In a message dated 12/10/2002 3:35:03 AM Eastern Standard Time, dougl_at_islandnet.com writes: > ... Here on the west coast, we don't get real cold conditions, except maybe > during arctic outbreaks which usually are associated with wind -- rendering > wind chill factors to near dangerous. I admire you east coasters that > manage year-round paddling (when "soft" water can be found at least). > > BTW, I always carry a pouch on my PFD with accessible neo gloves and neo > skull cap in it, both in winter and summer. And I never did manage to find > rubber/latex type gloves suitable, though I do notice some of the drysuit > manufactures sell a similar glove with a "reverse" latex gasket which > prevents water from running back down into the glove. ... Doug, due to salinity and the greater normal movement of the water the coastal waters tend not to get too hard too often ere either, it's just that the rivers get clogged at times. :-) I, too, carry a neoprene hood, even in relatively benign conditions -- it's just part of the "kit in the bag" along with gloves etc. Gloves are a serious challenge for me and always have been: For one I have skinny hands with somewhat less than full blooded circulation, i.e., they chill easily, and for another I perspire at the slightest provocation (and often without), causing significant chilling through evaporation (hey, it works :-). I've given up trying to keep my fingers dry, but I do try to enclose them to stop any (wind-) chilling due to condensation. My local hardware store carries green latex gloves advertised for use when handling chemicals. Instead of being smooth they have a fuzzy surface texture akin to what you get when putting your hand flat in thick fresh paint and then pulling away at right angles to the surface. This provides excellent grip on wet paddle shafts; in fact, while the finish on my Greenland style paddle is almost a little too smooth to slide when I handle it without gloves, those green "chemical" gloves almost impair sliding too much. Loss of heat from the hands through radiation seems to be a much lesser factor in my personal experience, so I tend to worry less about the insulating property of gloves (other than when scuba diving in cold conditions!). Having said that, these green gloves are dimensioned in such a way that when I buy them long enough for my fingers, they leave plenty of air around the fingers even when once in a while I do wear liners. Now, I do hope that this did not get too technical ... ;-) Best regards, Ralph Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_Atlatl-Kayaks.com / Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.Atlatl-Kayaks.com / www.PouchBoats.com phone: +1-203-324-0901 *************************************************************************** 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 the subject of gloves, I actually tried gluing spare latex wrist gaskets to a favorite pair of heavy-duty blue dishwashing gloves, to extend their usefulness later into the winter. I found that, though my hands remained dry (with polypro liners) the gaskets cut off so much circulation that my hands became cold and very numb. I'm now wondering if my regular drysuit gaskets are causing a similiar loss of circulation...I have fairly slow circulation and low blood pressure and tend to get cold extremities anyway. I'm stretching my gaskets, but I wonder...has anybody else had this problem? I'm looking into pogies... Severn Clay *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 12/10/2002 12:26:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, Harley1941 writes: > ... All kidding aside, I do enjoy the technical stuff too and have picked up > a lot of good information. If I gave the indication that I didn't like the > technical posting, blame it on my friend and fellow paddler, Jim et al. he > made me do it. ... Ronnie, while we're dealing out back-handed disclaimers: I only wrote my disclaimer because Doug's egged it on ... I had NEVER, EVER (no really!) previously thought about apologizing for being excessively technical in my humble contributions ... ;-) By the way, those chemical gloves are so cheap that I don't see how they can make money on them. Therefore, unless you want a special grip pattern, I'd not bother with trying to make my own! Didn't we have a discussion about dipping cloth gloves into liquid latex to make waterproof gloves at one point? Or was that on a more technically oriented discussion list? You see, if you make your own, you could probably curl them around a (release agent coated) paddle shaft before the latex cures and let the gloves set in that shape ... or to improve the grippiness, how about putting appropriately sized pieces of sticky neoprene sleeve over the shaft, curling the gloves around that and then, when the latex has cured, cutting the sleeve ... ;-))))))))) (By the way, do you hail from 1941 or the Hog or both?!?) Best regards, Ralph Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_Atlatl-Kayaks.com / Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.Atlatl-Kayaks.com / www.PouchBoats.com phone: +1-203-324-0901 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
