In a message dated 9/11/2002 10:54:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, staehpj1_at_yahoo.com writes: > P: ... Self reliance first and reliance on your fellow trip members second > should be the emphasis. > > My background is white-water paddling and we always figured if outside > assistance was required to save our lives we would die (especially on > remote runs). I think we tend to make better decisions when we think like > that. > ... > I am not against signaling devices and so on, but suspect that they do give > folks an unhealthy feeling of invincibility. This is especially true in > our society where no one seems to think they are responsible for their own > actions. > ... > Am I all alone here, or do others share this opinion? RalphH: I excerpted from the original message, as shown above, after some considerable pause for thought and feel compelled to chip in with this opinion piece in agreement with Pete. Back in the days when I grew up paddling the North Sea coast in Germany, no one thought about PFDs for paddlers even (the orange monsters known as "life jackets" were considered too cumbersome), never mind signaling gear or most any of the "safety" equipment that is considered standard now. We knew that only we were responsible for ourselves and no other notion ever even entered our minds. I hazard that most of us survived because we knew that death was the most likely consequence of not paddling strictly within the limitations imposed by our known skills and by a most conservative assessment of current and developing conditions. Yes, I for one fully agree that better decisions results from acting as though there were no chance of outside help. Nowadays you find German tourists climbing down into the Grand Canyon against the advice of the local rangers and then calling for helicopter evacuation on their rented cell phones. So, it's certainly not just a question of a diminished sense of responsibility "in society" on this side of the Atlantic ... if we can accept such generalizations. However, paddling is an activity that inherently encourages great focus. Perhaps paddlers should therefore be assumed to be able to focus also on the fact that they MUST make decisions as though there were no outside help. But then carry the signaling devices (and other safety gear!) anyway AND know how to use them. Best regards, Ralph Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.PouchBoats.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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Sep 11 2002 - 09:40:12 PDT
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