RE: [Paddlewise] How Would You: Change to. . . .PFD

I am an experienced ww river kayaker and sea kayaker.

Anyone who does not wear a PFD in river ww is damned stupid. 

BOOjum says:
>>  If you've wet exited in the hole and the
>>  hole keeps recirculating you no matter what you do, 
>>  one option is to lose the pfd and swim *under* the 
>>  recirculating water.

Yes, there are documented cases where a person out of his 
boat is caught in a "keeper" hole in a river, and the PFD
helps keep him there, preventing him from sinking low enough
so he can swim out from the bottom of the recirculating pattern.
I know of one such case personally. The paddler was a highly 
experienced ww paddler and slalom racer. He was recirculated 
(sucked down into the hole, then pushed back up to the surface
a few feet downstream, then sucked upsteam and down again into
the water, etc.) two or three times. On the last time, being 
extremely cool-headed, he dumped his PFD and actually HELPED 
the current suck him down by doing a "reverse" breast stroke. 
(Imagine you're being sucked down vertically, feet first. You 
sweep your hands from near your hips upward toward your head.) 
He popped up again about 10 feet downstream from the hole and 
was not recirculated again. His paddling companions then were
able to rescue him.

But this is an extremely rare kind of occurrence. And this 
paddling group violated one of the prime safety rules: When
you are paddling near keepers, at least one person should
be standing on the bank with a throw rope. If a person is
caught in the keeper, use the throw rope! In this particular
case no one was manning a throw rope.

Every responsible ww club or group I have ever paddled with 
requires that you wear a PFD. No exceptions.

Jack Fu
47-37-39 N, 122-07-57 W 
 
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