The Hannaford supermarket in Meredith now has foam noodles located in their front vestibule, they are excellent strong foam quality in four colors and a low price, $2.50.
Chances are pretty fair that WHY this 31-year old fly fisherman, Jon Zukowski, was NOT wearing a pfd at the time was because it gets in his way for arm movement while casting a fly rod. Or, maybe he was taking a leak in the river side-woods when he noticed the kayak was drifting away, or something?
So, as I have mentioned before, what works incredibly good as a pfd substitute or a swimmer's belt is a 32" length of foam noodle tied around your waist, tightly, with a line threaded down thru the center hole.
Last June I used one on many days to go swimming for 150-yards in 63-68 degree water along with a tight fit, Stohlquist wet suit tee-shirt to keep my chest warm and it works fantastic as a swim belt in that cold water. In 35-degree water it will most likely keep you from going under, drowning and disappearing down a cold flowing Connecticut River when you don't want to wear a pfd.
And by the way, there is no news on his dead body being found by the dive team in the river, yet, and he maybe has a 52-year old mother in North Woodstock, NH.
Accident description ....... April 6, 2022 ....
https://www.americanwhitewater.org/c...identid/115899