Matt Broze: ... no amount of thermal protective clothing up to a full survival suit would have been likely to save him (other than by extending his life for a few more hours when someone just might happen to come upon him accidentally). Colin Calder: Matt's above observation basically is that a dry suit here would have made no difference. Ralph Hoehn: No flame from this end, Colin, just a comment to add to the heresy: In this specific incident (assuming that the paddler had indeed lost his boat), had he been wearing a dry suit and neoprene hood AND had he been carrying fins ON HIS PERSON (no big deal strapped to the back of the PFD after all and easily deployed in my experience), he might have been able to strike out for land. Yes, yes, yes, there are a dozen other things he might have done right first and before ever lumbering himself with fins, which other people have argued to be worse than useless to a paddler except in rare and special circumstances ... how about this: Tether: Let's assume that he had been tethered (against some correspondent's better judgement :-) and the situation was such that he already had to cut his tether to the kayak in order to be able to exit and surface at all. So, let's assume that the boat was lost to him, as might well have happened in this case anyway. Signals: Carrying flares, smoke, strobes et al would still only have left him helplessly waiting for outside aid. Fins might have given him a fighting chance of reaching land somewhere (anywhere!!) under his own steam if he was dressed sufficiently to survive the cold for the length of time it took him to get there. I have a personal aversion towards relying on others to bale me out of my problems (though I gratefully accpet any offers of help any time ... depending of what they cost me, of course), so carrying emergency signals is preceded by a whole list of higher priority emergency provisions and reactions, from training / practice through various unassisted fall-back scenarios and the related equipment. Just a thought ... Best regards, Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Apr 02 2001 - 07:54:16 PDT
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