RE: [Paddlewise] kayaker death, equipment, safety

At 01:45 PM 4/2/01 +0100, Colin Calder wrote:
 <snip>
>For example, the sea water temperature here typically varies between
>something like 41 in Winter and 55 degrees F in summer. My impression is
>that many on this list would consider for this water use of a dry suit
>pretty much mandatory. However, in the culture of the sport I paddle in dry
>suits are almost never chosen, and amongst experienced sea kayakers wetsuits
>are not a common choice either, clothing  being selected as a rule to be
>appropriate to paddling performance, not protection for a long swim.
>Typically fleece with a waterproof/windproof semi-dry/dry-cag shell might be
>worn.  Madness? If you swim in this clothing you get wet. The water is cold,
>if you swim sooner or later you get wet and cold. Becoming dysfunctional
>because of cold is extremely dangerous.  The lesson I take from this is not
>that I need more sophisticated clothing, but rather I am reminded that
>taking a long swim in cold water is so dangerous that it isn't an option. As
>Matt observes above, the above swim was unlikely to have a good outcome no
>matter the clothing.

I have to admit that I'm a little leery of dry suits, anyway. When they
work, they're fine, but when they don't, they're worse than useless. If
they leak, or are torn, they'll fill with water, and immediately lose their
thermal protection -- plus, full of water, are more difficult to maneuver
in, such as in a re-entry. There's no backup behind them if they fail. A
lot of people seem to think that a dry suit is the be all and end all of
thermal protection, but I can think of a couple of recent incidents in
which a flooded dry suit added to tragedy. 

>Do Leashes, tethers, epirbs, strobes, paddlefloats etc make a safer paddler?
>Or quite the opposite, does making the informed choice NOT to carry these
>items make a safer paddler? I have been reflecting on this for pretty much
>the life of this list, and I believe the latter case.  I wear a foam pfd and
>helmet on the river but choose neither of them at sea. I  might decide to
>take only paddle, clothing and boat or I may have a boat full of kit down to
>a vhf and gps. When am I safer? Does the excess equipment make me an un-safe
>paddler?
>
>They used to burn Heretics. Flame away.

No flames from me. In fact, your rant sits rather well with me.

All the safety gear in the world does not necessarily a safer paddler make.
However, there needs to be a reasoned assessment of the risks involved in
any given paddle, rather than just going through the drill by rote. I can
think of a lot of safety gear that would be wisely carried in one
situation, but useless dead weight in another.

Fr'instance: In 95% of my paddling, a VHF radio is useless dead weight. I'm
paddling inland lakes, where no one monitors VHF. For someone else,
paddling, say in a busy harbor area, a VHF is nearly a necessity. But
because it's a good idea for him, is it a good idea for me? Obviously not.
Yet, a lot of the babble about safety gear contains similar caveats, what
is good for one must be good for all.

The amount of thermal protection or safety gear to carry is a subtle
balance, and there’s no easy, absolutely right answer for any given
condition. There are people that will tell you need the same level of
thermal protection and safety gear for surfing 30-foot waves in 40 degree
water at Agawa Bay in November that you would have for paddling on an
80-degree farm pond in August. That’s obviously not right. A number of
factors need to be taken into consideration, including but not limited to:
boat stability, water temperature, location, sea conditions, air
temperature, humidity, experience, in a group or solo, and what you intend
to do.

-- Wes


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