Abovebelow Avis 2

Used it twice now, for longish swims, 4 mi and 6 mi sea-swims. It's very visible in ther water (so said fellow swimmers as I disappeared off). Also, it is very stable. The only things I would like is: (1) The underside of the inflatable part to have an extra more course layer to protect it and give it a bit more traction. It slides around very easily while trying to pack the dry bag onto it. (2) it would be easier to adjust the straps if the part you use to tension them lay on top of the strap, not underneath. I find that I'm having to unclip each strap to adjust. (3) some netting pockets each side on the inflatable would be really useful for in-water drink, choc, mini-flares, and a hand-held VHF. Really good piece of kit, but those would be my improvements.

I've used my RuckRaft loads around the coast of Falmouth. A group of us do a circular swim down the river to the pub carrying all our kit on the RuckRaft, stop for a pint then hike the loop back to the car. Some kind of magic happens in the water – I barely feel the weight of the RuckRaft when swimming even when packed with overnight camping kit – a mixture of physics and great design! This thing will change the way you think about open water swimming ... take whatever you need, the adventures are now limitless.