The less stuff hanging off your vest the better.  If you use a cowtail, leave it tucked in a pocket. 

Chris from Wave-trek recommends the short tow tether since it's less prone to get in the way and is more apt to keep a tethered boat in line with your intended direction.

For everyone out there without a rescue vest and/or tether, keep in mind that while the tow tether can be used to rescue boats, it is more importantly a vital piece of equipment for other people to RESCUE YOU if should become pinned, broached, or otherwise entrapped.  Might be pretty hard to attach pull it out of your pocket and attach it if such an event occurred....

if you haven't take a rescue course and learned how to use your tether, i highly recommend it.

I made this cowtail from some bungee cord and some 1/2" tubular webbing. It stretches from about 16" to about 36". It was cheap and easy and it seems okay to me, but it doesn't seem like many other people make their own. Am I missing something?   http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1246564030#!/album.php?aid=69022&id=1246564030

Meryl, I have one like yours, but I bought mine. I have a regular sized biner on the end, and my Kokatat Ronin PFD has a little pocket on the side I can stuff the biner and few extra inches of tail that hangs loose in to. It also has a grommet for attaching a "quick release" style attachment point for the biner to attach to also. I've noticed some vests are now featuring different ways of incorporating cow tails into them.

Yeah- one thing about the biner being big enough to clip onto a paddle:
I think that's a good feature. Because a paddle drags easily enough behind a boat once it is on a tether. Then that frees you up to bulldoze a boat in if you prefer that method . I usually prefer to bulldoze boats in to the bank. It is more difficult than towing, but usually when these situations arise it is somewhere above a rapid where I don't want to be clipped into a boat- quick release or not.

yeah, Bulldozing is tough with today's boat designs...

the extreme rocker (especially with short playboats) makes it hard to not slip off one end or the other. And since your own boat has plenty of rocker as well with a blunt bow, it's harder to hook the cockpit rim.

I remember when it was easy to hook a cockpit with your bow. Boats were pointy and had less rocker then. Once you had your bow in the cockpit of the swamped boat, you could drive that thing where ever you wanted, if you were a skilled kayaker.

Today, the best way to bulldoze a boat is really with two good kayakers. each one trapping an end so that the boat has no where to go without being pinched between the two rescue boats. Of course, this takes skill, and more importantly, awareness on pat of the rescue boats to work in tandem.

Here's another area where floatbags become important: A swamped boat with fully inflated float bags can be flipped upright easier, and then it will also be easier to bull dose since your bow won't ride up on a capsized craft with lots of rocker, causing it to slip off one end or the other. A righted kayak will also not get anchored to undesireable currents as much- the bow and stern being out of the water.

Kinda off topic now, but hey, it is related...