I used to carry a small air horn. But the problems I encountered were: *After a very short blast, the valve would ice up (especially if wet), rendering the horn useless *To be at the ready, I'd thread the horn valve onto the canister. But over a few weeks, the canister would leak, so if I ever needed the horn, I usually found it empty (which could be replaced, but it took time to do so). *much to my surprise, the effective range of the horn, if it worked, was quite low, *particularly* upwind. I once used it to try to attract the attention of a paddling group (for the benefit of one of their members who had "crash landed" in my camp), at a range of some 70 yards with a 15-20 kn head wind, and they couldn't hear a thing. I would imagine someone riding a jet ski or wave runner would be unable to hear a horn, unless you were frightfully close together. Don't forget the "duck and cover" maneuver - i.e. capsize. That of course requires you have warning, and the presence of mind to think to hit the drink in self defense. And it might not be a lot of fun for small passengers 8^( You might try firing a flare across their bow! (yes, I'm kidding). Mitch McKinnon ______________________________ CoyoteCo Performance Sea Kayaking Instruction and Video Production www.CoyoteCo.Net 360 896-2151 *************************************************************************** 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 Sun Jul 24 2005 - 16:57:49 PDT
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