Re: [Paddlewise] Kayaking safety

Robert C. Perkins wrote:
> 
>     We've had lots of discussion about safety, but I keep thinking about
> the question that John Winters raised some months ago.  Paraphrasing
> roughly, does having gear and training lead kayakers to take risks that
> they would otherwise avoid.
[snip]
> Later, I heard one of [the roll-capable paddlers] say to one of the women in
> the group that if she would learn to roll and brace, she'd lose her fear of
> capsizing and be able to handle tougher situations.

>      I've heard this line of argument before; it's a fairly standard one.
> However, I found myself wondering if either of those guys, who obviously
> enjoy rolling, could roll consistently in heavy chop or in the reaction
> waves thrown up by heavy wakes on a narrow, winding river. [snip]

>     People like me who don't roll get criticized all the time and I
> understand the reasons for that criticism.  On the other hand, I have a
> pretty good grasp of what conditions I can handle and what I can't.  Risk
> assessment is something I do before I start out into rough conditions.  To
> date I've had good luck finding an alternate route if my intended one seems
> too risky.  Also, I'm always prepared to "sit it out" if necessary.  My
> wife would prefer my coming home late to my not coming home at all--and I
> agree with her.

>     I have a nagging feeling that a great many kayakers believe that they
> are better prepared and safer than they actually are.  Are my suspicions
> justified?

I think I'm with Bob on this one.  Could be because we're both academics
and academics love to wrestle with "Is that really true?" and "How do
you know that?" questions ... <Grin>.

More seriously:  the issue Bob raises is different from the "target
risk" issue, though I think there are elements of it in the "if you
learned to roll/brace then you could feel OK going on gnarlier stuff"
... paraphrase of a piece of Bob's post.

Example:  lotsa people do not regularly practice their rescue
techniques, let alone in the conditions in which they would likely need
to self-rescue.  Therefore, they are truly *ignorant* of the risk they
are accepting.  I don't think that's "aiming for a level of acceptable
risk" because those folks have no concept of the risk their behavior
entails.  Yeah, yeah, we can NEVER completely "know" the level of risk
we are tempting, but there are degrees of knowing, and folks who do not
practice their rescue techniques are pretty far down the knowledge scale
-- in this sport, anyway.

Here is the critical phrase from Bob's post:  "I have a pretty good
grasp of what conditions I can handle and what I can't."  I think Bob is
the exception, not the rule.

My bottom line:  I see lots of folks paddling around on cold water, with
inadequate immersion protection, PFD on the deck, and I suspect
insufficient knowledge of how to deal with a capsize.  Sometimes, to be
really honest about this, I am one of those people, as yesterday's
self-rescue practice on a cold lake proved once again:  it was tougher
than I remember, I had forgotten some stuff I'd find important in a
"real" capsize, and I got colder than I should have.

And so it goes ...
-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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