So many people have asked me for a copy of my gear list that it is probably easier if I cut and paste it into an email and send it to the list. I will fix up any spelling and odd abreviations and send it in the next day or so. Cheers David David Whyte Unix Systems/Oracle Database Administrator Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) P.O. Box 2181 Canberra City ACT 2601 Tel 02 6279 5881 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
ralph diaz wrote: > Doug Lloyd wrote: > > check lists, or if I should add mine to any ongoing lists. My list is > > more specific, as I keep it for insurance purposes along with a video > > tape kept at a relatives (only way I get replacement value with my > > underwriter) and as a final check before leaving on a trip. > <snip> > > A very impressive list. Good thing you are not a gear-head! :-) Sorry for delay in response -- I'm in and out of town right now, so please don't be offended by any apparent long delays getting back on subjects. Me, a gear head? Naw, I was told the Nordkapp handles better with a full load, so by packing dense, I have the best handling Nordkapp around. Packing dense, now there's a pun :-) Actually, so little of my kayak shows in a rough sea under a full load, that I hardly notice winds (well, some days it seems). Also, I can pack as much as some others with higher volume kayaks, due to my use of four compartments and low-profile deck net bags and a consistent loading pattern varied only slightly for down-wind running. I do have overload buckles on the rear deck, but only use them on the rarest occasion, if ever. By using large "laundry net bags" to transport gear to the waterside, and then having most things in smaller, slender bags, I can load that Nordkapp like no body's business. The addition of an VCP oval hatch immediately abaft of the cockpit has been a godsend for loading. I also use the aluminum space blanket if needed, to place beside the kayak while loading, which keeps the gear clean and grit free. Gear can "get in the way" of the wilderness experience. However, with my experience and organization, I find all the gear helps me "participate" in wilderness adventure travel in a safer, more efficient manner. I _have_ seen the opposite on some trips, where individuals were overwhelmed by all the gear and loading permutations. Going naked with a stick and a log is not something i would enjoy, though I'd love to see Nigel Foster do this at a one of his symposium talks on paddling techniques (well, perhaps some of the females would!). > > Seriously though, just a few comments/questions: > > --Notice that Doug puts his Thermarest in a dry bag. Some paddlers > thinking that the pad is covered with waterproof fabric, don't give it > that extra measure of protection. They sometimes wind up sleeping on a > wet surface. Tents, tent poles, and tarps should also be similarly > protected even though the fabrics are largely waterproof and the poles > of aluminum. Tent poles can corrode in saltwater as some paddlers have > found out. Protect everything. Amen. Gear is expensive, so why not protect it and keep it for a long time. Is that not part of good stewardship of earth's resources from whence our gear came? Not only do bags/stuff sacks, etc., keep gear from getting wet, they help keep off grime, grit, dirt, destructive saltwater, etc. Also, loading in the rain isn't a pain when each and every item is in its own protective bag or grouped in same, etc. > > > --Doug, what is the weight of everything not including the kayak and > paddles? Better stated, do you have the weight for ordinary day paddle > gear and the weight for camping gear and food? ITEM.................................................................RUNNING TOTAL Kayak, with permanent accessories.....................87 lbs With deck items in place.....................................102 lbs (add 14 lbs) With knee tube full, camera, deck water..............111 lbs (add 9 lbs) With basic default gear and lunch........................126 lbs (add 15 lbs) With basic multi-day gear added.........................162 lbs (add 36 lbs) Per day weight of food/water is 5 lbs...................187 lbs (add 25 lbs 5-day trip) Weight of booties, PFD,skirt, wetsuite.................202 lbs (add 15 lbs) Current weight of paddler....................................408 lbs (add 206 lbs) This list is based on my last trip (and some prior day-trip weights), which I happened to do an actual weighing of as I was curious, especially given the fact that all modifications likely to be made to my Nordkapp are now complete, and I don't have any more gear I need now, other than EPIRB and GPS someday. So, it looks like a day trip runs at 38 lbs, and an overnight trip (one night only) runs 79 lbs, respectively, minus boat, paddling gear and paddle/paddler. In winter, I add more gear like a Thermos, fleece jacket, more poly underwear, and more dense food stuffs, soups for mid-day warm up; but, I take less water as it is more plentiful along the coast. Note that my food tends to be on the heavy side, as I take condensed liquid milk, Alpen cold