Re: [Paddlewise] Techno-Junk

The backcountry community discusses Ten Essentials Kit
items in much the same fashion.  Context is an important qualifier:
going into an arid climate requires a different kit than when winter camping.
Still, a core group of items does emerge on most lists:
how to find your location and direction (map & compass),
how to see and be seen (a light),  how to defend against hypo/hyperthermia
(a hat, some carbs, water treatment), etc.

A friend suggests the Hang Glider's Maxim: Never fly higher than you are
willing to fall.  But limited SAR experience suggests a wider reach.
When things go wrong in 'wild' or 'public' places, others are often
called upon to put themselves at risk in an attempt to find us &/or render aid.

Maine and Alaska are cold water paddles at any time of the year.
Not dressing for immersion, not carrying adequate signaling devices
(flares/smoke/radio),
not having proper '411' on tides, currents, pending & possible changes
in wind and weather, ...at what point do we begin to hear the words,
"accident waiting to happen?"

Bicycle and Motorcycle helmets are inconvenient. Laws mandating their use
inhibit my personal freedoms. They are hot. Uncomfortable. Ugly.
And all of that works right up until the moment you take a nasty fall
and stare down a future of being gorked and having to steer with puffs of air
into a tube.

I'm not a Ranger Rick Safety Compulsive.  I just find many of the arguments
about prudent use of gear, skills, and planning to be superfluous and moot.

-wjj

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