With a website like kayakplace.com, I suppose it means that people think I'm in the kayaking business. I'm not, but today I received an e-mail from a manufacturer of kayaking gear that, to avoid any semblance of commericialism, I will refer to as "XXX". Apparently, they thought that I build kayak trailers, from my web page on the subject, I guess. I thought paddlewisers might be interested in my reply. -- Wes ---------------------- At 08:02 AM 12/10/02 -0500, you wrote: >Dear Sirs, > >XXX is a company that currently services approximately 150 stores with kayak >and canoe carrier systems. Normally, I just delete a piece of spam like this, but in this case, since XXX is a respected manufacturer rather than some fly-by-night that sells penis enlargements or investment opportunities in Africa, I thought I might as well make a response. I've used XXX paddles, and like them, and think they're very well built, although rather heavy. However, I'm very unimpressed with your racks, and for a number of reasons. The biggest thing is that they sit up too far. I can barely get my van into the garage with the custom low-level racks I've built on top, and I have to make sure that the garage door is ALL the way open. Also, sitting the boats on their sides makes for a huge increase in crosswind sail area. A friend has a set of XXX carriers on his Toyundi (or whatever piece of far eastern junk it is -- I'm from Michigan, when we talk about hunting, we mean Toyotas). I've watched him be blown all over the road by passing semis or crosswinds; while similarly loaded on my low-level custom rack, my even higher van rides steadily. Having a van, combined with the height of the XXX racks, would mean that I would have to absolutely carry a stepladder in order to use the complicated tiedown system. In fact, I think my friend has one. Now, normally, I use a trailer to carry my boat, rather than van-top them. If we start at the same time, I can have my boat on the trailer, tied down, and can sit on the gear locker and smoke a cigarette or two while my buddy is still fiddling with the tiedowns on the XXX racks. (Yes, I'm politically incorrect, as well.) I will admit that the racks on my trailer are very expensive and hi-tech. I think I spent about $3.49 plus tax at the lumber yard for a couple of 2x4s, and spent half an hour with a table saw cutting them to size. They're covered with carpet that blew off some dude's pickup truck when he was going past the house on the way to the dump. The carpet is fastened to the 2x4s by some complicated fasteners called "roofing nails". However, the racks fit my boat perfectly and I have had no hint of gel coat damage in three years of using my current boat, which is more than my friend can say. I think, therefore, that you will percieve that XXX carriers are not a priority on my purchase list for next season. As I am not a manufacturer, and do not intend to build another trailer unless the current one gets sadly bent out of shape by collision with some large, heavy object, I see no need for volume purchase. Sincerely yours, Wes Boyd http://www.kayakplace.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wes Boyd's Kayak Place NEW URL! -- http://www.kayakplace.com Kayaks for Big Guys (And Gals) | Trip Reports | Places To Go | Boats & Gear --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 12/10/2002 12:44:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, severnclay_at_earthlink.net writes: > ... the gaskets cut off so much circulation that my hands became cold and > very numb. I'm now wondering if my regular drysuit gaskets are causing a > similar loss of circulation... I'm stretching my gaskets, but I > wonder...has anybody else had this problem? I'm looking into pogies... I reckon that reduced circulation (natural or induced) is a serious consideration and well worth investigating in this instance! That's why I mentioned my left hand going numb last Friday as a result of an overly tight surgical glove (I buy them in large boxes unassorted and run across this every now and again), that in turn demonstrated clearly by the fact that circulation improved immediately upon removal of the offensive piece of kit. I used to view pogies with extreme skepticism and have yet to get around to using them so as to dispel my silly fear of using them. That fear is entirely unreasonable, of course, especially in light of the fact that I used the motorcycling equivalent of pogies to excellent effect for years ... they too worked well even when soaked -- even better when frozen! I surmise from the above (and previous words leading up to it) that the key to keeping fingers operational is to encourage circulation (as a source of heat) and to reduce chilling through evaporation. Best regards, Ralph Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_Atlatl-Kayaks.com / Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.Atlatl-Kayaks.com / www.PouchBoats.com phone: +1-203-324-0901 *************************************************************************** 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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