ve let air out, once I get back hoe, the kick-boat is once again fully inflated, and I’ll have to let out more air.

The folks with a science and math background will recognize this a the IGL put to a practical application.