On Tue, 19 May 1998 rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote: > Rich Kulawiec wrote: > > > > On Sun, May 17, 1998 at 10:03:04AM -0500, 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. > > > > Let me rephrase this to answer it. > > > > Do kayakers take risks? Yes. > > > > Do they do it because of gear and training? No. > > > > At least among the whitewater community, I don't see any indication > > that increased training leads to increased risk-taking. In fact, > > I see the opposite: for example, people who learn how to roll and > > practice it frequently (in flatwater/whitewater) become keenly aware > > of just how hard it can be to do under adverse conditions and then > > strive to avoid putting themselves into those conditions. > > I see both in the sea kayaking community. Some people have excellent skills and a very healthy respect for the elements and they avoid danger. And a few others - not many, as far as I can tell - have excellent skills and very much enjoy the challenge of rough conditions and seek them out. They know the risks they are taking and consider them worth it. They are the kind of whom, if they get into trouble and don't make it, it will be said "he went the way he would have wanted to." (and I mean _he_, don't know any women whom I would describe that way) Different people have different levels of risk aversion and are averse to different kinds of risks, that definitely explains some of it. There are also a lot of people who know their skills are limited and avoid risks - they may actually be taking the greatest risk, though, because they don't have a good enough sense of how their limits relate to the possible conditions, and may be most likely to make errors of judgment that get them into trouble. Joy Hecht Arlington VA *************************************************************************** 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 Tue May 19 1998 - 07:01:28 PDT
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