Re: [Paddlewise] FW: Safety, Ads, & PFDs

> people should wear a PFD when they think it protects them, not to be role
> models.

Hmmm.

I think my PFD *always* protects me.  Now, it's not the only thing: I have
a reliable combat roll and a decent hand roll (if I lose the paddle);
I wear a helmet; I don't paddle rivers when I think conditions are beyond
my ability; I don't paddle whitewater alone; I've worked hard to
develop solid strokes and knowledge of how to read water; and so on.

Most of these could fail me without notice.

But it seems pretty likely that the PFD and helmet will stay with me.
(They have done so through some moderately gnarly excursions with
and without the boat.  I have every reason to believe that they
fit properly and are adjusted properly to stay put under all but
the most extreme conditions.  And I don't paddle in the most extreme
conditions.)

So I think I'm doing exactly that (wearing it when I think it protects me)
by always wearing a PFD and a helmet.


Now let's turn to the "role model" issue.  I'm teaching a clinic
on Saturday at a local beginner-level slalom race, in the middle
of a city park that's heavily trafficked by joggers, bikers, families,
etc.  The creek has 54 CFS going through it right now.  It's no more
than 2 feet deep at its deepest point.  A good long jumper could get
across it without getting wet.  I'm perfectly capable of teaching
the clinic and paddling the course with only a tiny chance of flipping
and an even smaller chance that I'll leave my boat.

But I will be wearing the helmet and the PFD (a) because of the
reasoning I outlined above and (b) because a lot of the people I'll
be teaching or who will stop to watch will recognize that I'm
[supposedly!] one of the better paddlers there.  They will also
notice that -- just like the beginners -- I am wearing a PFD
and a helmet.  Perhaps they will make the connection that *everyone*
wears these and that they do so for a reason...maybe they'll think
to themselves, "hey, look, even the instructor is wearing a PFD
and a helmet...and he looks pretty good...hmmm..."

I know this happens because I've been asked about it by passers-by
in previous years.  Whether I like it or not, whether I volunteered
or not, I *am* a role model.  It would be foolish for me to think that
I could abdicate that role simply by saying "I'm not a role model".

And as long as I'm being a role model, I might as well be one that
communicates (verbally and nonverbally as well) that I think that
wearing a PFD and a helmet is an awfully, awfully good idea.

Will this have any impact?  I don't know.  There may be no way
to know.  But my hope is that it will contribute a tiny bit to
public awareness and that maybe -- just maybe -- some of those
folks who pass by will consider wearing a PFD the next time they
take a float trip in a canoe down a local stream.  Maybe it'll
come in handy if they do.

And this is not entirely altruistic, either: I certainly don't
want people drowning in my rivers and creeks because that's bad
for them.  But it's also bad for *me* because it tends to cause
over-reaction on the part of local authorities who have difficulty
distinguishing between non-PFD-wearing-Johnny-six-pack-in-a-rental-canoe
and regularly-training-experienced-paddler-in-a-racing-kayak...
and who, because they think it's their job, or perhaps it *is*
their job, will curtail the paddling opportunities available to
me because someone else did something exceedingly stupid.

I think it's easier to try to deal with this up front...and if that
means I have to accept that I'm a role model and act accordingly, okay,
I can do that.  Obviously, this doesn't provide any guarantees --
there may be only a small chance that Johnny-six-pack will catch
on to what I'm doing and why.

But if I don't do it, there's no chance at all.

---Rsk
Rich Kulawiec
rsk_at_gsp.org

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