RE: [Paddlewise] Current Info on Electric or Foot Pumps?

Clyde wrote:

> What I'm getting from the thread is I can pretty much forget about a paddle
> float rescue in the same conditions that knocked me over.

Hurrah! at last! (But then again you don't always have to perform a rescue in the
conditions that caused the upset - hazards aren't always constant: you'll wash out
of the tide race etc, the booomer only booms every 20th wave etc, the dumpy surf
may only be at the bar etc)

>If I can't stay
> in the boat to start with, how am I going to get back into it?  And if I can
> get back in the boat, there won't be enough hands to operate a manual pump
> and stay upright, assuming I can get the spray skirt on anyway.  (I paddle
> solo most of the time).

Hurrah!

> If all this is true then the paddle float/hand pump are really a safety
> hazard rather than a safety feature in that they give you a sense of false
> security which may lead you into conditions from which you really can't
> recover.

Yahoooooooo! Eureka! The dark ages are over! Realisation!

> This then leads me to the question:  Why does the entire industry seem to
> perpetuate this myth?  All of the instruction books include paddle float
> rescues.  Do they also state it's useless?  I doubt it.  Why does Sea
> Kayaker magazine (I don't subscribe nor do I read it regularly) perform
> tests and write articles about it?  Why is the paddle float rescue taught in
> kayaking clasess (at least in mine) if they have little or no practical
> value.

Good question which defies all logic! Paddlefloats aren't used in the UK and the
few folk I know that carry one do so with the conviction that they would maybe be
the last resort aid to a re-enter roll, definitely not for the fix your paddle to
your boat - climb back in - pump out with both hands on a stirrup pump -
discussion which comes up on this list so frequently. I wonder why anyone could
believe it would realistically work in rough water.

Don't know much about the stateside kayak industry, but I paddle a P&H capella,
and was amazed to read for example the Sea Kayaker magazine review of this boat,
in which the one criticism was that the design of the aft bungies prevented
sticking your paddle under them for the paddlefloat rescue. huh ??? The bungies
are clearly arranged to carry spare paddles, and how anyone, particularly a tester
for a magazine could fail to realise this I found staggering.

Glad to read your experiences practising self rescues Clyde, and glad you came to
the conclusion that Paddlefloats are a waste of time.

Cheers

Colin Calder	(electric pump, no paddlefloat)
57º19'N  2º10'W



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