cereal, cans of beans and chile, boil-in-bag rice, power bars, gorp, dried apricots/apples/pears, etc., back up Kraft pasta dinners. I only do "gourmet" cooking when I take my wife. I gave up on alchol due to gastric problems intrinsic to sitting in a kayak. Trips over 10 days tend to be more of the freeze-dried food variety. On my own, I tend to push myself in the elements, and have little energy at the end of the day for food preparation. I am often on the water by 6:00 am (even earlier occasionally), and breakfast takes four minutes for a fast go. I often do some major paddling in the late afternoon once winds calm down again when running the length of an exposed coast with summer wind patterns. I think I would have expired long ago if it wasn't for the early starts. Winter tripping, all bets are off. Survival in a moment by moment affair, with constant re-evaluation needed and lots of escape routes, and decisive action taken in compliance with gut feelings to get off the water NOW. Good gear is a must. You can be stuck for days in one place (though I always find narrow windows to keep moving). I've also added a few things to my last gear list from 1999. Dye marker, Glow sticks, Patagonia moisture barrier vest (insulates in winter, keeps wind off torso in summer), a hand held compass, back-up cheap watch to my regular diver's model, light wind shell for summer, and I take my old hooded Wildwasser seam sealed paddling jacket for rain camping in the winter (it is totally waterproof). Alas, rubber boots don't find room in a Nordkapp. > > --When you speak of keeping a careful record for insurance purposes is > it just to document lost gear for insurance coverage? Or is it also to > cover your own possible demise (something I pray will never happen to > such a nice and noble person such as you who I have grown to like even > though not having met) to underscore that you were not recklessly > unprepared for whatever conditions did you in and therefore your > beneficiaries are entitled to file a claim for benefits under your life > insurance policy? Both. Insurance adjusters like visual proof via a list and video tape or still pictures in case of theft, loss, or fire, etc. My gear list also goes on the back of my float plan, along with how many days water and food (including back-up food) I'm carrying. I know if I die, i will be labeled irresponsible no matter what, if I'm solo; so at least, a list goes a long way to showing "whomever" that some responsibility was apparent. I know on our last rescue, the Coasties were very impressed with the collective equipment and preparation and prior experience and training. Me nice and noble? Naw, why Matt said he wouldn't sell me one of his kayaks, as he wouldn't want to see the Mariner name appearing in some future accident/incident review/report. Of course, I'm not sure if the possible truth to this is due to the fact of my track record, or perhaps a prophetic utterance he didn't realize at the time matt said this to me, due to the implication that one of his Mariner kayaks might not survive one of my trips :-) > I don't mean to be morbid or blunt but it is possible > that some recalcitrant insurance claims adjuster might see your paddling > style as reckless and risky (even suicidal); such obvious preparedness > in gear (and vastly tested experience) would prove otherwise. Funny you should mention this. As I left Port Hardy last week, a gale was blowing. A lady in a business outfit came up to me and asked me where I was going. I pointed to some offshore island in the distance. She said "You're going out there, today?" She then took my name and number, and said she would call me in a few weeks upon my return to sell me "no-fault" accident insurance. $50,000, no questions asked upon one's demise if it was sports related. My current policies are fairly good, but there is often fine print regarding "white water kayaking and river rafting". Insurance companies still consider seagoing activities relatively safe, it would seem. Suicidal, eh? I just call it fun. Living in New York - now that's suicidal :-) (Mug mug, bang bang, crash crash). > > > Again, thanks for such a complete list with lots of food for thought. No problem. I'll "cc" the list the above response, as the weight calculations might be useful to some folks. Take care ralph. Keep up the great work with Canoe and Kayak magazine. I get the magazine now, since the new editor took over and you started contributing. Hope the new head honcho there works out. He sounds like a down-to-earth type. Gotta go. "She who must be obeyed" is telling me to get off the computer. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd (who loves these "heavy" subjects, but is a very down-to-earth, gravity-pulled fellow most of the time) > > > ralph diaz > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter > PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 > Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com > "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From: Jack Fu [jack.fu_at_worldnet.att.net] Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 11:19 AM To: <snip> Subject: sobering trip in the Green River gorge I did the Green River gorge yesterday with Tom X and Bob Y. I'm a good paddler, Tom is a very good paddler, Bob is an expert. Bob knows the Green well, is alert and fast-acting in an emergency, and in general the best friend you could have. I did two things wrong. First, I lost my concentration in a difficult stretch and dropped sideways into a keeper and flipped. Being an experienced paddler, I could tell I was in a classic, glue-like keeper, and I should have popped the skirt right away, but instead, I tried to set up for a roll. It was useless and caused me to lose several precious seconds. When I finally popped the skirt I was almost completely out of breath. In the next 10 feet or so of floating down the river, I was breathing in foamy air, and my lungs hurt like hell. Bob pulled me ashore, then chase my paddle down. Tom saved my boat. My next mistake also involved a loss of concentration. I flipped at the bottom of Mercury drop. I rolled up right away, but was feeling disoriented and could not concentrate except in a sort of semi-panicked reaction mode, and instead of going through the "Nozzle" (as you MUST do), I found myself headed into the narrow passage to the right of the Nozzle. The side of my boat scraped the rock on the right and I flipped left. I popped the skirt, came out, and found myself in a confusing situation where the boat tried to float though the passage, then turned vertical as I was holding onto it for dear life, then completely disappeared as the current grapped its lower end and tried to force it though the passage underwater. (There was water going over the top between the two rocks, but most of the water was rushing through underneath, where the passage is wider.) With the boat gone, I tried to climb up on the rock on the left side of the passage, but but it was too slippery. I could not get any hold on it at all. I had no strength left. I was floating vertically in a tiny eddy in a hollow on the upstream side of that rock (and just to the left of the passage). Though my head was above water, I could feel the fast, deeper current tugging at my feet and trying to pull me, feet first, through the passage underwater. Had that happened, I would have drowned. But Bob saved my life. Bob had gone through the Nozzle just before all this, and realizing that I was not behind him, immediately paddled to just downsteam of the narrow passage, got out of his boat and wedged it and his paddle in a small notched ledge on the downstream side of that rock that I was trying to climb onto. (How he did all this, and so lighting fast, I will never know. It seemed a miracle.) He got up on that rock, saw me, and extended his hand. We were barely able to touch hands, but we did. Bob then managed to haul me up on the rock. We did not know whether my boat had been flushed through the passage underwater or whether it was stuck there. Bob probed with my paddle, then with his arm, then with his foot. It was there, about three feet underwater. By nudging it with his foot (in the downsteam end of the passage, of course) he managed to free it and it flushed through. After making sure I was okay, Bob put me back in my boat (I won't relate all the details; all I know is, I was completely in Bob's hands, and he seemed to be performing miracles) and we were on our way. One more episode. At one point near the end of the trip there was a bend where there was a small rock garden that did not have enough water. Instead of taking the outside of the bend, as anyone with any sense would, I ended up high and dry on some small rounded rocks in the rock garden. There was no danger, but I felt awfully silly, hung up in the air like that. I began to laugh. Then Bob and Tom began to laugh. For some time we three laughed like hyenas. Had anyone seen us at that point, they would have thought we were stark crazy! ------------------------ The trip was a sobering experience for me. I realize now that although 20 to 30 years a go I was a decent class 4 paddler, I no longer am. There are several reasons for this. One is that I am not as strong or coordinated as I was, but the main reason is that I just don't have the power of concentration, the ability to focus on what is needed and to carry it out quickly and precisely, that I used to have. (Not that I ever had a lot of it, but I had enough to get by.) So, I have made a sad decision. I will no longer paddle class 4. On class 4 I am a potential danger to myself and to others. This decision leaves a lot of fun stuff out, but hey, I have to come to my senses at some point. Jack ============================================== -----Original Message----- From: <snip> Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 10:05 AM To: jack.fu_at_worldnet.att.net Subject: Glad you are OK!!! You have experienced something very scary. I'm extremely happy that you are OK. We watched helplessly as a person drowned in that slot last year. He experienced exactly what you experienced, but was sucked down when his raft tipped over. We tried to pull him out, but he drowned. The rescue divers