Whoaaaaa ! mailbox overflow! I'm sure we've seen this discussion before ... haven't we ? My opinion is that I can see no reason why I would ever want to be tethered to my boat, or to my paddle. I have seen pictures on the web of telephone elastic leashes, which frankly to me look almost as ridiculous as pepsi max rambo sea kayakers paddling around with sheath knives on their jackets. (river paddlers have a somewhat more valid need to carry a knife, but for river rescue not as a hero badge) A paddle park is useful, and a short (four inch) elastic fixed at one end to a deck fitting next the cockpit and with a hook or ball on the other, can quickly be looped around the paddle shaft to secure it if both hands are otherwise required for eating/fishing etc. and a spare set of split paddles/storm paddle would seem rather more versatile than bits of elastic. We have had long discussions about the benefits of relying on equipment, rather than on skills. Manufacturers make paddle tethers .... because people will spend their money buying them. If a wet exit is necessary it is possible to do it in control - it takes one hand to release a spray skirt, hold the cockpit rim, and wet exit .... leaving the other hand (you all have TWO hands don't you ?) to hold on to the paddle. If you are worried about falling out of your boat and losing your paddle/boat then I would consider paddling with able partners (with at least one spare paddle with them) who can retrieve your lost paddle while you practice and gain confidence in appropriate skills - rather than wasting time relying on potentially dangerous and unnecessary bits kit. Sorry about the rant, but we have been here before on r.b.p and wave~length. Maybe Jackie would consider including a brief history of the formation of the paddlewise list and a pointer to the wave~length archives in the welcome message ? Cheers Colin ______________________________________________________ Dr Colin Calder Centre for CBL in Land Use and Environmental Sciences (CLUES) MacRobert Building, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, AB24 5UA, UK, Scotland ______________________________________________________ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Mar 25 1998 - 02:28:26 PST
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