> I remember hearing about a blanket ban against non-bulkheaded kayaks in > an NZ kayak club, which I thought was a lousy idea because a > seasock/floatbag combo is just as safe (if not even more safe). That's us though we'd class the seasock as "bulkheads" and if there is only one bulkhead there must be a reliable airbag at the other end of the kayak. Be better to ban poorly designed pedals rather than sandals - I did wonder how the pedals could catch on sandals until I remembered the poor design of sliding pedals in North America..... OK, one of the manufacturers here still uses them. >There's also another reason why sandals are bad: they are too big! The >"footprint" of a sandal is much larger than the footprint of a bootie, and >thus sandals take up a lot more space in the kayak. Is this why so many North American kayaks have such voluminous cockpits? >but for me with size 13 feet, it's a huge issue. I literally cannot get my >feet >comfortable in my Pygmy sea kayak unless I have tight fitting booties. Which is why I always paddle with bare feet, very small cockpit, low deck. Alex . . Alex (Sandy) Ferguson Chemistry Department University of Canterbury New Zealand *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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