On Feb 29, 2004, at 5:06 PM, James wrote: > I have been paddling on the ocean for over thirty years and very rarely > use much of the stuff that is given such tremendous importance on the > group - and much to the chagrin of several of the people on this list, > I'm sure, I'm > still alive and well! I just attempt to instill a little balance to > the > discussions. Scott So.Cal. > > Your logic works equally well to support not wearing seat belts, not > having a fire extinguisher in the home, not wearing a pfd. All that > because I have never had an auto accident where a seat belt made any > difference, I have never been in a home that caught on fire and I have > never needed my pfd to save my life or even make a rescue easier. I haven't been reading this whole thread, but while I think it is a really good idea to always wear a PFD, there are times a rational person can make a reasonable choice to forego "best practice" without being irresponsible. Last summer I brought some friends paddling. It was a warm day in the height of summer and the conditions were calm. I found I had forgotten to bring enough PFDs for everyone. So I gave the PFDs I did have to my friends and didn't wear one myself. It was unreasonable to make an hour round trip to my house to get one more PFD. It was also silly to just go home without paddling. There was a risk that I could have died due to the decision. But it would have required that I capsize by mistake (unlikely due to the conditions and my experience), I would then would have had to fail to roll (unlikely as I've got a reliable roll and am willing to keep trying until I get it). If I did resort to wet exit I would then need to fail to reenter, failing to reenter alone would then require the help of my friends or passing boats. If they couldn't help, I would need to be far enough from shore that I couldn't swim in order for the capsize to kill me (summer water is warm and we weren't going more than 100 yds from shore the whole day). OK, a heart attack or other catastrophic event could have created this situation, but the best way to limit the damage from these is to stay home with an ambulance running outside. Sometimes assuming a small amount of additional risk is worthwhile and OK. Just because there are certain best practices which everyone should consider when going out in a small boat, it is not automatically irresponsible if someone chooses to skip something. A rational evaluation of the risks involved can result in the decision that a certain safety factor really doesn't change the risk substantially in a certain situation. Whether it is a PFD or deck lines or carrying a VHF, signal flares, or whatever there are perfectly rational and responsible reasons why you might choose not to follow what would be considered the "safest" way to proceed. What is important is that you know what you are doing and why you are doing it. Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.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 Mon Mar 01 2004 - 09:01:56 PST
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