MJAkayaker_at_aol.com wrote: [snip] > I envsion the radio as one way of minimizing the "get home at all costs" > syndrome If I have a way to talk with someone I am more likely to wait out > bad weather or call for assistance rather than try to paddle back through > conditions that are over my head. In some ways it takes the place of a float > plan when I am away from home and am not able to leave a plan with a reliabe > contact. Good thoughts. In one of my fave paddling spots, it is easy to become windbound, possibly leading to a CG helo whopping away overhead, looking for me. My original reason for purchasing a handheld VHF was so I could tell them I was OK, saving the taxpayers some dough, and saving my loved ones some unnecessary grief. A reality around here is that the handheld VHF (and cell phones, sad to say) may not be able to reach anybody to tell them I am are OK, just waiting out some bad weather. YMMV, especially in more populous areas. > Kruger wrote: > << You can't drown on the beach>> > > You can die of exposure on the beach. Context, context. My statement came at the end of a description of what I use the VHF for, mainly: listening to the weather to decide whether I should **leave** the beach. I agree you can die of hypothermia on the beach, though if you are wearing immersion clothing suitable for cold water, that is highly unlikely, in our temperate climate. > Am I seriously overestimating the value of the VHF radio? No, though it is not a great sole substitute for telling someone where you will be paddling. The VHF is a good tool (as Featherkile said, I believe), but it is not a cure-all. Winters has posted lucidly (and extensively) here about the effect more safety gear has on increasing our willingness to paddle in dicey conditions. The uninitiated should chase down the articles on "risk homeostasis" on John's site: http://home.ican.net/~735769/ Click on "Paddling Safety" and look for risk homeostasis. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jun 07 2000 - 18:15:41 PDT
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