Re: [Paddlewise] Safety Warning - a simple solution

From: Brian Nystrom <brian.nystrom_at_att.net>
Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 20:39:27 -0500
Matt Broze wrote:

> I recently learned of two separate incidents where paddlers were trapped in
> their kayak upon capsizing because they were wearing neoprene gloves. I
> talked to the near drowning victim in one of these incidents. She had been
> hospitalized and is alive today only because her paddling partners reached
> her and got her out of the kayak. She said the problem was that with the
> gloves on she could not feel what she was touching and could not find the
> grab loop to remove the spraydeck. This same lack of feeling also made it
> impossible for her to find and release the Velcro straps on the back of the
> gloves in order to take them off to free her fingers.

Many, if not most of the people I paddle with attach a ball or float to the grab
loop of their spray skirt. It makes it easy to find regardless of what you have
on your hands. Personally, I use a paddle biner in a tightly stitched loop, so
it cannot shift around. There's no way I can miss it.

--
Regards

Brian



***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Tue Mar 06 2001 - 18:29:34 PST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:38 PDT