Re: [Paddlewise] Costco selling kayaks

> Kevin wrote:
> the importance of instruction. There is a lot of basic knowledge that we
> take for granted that the average Costco buyer would never know, nor be
> able to learn from the salepeople at Costco. Am I wrong to think that
> Costco could be directly biasing the kayaking fatality statistics in the
> wrong direction?

The same applies to REI selling Sea Kayaks, and paddling equipment
in general for that matter.
But we can not tell Costco nor REI not to sell kayaks, as much as
we can tell them not to sell bycicles.

In the USA it is just a matter of them getting sued after several hundreds
of people die. Then, REI, Costsco, and others would hire Ken Star to 
defend them and convince the judge that the value of a boaters life
is not high enough to justify any effort in educating the public; just
like he did for Chrysler in the gas tank issue.

After all, why should buying a sea kayak be more difficult than buying a gun?

- Julio

p.s. Should we bring up the certification issue again?
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