My kayak club (university of washington) doesn't ban sandals in kayaks, but we have an official policy that strongly discourages them for the very reason of a potential entrapment. While Ralph makes an interesting point that some sandals and pedals are very unlikely to become trapped, it is far too much trouble to specify which sandal/pedal combos are 100% safe, and which ones are not. Unfortunately, a foot entrapment while upside down in a kayak is a very grim possibility that has a high potential for a drowning. This ultimate penalty is not worth fooling around with, IMO. I think it's a decision akin to wearing a helmet on a river, or a PFD on any trip. I don't really agree with a strong blanket ban on sandals , but I will always strongly discourage their use on any trip that I lead. Banning anything in kayaking is not a good idea, since kayaking decisions really must ultimately depend on the individual judgment of each kayaker. I remember hearing about a blanket ban against non-bulkheaded kayaks in an NZ kayak club, which I thought was a lousy idea because a seasock/floatbag combo is just as safe (if not even more safe). This may not be the best analogy however, since I doubt that anyone can make a plausible argument that sandals are more safe than tight fitting booties. There's also another reason why sandals are bad: they are too big! The "footprint" of a sandal is much larger than the footprint of a bootie, and thus sandals take up a lot more space in the kayak. For people with small feet, this is perhaps a non-issue depending on their kayak type, but for me with size 13 feet, it's a huge issue. I literally cannot get my feet comfortable in my Pygmy sea kayak unless I have tight fitting booties. Cheers, Kevin *************************************************************************** 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 May 29 2001 - 10:21:54 PDT
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