Re: [Paddlewise] Strobes are not running lights

In a message dated 3/9/2001 8:50:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
yakfish_at_pacbell.net writes:


> Or stay off the water at night! But do 
> not just turn on your strobe because it's simpler and cheaper than real 
> running lights. It's a bad idea, and you could harm the safety of others in 
> the future.
> 
Mark is absolutely right.  A strobe is a distress signal only.  In the SAR 
business, we use them to visually identify persons in distress.  That's all 
they're for.  I haven't followed much of this thread because I participated 
in the last five or six "brand new" visibility-at-night threads.  But as a 
former SAR pilot, you are risking lives --- including the lives of the SAR 
drivers who will come out to save you and put themselves in harms way to do 
so --- and you are usurping the value of strobes to others for your own 
personal benefit.  

If the idea of paddling with strobes is appealing, why not try adding a large 
set of blue strobes to your YakRak and a fire truck horn in your grill.  You 
will definitely be noticed.  It's roughly the same thing as paddling with 
strobes.

Jack Martin


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