Re: [Paddlewise] Safety Warning

From: Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 22:10:32 -0800
JSpinner_at_aol.com wrote:

>     I'm VERY unsure about just pogies in cold water. If I go in with no
> protection or just my fingerless gloves, I really doubt I'd be in  any better
> shape for dexterity than I was with the toasty gloves. What I have decided to
> do is *KICKING & SCREAMING* go to a Euro paddle, put short pogies on the
> shaft, and wear the Seal Skin gloves that will at least give me a few seconds
> before my hands are about useless.
>     If your hands are gone you can't hold a paddle to do that reenter and
> roll, nor anything else that requires holding onto things. VERY scary!

The short pogies/Seal Skin glove solution sounds like the ticket for you,
Joan.  I have used pogies (but with no gloves) for years, in cold water, and
never had a problem with cold-induced loss of finger dexterity, in multiple wet
exits.  Caveat:  I am one of those "warm hands" people who rarely need gloves
when the weather is cold.

Unless you have a medical condition (or somesuch) which makes your hands
especially sensitive to cold, I suspect that if your hands quickly become
useless on immersion, the problem is likely to be insufficient immersion
clothing on your torso/head.  This is a variant of the old saw:  "If your feet
are cold, put on a warm hat."

When I paddle on cold water, I wear enough immersion clothing so that I am
really warm while paddling.  Consequently it takes a long time (at least an
hour? has not happened yet) for my hands to lose function/feeling when I go in.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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Received on Tue Mar 06 2001 - 22:12:43 PST

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