In a message dated 12/26/1998 9:02:13 AM EST, Blankibr_at_aol.com writes: << That depends on your relationship with your wife! :) If you can get away with exchanging it, I strongly recommend it.>> If not, exchange your wife for a different model! << Do you really want to trust a plastic bag with about $200 in electronics? Are you certain the bag will never rip?>> Actually this might should read "do you really trust a plastic bag with your life? The bag WILL eventually rip! Murphy is still in charge! <> The point of this paragraph is things can and will go wrong. Murphy again! <<Spend the extra few bucks and get a waterproof model. The submersibles were too much more for me when I did plan on using the bag. I figured between it and a waterproof model I would be safe (not bombproof, but safe). >> More seriously than trading in your wife, I complete agree with the above comment and if buying new right now would not even consider anything other than waterproof. I'd also take Dave Kruger's previous advise and get one with an alkaline battery pack. I might just take it as a reserve for the nicad rechargeable pack, but in every case a backup battery pack is a MUST. The nicad's are expensive, so most do not buy a second one until the original has too short a memory or won't recharge at all. Think about discovering this when you are on the water and need it. Not a good thing. With all things considered, I would exchange the radio for a truly waterproof one. There is a plan to phase toward all VHF radios being submersable waterproof. There is a reason for this. When push comes to shove the waterproof radios still work. I would not completely depend on the seal, meaning I'd still use a bag. We are dealing with electronics and they just don't mix well with water, especially salt water. I still have a couple of non water anything hand helds, I am keeping them, I still use them, but I would ONLY replace one with a totally submersable one today. I still remember an event 40 years ago when the only hand held anything was a CB radio. We had one and would call my dad at our house to let him know we were about to cross the river heading home. We lived right on the water. The river was pretty busy with boat traffic. It was also the Intracoastal Waterway and the channel into port for lagre ships. Well, we got atop a little knoll to gain antennae height, turned the radio on, pressed teh button and the only thing that came out of it was smoke. It had rained on us earlier and the radio got a little damp. That was a really helpless feeling although it was not an emergency or rescue situation. That event, however, has governed a lot about how I handle and protect electronic devises on or near water to this day. I buy themost waterproof model available and also bag them! Go with the submersable waterproof. Your wife will love you even more for taking that extra measure of security. John LeBlanc *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
> > With all things considered, I would exchange the radio for a truly waterproof > one. There is a plan to phase toward all VHF radios being submersable > waterproof. There is a reason for this. When push comes to shove the > waterproof radios still work. > > I would not completely depend on the seal, meaning I'd still use a bag. Thanks for all of the good advice. I'm ignoring the suggestions about trading in the wife; she still has a lot of good life left in her, and anyway, I've already taught her to paddle. So this afternoon the two of us went back to Weat and traded the Mistral in on a Standard 350, for merely twice (well, almost) as much money. It's submersible, has a charger and can use alkalines, and is smaller besides. I kept the bag, and intend to use it that way. Steve Cramer Test Scoring & Reporting Services Sometimes you never can University of Georgia always tell what you Athens, GA 30602-5593 least expect the most. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:55 PDT