Certainly a PFD is a good thing, but the idea that it and a helmet ought be worn universally needs some greater consideration. Think about the sort of kayaking we do in Illinois. No surf here, and other than one run, no white water either. Rather generally quiet water rivers, seldom more than four feet deep or a hundred feet wide. Sumer temperatures run in the 90s with high humidity. You are more likely to drown after passing out from excess heat in your PFD than from the force of the water itself. I keep my PFD handy in a kayak with a very, very large cockpit--along with a paddle float and a throw bag. In three years I have not yet had occasion to use any of them--but I will always keep them handy. Still, somehow, when moving down the middle of the Spoon river in three feet of quiet water under a leafy canopy and watching deer drink on the bank thirty feet away, I just find it hard to imagine that I would be significantly safer with the PFD on my back rather than under my legs--in a very large cockpit. Mac *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Sep 08 2000 - 17:05:58 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:31 PDT