couldn't get his body out. They turned down the river level at the dam and had to cut his body out of the seive. <details snipped>. That is a horrible nasty seive, and I'm very surprised that your boat came through... I'm even more glad that you had a helping hand there to pull you out. That was one of the most tragic days I've ever had to live through, and I'm glad that you escaped the little nozzle unscathed. Your decision not to boat class IV might be the right one. Only you can know that. I know that I personally have made the decision not to boat class V water because I know it is dangerous and that the chance of not making it home is a little higher. I have a blast playboating on class III, and am satisfied that I can remain challenged with playing the III's. Keep boating within your ability... see you on the river, *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Fu" <jack.fu_at_worldnet.att.net> Really amazing story Jack, The general risk involved in whitewater is far higher than in seakayaking ( I mean under "normal" circumstances ). I also practice whitewater from time to time. And even when I´ve incursioned in class IV I consider mysel a class III kayaker. I love good adventure and feeling the adrenaline flowing through my brain, but every time I jump to the river, even class II rivers, fear starts to invade me. This is good somehow, as it keeps me alert, but after running the river I´m fulfilled with relief, and a small voice inside me rejoices that I´m all right. The higher the river class, the higher the fear. Some years ago, this fear led to panic in a class IV river. After running the last rapid, rolling and looping a couple of times, I finished completely dissoriented and exhausted. Then the guide congratulated all of us as we all were o.k. and there were no accidents of any kind. We had a simple float 'till the end of the trip. Once I felt safe I relaxed while floating and lost all my concentration. Suddenly I fell in the smallest hole I´ve ever seen, stupidly small, but strong enough to loose my balance. While bracing I listened to a "crack" and capsized. Paddle broken ? No, arm dislocated ! Well then, 6 hours to reach the hospital, and 6 more waiting to get it reduced. 2 years without kayaking. Developing a better technique and of course, the last class IV to me, and the oath to forget about trying rodeo ever in my life. Another important aspect about whitewater is the fact that you allways rely on your partners, as they also rely on you. This is important in the way that knowing each other very well, knowing the way your partner will react in a danger situation, helps you to anticipate his moove, and eventually saving his life. | Your decision not to boat class IV might be the right one. Only | you can know that. I know that I personally have made the decision | not to boat class V water because I know it is dangerous and that | the chance of not making it home is a little higher. I have a blast | playboating on class III, and am satisfied that I can remain | challenged with playing the III's. | | Keep boating within your ability... see you on the river, Absolutely agree. I´ll suggest you to try surfing "Doug's" stormy seas. There's no holes in the sea, waves can be huge, but sooner or later they collapse and die. And as long as you're not in a rock garden or a coral reef, there´s no risk of hitting a rock. I´ve been surfing 10 mts waves without fear, and I love and have fun being rocked, shacked, and pushed up and down. Cheers.- Kayak Argentina - Sea Kayaking Mailing List Fernando Lopez Arbarello kayak_argentina_at_uol.com.ar *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>> Suddenly I fell in the smallest hole I´ve ever seen, stupidly small, but strong enough to loose my balance. Fernando: Yes, isn't it amazing how sometimes it's the small holes that get you? It's partly because you're not paying attention to them. A similar experience is flipping in a shallow (only 2 feet, say) but fast moving rapid and being unable to set up for the roll because the back of your helmet and the back of your life jacket are going bump- bump-bump and the end of the paddle is going clank-clank- clank, so you bail out. Makes you feel stupid. >> While bracing I listened to a "crack" and capsized. Paddle broken ? No, arm dislocated ! MAJOR PAIN! and 6 hours to reach the hospital - gawd! Not a pleasant day! >> forget about trying rodeo ever in my life. I totally sympathize. But hey, just surfing "park & play" holes can be a lot of fun. >> I´ll suggest you to try surfing "Doug's" stormy seas. I've been in fairly stormy seas in my sea kayak and I agree, it can be extremely exciting. But it is nice, as you say, not having to worry about getting pinned by or between rocks. Jack Fu 47°38'N 122°08'W *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Doug Lloyd wrote: Wow, what a good explanation of everything including some of the paddling smarts that go hand and hand with all that well thought-out gear. Some day, you should elaborate on some of the points you mentioned in passing such as escape routes, getting out early, etc. i.e. savvy seakayaking. There is a method to your madness. This is all a "keeper." > regarding "white water kayaking and river rafting". Insurance companies > still consider seagoing activities relatively safe, it would seem. Suicidal, > eh? I just call it fun. Living in New York - now that's suicidal :-) (Mug > mug, bang bang, crash crash). Do you mean _mugs_ of beer and plates of _bangers_ followed by _crashing_ in a stupor on to the sawdust floor of some pub? :-) ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
