Jackie Fenton wrote: > There was also a discussion about > wearing pfd's in surf where, if a paddler wipes out, he/she would not be > able to dive under a wave in heavy surf (a consideration in a discussion > by one of the Tsunami Rangers who preferred a thick wetsuit for buoyancy > rather than a pfd... one also needs to be able to dive under a boat tumbling > in the surf towards him/her). FWIW, a 3mm farmer john has about 6 lb bouyancy. A full 7mm diver's wetsuit* has about 20 lb bouyancy. A type III PFD has about 15 lb. So the full 7mm wetsuit has around the same bouyancy but more insulation than a farmer john plus a pfd. But a 7mm is kinda bulky and stiff. They are probably using something in between, but still with good bouyancy. It's easier to dive with the distributed bouyancy of a wetsuit than the concentrated bouyancy of a pfd. So the Tsunami Ranger's approach seems to make sense for rough, cold water. Mike *that's a 7mm farmer john and a long-sleeved jacket. The jacket includes shorts that go down to mid-thigh. Plus a hood and gloves. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Aug 06 1999 - 16:49:48 PDT
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