Black and grey are about the stupidest colors you can wear kayaking if you care about surviving a bad pin or keeping a group together in the wilderness.

Love that rescue jackets almost always come in black ... safety features most paddlers will probably never use built right in then 'fashion over function' when it comes right down to the situations they will likely encounter. Situations like when you are pinned, trying to signal people on the bank, trying to keep a group together on a long portage or sunset run, or hiking out in the dark, etc.

It's pretty sad how many companies know this 1st hand but are under pressure by the consumers to make dark or muted colors simply because that 'fashion' is selling.

I've paddled right over the top of 2 pinned boaters: black PFD, black helmet, dark drytop, dark boat in both situations. Actually boofed off Eric Young's back on the West Prong thinking 'man this boof looks sweet!'... when it was kinda soft too squishy to get any pop off actually :-)

Boofed off a black Necky Jive with someone in it on the Green one day - great American Boof's right line. Then when looking for the boat we realized it WAS the rock we thought it was pinned on.

Black is great for cold winter days, it dries fast, and it goes with anything. It also makes you look skinny. Not worth the serious safety / visibility issues to me. Then again, I like to put in kinda late sometimes and am frequently leading or following people downriver...

Clay