ralph diaz wrote: > Doug Lloyd wrote: > > check lists, or if I should add mine to any ongoing lists. My list is > > more specific, as I keep it for insurance purposes along with a video > > tape kept at a relatives (only way I get replacement value with my > > underwriter) and as a final check before leaving on a trip. > <snip> > > A very impressive list. Good thing you are not a gear-head! :-) Sorry for delay in response -- I'm in and out of town right now, so please don't be offended by any apparent long delays getting back on subjects. Me, a gear head? Naw, I was told the Nordkapp handles better with a full load, so by packing dense, I have the best handling Nordkapp around. Packing dense, now there's a pun :-) Actually, so little of my kayak shows in a rough sea under a full load, that I hardly notice winds (well, some days it seems). Also, I can pack as much as some others with higher volume kayaks, due to my use of four compartments and low-profile deck net bags and a consistent loading pattern varied only slightly for down-wind running. I do have overload buckles on the rear deck, but only use them on the rarest occasion, if ever. By using large "laundry net bags" to transport gear to the waterside, and then having most things in smaller, slender bags, I can load that Nordkapp like no body's business. The addition of an VCP oval hatch immediately abaft of the cockpit has been a godsend for loading. I also use the aluminum space blanket if needed, to place beside the kayak while loading, which keeps the gear clean and grit free. Gear can "get in the way" of the wilderness experience. However, with my experience and organization, I find all the gear helps me "participate" in wilderness adventure travel in a safer, more efficient manner. I _have_ seen the opposite on some trips, where individuals were overwhelmed by all the gear and loading permutations. Going naked with a stick and a log is not something i would enjoy, though I'd love to see Nigel Foster do this at a one of his symposium talks on paddling techniques (well, perhaps some of the females would!). > > Seriously though, just a few comments/questions: > > --Notice that Doug puts his Thermarest in a dry bag. Some paddlers > thinking that the pad is covered with waterproof fabric, don't give it > that extra measure of protection. They sometimes wind up sleeping on a > wet surface. Tents, tent poles, and tarps should also be similarly > protected even though the fabrics are largely waterproof and the poles > of aluminum. Tent poles can corrode in saltwater as some paddlers have > found out. Protect everything. Amen. Gear is expensive, so why not protect it and keep it for a long time. Is that not part of good stewardship of earth's resources from whence our gear came? Not only do bags/stuff sacks, etc., keep gear from getting wet, they help keep off grime, grit, dirt, destructive saltwater, etc. Also, loading in the rain isn't a pain when each and every item is in its own protective bag or grouped in same, etc. > > > --Doug, what is the weight of everything not including the kayak and > paddles? Better stated, do you have the weight for ordinary day paddle > gear and the weight for camping gear and food? ITEM.................................................................RUNNING TOTAL Kayak, with permanent accessories.....................87 lbs With deck items in place.....................................102 lbs (add 14 lbs) With knee tube full, camera, deck water..............111 lbs (add 9 lbs) With basic default gear and lunch........................126 lbs (add 15 lbs) With basic multi-day gear added.........................162 lbs (add 36 lbs) Per day weight of food/water is 5 lbs...................187 lbs (add 25 lbs 5-day trip) Weight of booties, PFD,skirt, wetsuite.................202 lbs (add 15 lbs) Current weight of paddler....................................408 lbs (add 206 lbs) This list is based on my last trip (and some prior day-trip weights), which I happened to do an actual weighing of as I was curious, especially given the fact that all modifications likely to be made to my Nordkapp are now complete, and I don't have any more gear I need now, other than EPIRB and GPS someday. So, it looks like a day trip runs at 38 lbs, and an overnight trip (one night only) runs 79 lbs, respectively, minus boat, paddling gear and paddle/paddler. In winter, I add more gear like a Thermos, fleece jacket, more poly underwear, and more dense food stuffs, soups for mid-day warm up; but, I take less water as it is more plentiful along the coast. Note that my food tends to be on the heavy