I’m sure you know by now that some of the quirkiest things catch my imagination sometimes.  Take the Kokatat Bahia Tour PFD for instance.  I was wandering around the shop at Rutabaga last Sunday when this caught my eye.  It’s PFD with a bit of officious looking paper and big orange rabbit ears in the pocket.  On closer inspection, I realized that what I was looking at was a demonstration of how the Bahia Tour allows you to keep your fishing licence quickly accessible for when the game warden shows up.  I don’t fish, but if I did I could imagine it being a pretty nice feature.  In fact, maybe having it displayed so prominently would save you from having to talk to the DNR guy at all.  Of course, where’s the fun in that??  On the other hand, that still doesn’t explain the rabbit ears.  Quite the conversation starter… “Is that an orange bunny in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? “

Well, I found that answer on the Kokatat website.  After you read about all the various features of the Bahia Tour including extra mesh pockets, reflective tap on the front and rear, improved electronics pocket and the afore-mentioned fishing licence window.. after you see that the Bahia comes in blue, yellow and um, brown?… down, down down, where all the technical details are.. you’ll see this bit of emboldened info: Cardboard pliers and fishing license in PFD pockets are for demonstrative purpose only.  Oh! I see! It wasn’t an orange pocket bunny at all! It’s just a way to show you where your pliers would go! I’m sooo slow sometimes!

Now for what it’s worth, I wear a Kokatat MsFit Tour for many of the same features that come with the Bahia Tour, most importantly all the pockets.  That said, I’m intrigued by the lower profile at the back of the PFD and how it has 2 sections of foam instead of one like the MsFit. This not only allows for more flexibility and more ventilation, but it also means the bit in the lower back, where your body would normally rest against the back-band of your kayak, can be thinner as well. This has to be more comfortable than one solid bit of foam. The Bahia Tour is certainly worth checking out if you’re looking for a new PFD. Especially if you are into fishing.  Of course, if you’re not into fishing I’m sure you could put your Double O licence to kill in there as well.

I have to admit, I was a little sad that it didn’t come with a happy little orange cardboard pocket bunny… Now that would have been sweet!

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