> 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. Your > opinion is your opinion, but my opinion is that your opinion is certainly > not even a little bit balanced. It seems to say that, since only an > immeasurably small number of paddlers fail to survive their trips, > prudent safety practices are not really that important. No, what I'm saying is that prudent safety practices are dependant on each individual paddling situation - paddler skill and experiance, enviroment and equipment. Two seperate paddling trips in two different locations may have very different requirements for what constitutes "prudent" safety practices. In fact two different paddlers on the same trip may still have very different requirements so that while a blanket safety rule may not be enough for one paddler, it may be total overkill for the other. But let's take a look at your argument, shall we? You: A paddler in Alaska needed to use a handgun to fend off an aggressive Grizzly Bear. That handgun saved his life. Therefore all paddlers should carry a loaded handgun with them at all times. Me: Yeah, but I live in Southern California, and even though the Grizzly Bear is our state symbol we don't have any of them living here anymore. In fact it would be a pretty strange situation if any kind of bear were to make it to the coast of Southern California. So why can't I leave the handgun home when I'm paddling locally and only carry it when I am out of state in bear country? You: Because you need practice carrying it, and get in the habit of having it with you. Besides, if you don't carry a handgun at all times then you will be setting a bad example to those people who do paddle in bear country and really should always carry one. Me: Yeah, but don't you think people are generally intelligent enough to make that distinction without needing you to do it for them? You: No. Me: Whatever! Scott So.Cal. *************************************************************************** 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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