Re: [Paddlewise] scary sight

My rebuttal to this is 'things go wrong'. Immersion in water creates a
heat imbalance. Sure, maybe you can get someone to shore in five minutes
in perfect conditions. What happens when you can't, and they're immersed
for a half hour, or they're caught in an unexpected rip, or they panic?
Murphy, combined with Occam.

I'm not advocating dressing for the Antarctic, here, but it seems just as
extreme to dress minimally for the best of all possible scenarios. It
seems to me that the rational approach is to plan and dress for the center
of the range of possible outcomes.

YMMV.

.ashton

On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, Peter Staehling wrote:

> Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 09:01:53 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Peter Staehling <staehpj1_at_yahoo.com>
> To: Paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
> Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] scary sight
> 
> Out of curiosity, what is the typical air and surface
> water temps there and how far from shore are we
> talking about?  Are there other mitigating factors?
> 
> I see some paddlers wearing more sometimes than I
> would wear if I were going to swim the same course! 
> If the outfitter can have the paddler on a dry shore
> in 75 degree air in a few minutes, then they don't
> need a wetsuit in my mind.  Wearing shorts and a tee
> shirt and carrying some warmer clothes seems prudent
> to me in conditions where some folks wear wetsuits AND
> sneer at those who don't.
> 
> Also, it occurs to me that you *are* a weirdo if you
> dress for long exposure to submersion when the air is
> warm, help is close by, and you are never more than a
> few minutes from shore.
> 
> My motto is dress for survival in the water for the amount of time you
> are likely to spend there and comfort in the air.  If both aren't
> possible survival takes precedence.  Note the word survival, survival in
> the water is different than comfort in the water. 
> 
> Pete
> 
> Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
> http://health.yahoo.com

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