side, as I take condensed liquid milk, Alpen cold cereal, cans of beans and chile, boil-in-bag rice, power bars, gorp, dried apricots/apples/pears, etc., back up Kraft pasta dinners. I only do "gourmet" cooking when I take my wife. I gave up on alchol due to gastric problems intrinsic to sitting in a kayak. Trips over 10 days tend to be more of the freeze-dried food variety. On my own, I tend to push myself in the elements, and have little energy at the end of the day for food preparation. I am often on the water by 6:00 am (even earlier occasionally), and breakfast takes four minutes for a fast go. I often do some major paddling in the late afternoon once winds calm down again when running the length of an exposed coast with summer wind patterns. I think I would have expired long ago if it wasn't for the early starts. Winter tripping, all bets are off. Survival in a moment by moment affair, with constant re-evaluation needed and lots of escape routes, and decisive action taken in compliance with gut feelings to get off the water NOW. Good gear is a must. You can be stuck for days in one place (though I always find narrow windows to keep moving). I've also added a few things to my last gear list from 1999. Dye marker, Glow sticks, Patagonia moisture barrier vest (insulates in winter, keeps wind off torso in summer), a hand held compass, back-up cheap watch to my regular diver's model, light wind shell for summer, and I take my old hooded Wildwasser seam sealed paddling jacket for rain camping in the winter (it is totally waterproof). Alas, rubber boots don't find room in a Nordkapp. > > --When you speak of keeping a careful record for insurance purposes is > it just to document lost gear for insurance coverage? Or is it also to > cover your own possible demise (something I pray will never happen to > such a nice and noble person such as you who I have grown to like even > though not having met) to underscore that you were not recklessly > unprepared for whatever conditions did you in and therefore your > beneficiaries are entitled to file a claim for benefits under your life > insurance policy? Both. Insurance adjusters like visual proof via a list and video tape or still pictures in case of theft, loss, or fire, etc. My gear list also goes on the back of my float plan, along with how many days water and food (including back-up food) I'm carrying. I know if I die, i will be labeled irresponsible no matter what, if I'm solo; so at least, a list goes a long way to showing "whomever" that some responsibility was apparent. I know on our last rescue, the Coasties were very impressed with the collective equipment and preparation and prior experience and training. Me nice and noble? Naw, why Matt said he wouldn't sell me one of his kayaks, as he wouldn't want to see the Mariner name appearing in some future accident/incident review/report. Of course, I'm not sure if the possible truth to this is due to the fact of my track record, or perhaps a prophetic utterance he didn't realize at the time matt said this to me, due to the implication that one of his Mariner kayaks might not survive one of my trips :-) > I don't mean to be morbid or blunt but it is possible > that some recalcitrant insurance claims adjuster might see your paddling > style as reckless and risky (even suicidal); such obvious preparedness > in gear (and vastly tested experience) would prove otherwise. Funny you should mention this. As I left Port Hardy last week, a gale was blowing. A lady in a business outfit came up to me and asked me where I was going. I pointed to some offshore island in the distance. She said "You're going out there, today?" She then took my name and number, and said she would call me in a few weeks upon my return to sell me "no-fault" accident insurance. $50,000, no questions asked upon one's demise if it was sports related. My current policies are fairly good, but there is often fine print regarding "white water kayaking and river rafting". Insurance companies still consider seagoing activities relatively safe, it would seem. Suicidal, eh? I just call it fun. Living in New York - now that's suicidal :-) (Mug mug, bang bang, crash crash). > > > Again, thanks for such a complete list with lots of food for thought. No problem. I'll "cc" the list the above response, as the weight calculations might be useful to some folks. Take care ralph. Keep up the great work with Canoe and Kayak magazine. I get the magazine now, since the new editor took over and you started contributing. Hope the new head honcho there works out. He sounds like a down-to-earth type. Gotta go. "She who must be obeyed" is telling me to get off the computer. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd (who loves these "heavy" subjects, but is a very down-to-earth, gravity-pulled fellow most of the time) > > > ralph diaz > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter > PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 > Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com > "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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