E-Linda
The Astral E-Linda is the women's-shaped version of Astral's light Thin-Vent jacket — tapered padding through the chest, cut away at the sides and the top so a paddle stroke is not fighting the jacket, and just over a pound on the scale.
Why the Astral E-Linda Shaping Matters
A unisex life jacket lays flat foam across a chest that is not flat. The result is a gap at the sternum, pressure at the edges and a jacket that creeps upward every time you lean into the stroke. The Astral E-Linda is sculpted through the chest to sit properly, and it is left unrestricted at the sides and shoulders so you get full rotation. It is the difference between a jacket you stop noticing and one you spend the whole paddle tugging at.
Astral Has Retired This Model
We will be straight with you: Astral has discontinued the E-Linda and it is no longer listed in their line. What is on our rack is what remains. Astral's current women's-specific jacket is the Layla, at a considerably higher price. A discontinued jacket is not a compromised one — the approval, the foam and the construction are exactly what they were.
Approval, Buoyancy and Size
A US Coast Guard Type III with 16 lb of design buoyancy — the standard figure for an adult paddling jacket. Type III means a flotation aid for a conscious paddler in protected water with help at hand. It is not an offshore vest and will not turn an unconscious person face-up.
Astral sizes by chest measurement, not dress or shirt size. Measure around the widest part of the chest:
• S/M — 31" to 37"
• M/L — 38" to 44"
• L/XL — 45" to 51"
Then come and put it on. Zip it, tighten the waist, then the sides, then the shoulders, and have someone pull straight up on the shoulder straps. If it slides toward your ears it needs to come in or come down a size.
Astral E-Linda Details
• Women's-specific shaping, tapered chest padding
• US Coast Guard Type III
• 16 lb design buoyancy
• Gaia PVC-free foam plus recyclable polyethylene foam
• Shell: bluesign approved, 100% recycled 300D Diamond RPET
• Liner: 200 denier high-tenacity nylon
• Centre front zip, YKK self-locking Vislon
• Thin-Vent back, clears a tall kayak seat
• 1.02 lb
We have two left in our Clearwater shop, in Soil Tan and Water Blue. Come in and we will fit it properly.
