In a message dated 04/21/2002 8:37:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time, djmacdo_at_ilstu.edu writes: << If someone can explain to me that there is a real reason to wear a PDF on a river that is warm, two feet deep, forty feet wide, running at perhaps one mile per hour, in 95 degree temperatures I would be glad to hear it. >> here we go again..... 10. your boat could whack you on the head as you flip 9. you could hit your heat on a submerged rock/log 8. you could swallow a lot of water and come up choking 7. you are setting a good example 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. (please fill in the blanks, please) and the number one reason to wear your PFD at all times: 1. IT'S EASIER TO FIND THE BODY. sandy kramer whose wish list includes the inflatable shorty vest from www.stormyseas.com (about $105) for those wimp river paddling days when it is sooo hot. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Sun, Apr 21, 2002 at 04:27:16PM -0400, Gypsykayak_at_aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 04/21/2002 8:37:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time, > djmacdo_at_ilstu.edu writes: > > << If someone can explain to me that there is a real reason to wear a PDF on > a river that is warm, two feet deep, forty feet wide, running at perhaps > one mile per hour, in 95 degree temperatures I would be glad to hear it. >> > > here we go again..... Yup. (Although I should point out that I find PDFs to get soggy when printed out and taken on the river. I prefer a PFD.) BTW: I do precisely that -- wear a PFD on a river that is warm, two feet deep, forty feet wide, and running at perhaps one mile an hour in 95 degree temperatures -- all summer long, every summer for the past ten years. I train for slalom racing on the Brandywine River, so I'm not just floating: I'm doing interval workouts, sprints, and stroke drills. Yeah, it's hot; but that's what a roll and a water bottle are for. > 10. your boat could whack you on the head as you flip I've also been hit in the head with my own paddle during a particularly violent flip. > 9. you could hit your heat on a submerged rock/log Bingo. A paddler died a few years ago on the Yough in PA -- not in the whitewater, but in the flatwater pool at the put-in -- when he smacked his head on a rock and drowned. > 8. you could swallow a lot of water and come up choking Yep. Or just do that involuntary snort that some of us do which causes some amount of water to end up where it shouldn't. > 7. you are setting a good example That might be the most important of all. I'm well aware that on most summer weekends there are a lot of people walking by. There are also a good number of recreational canoeists. I want them to notice the PFD (and helmet, BTW: I'm never without it) and realize "hey...this guy looks halfway good...and HE'S WEARING SAFETY GEAR!" because it communicates the message in a way that my words never will. Will they get it? I don't know. It's impossible to measure the impact. But over ten years and thousands of workouts (I train all year, but there aren't many people around Oct-Apr) I would like to think that at least a few people have worked it out. I do know that, from time to time, I'll strike up a conversation with passers-by or rec canoeists and the topic will come up: I explain to them that people who don't use proper safety gear are usually known as "victims" and that I'd prefer not to be one... and that I would also prefer that *they* not be one, either. ---Rsk *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
--- Gypsykayak_at_aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 04/21/2002 8:37:23 AM Eastern > Daylight Time, > djmacdo_at_ilstu.edu writes: > > << If someone can explain to me that there is a real > reason to wear a PDF on > a river that is warm, two feet deep, forty feet > wide, running at perhaps > one mile per hour, in 95 degree temperatures I > would be glad to hear it. >> 10 reasons snipped, none of which are likely to save your life in 2' deep, 1 mph, warm water. In the conditions listed the PFD is unlikely to be needed or to help if something did go wrong. All that said, I always wear mine while kayaking (but usually not while sailing). My rational is that it is easier to wear it all the time than to figure out when it is needed or not needed. I am at least one paddler who would say nothing to you in the conditions you describe if you did not wear your PFD, but I probably value personal liberties more than most people do. Pete Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.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/ ***************************************************************************
On Sun, Apr 21, 2002 at 02:06:38PM -0700, Peter Staehling wrote: > I am at least one paddler who would say nothing to you > in the conditions you describe if you did not wear > your PFD, but I probably value personal liberties more > than most people do. This isn't a matter of "personal liberty". (It's a trifle compared to *real* personal liberty issues like, say, "freedom of speech". Putting on a PFD takes a couple of second and inconveniences nobody.) But let's say it is (a matter of personal liberty). One of the unfortunate realities of our society, whether you or I or anyone else likes it, is that bureaucratic response to problems is often mistargeted. (See, for example, any piece of legislation proposed or passed pertaining to the Internet, anywhere in the United States. ALL of them indicate severe lack of understanding of the fundamentals of the techology.) I don't want my ability to paddle when and where I wish to be constrained by regulations enacted in response to tragedy. ("May I see your class V card, please?") But I'm well aware that if people go out, get stupid, and get themselves killed in spectacular ways, that this is precisely what will happen. It's therefore in my interest to see that they don't do that -- humanitarian concerns aside for the moment -- because their mistakes may very well come back in the form of misguided regulations that (a) do nothing to solve the underlying problem(s) and (b) may actually make things worse. I also don't want to have to spend my day participating in a search/body recovery. I've done this twice, and it is an utterly chilling experience that I have no desire to be part of again. (But I *will* if the need arises. I think it's my obligation.) If my setting an example over and over again does .0001% to forestall that -- I'm all for it. Especially because that .0001% X 100,000 paddlers will do a lot. So yeah, I'm willing to wear the PFD (and the helmet) all the time, every time, and I've done exactly that for my entire paddling career. I advocate that others do the same because I think (a) it's smart for them and (b) it's smart for me. ---Rsk *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Dear Group, It gets hot down here in Texas. Very hot. I still were my PFD no matter what. Get wet to keep cool. Safe Paddling Peter Cragg Scoutmaster Troop 889 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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