[Paddlewise] Roll or Die?

Timothy.g.mattson_at_intel.com writes:  > If the conditions are
>  bad enough that I need to swim, I've done something really stupid and
>  deserve to byte the big one.  
Well, me too.  But I'd still like to somehow slither out of my well-deserved 
death if something goes wrong.   

You are spot-on about rolling.  It's irresponsible of senior paddlers and 
instructors to not encourage people to learn to roll.   (Though I doubt many 
instructors would say this: bad business sense!)  More often, it's the 
paddler who becomes intimidated.  With drysuits for outdoor practice, and 
pool sessions everywhere, everyone should try to learn to roll.  As Tim says, 
whitewater paddlers learn to roll early on, and sea boats are not very 
different to roll.  Especially when you consider that even most severe ocean 
conditions would be easier to roll in than many whitewater situations. 

I'm pretty confident in my roll, and I do practice.  But I can think of 
expedition conditions which could cause me to fail, such as injury or 
weakness from a flu, gastro-intestinal distress, etc.  So a pump makes sense 
for me.  

Especially if we are talking under $50 for a foot pump, and under $30 for 
electric.  I have a Klepper, and I could see tossing a small electric pump 
in, and running an outlet hose out the mast fitting.   
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