[Paddlewise] Research project

Just to update everyone and to reassure some.  As some concluded this 
arose after I injured my hand on the looped toggle strap of a friends kayak.

Kayaking coaches Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Body Boat Blade 
(BBB) advise their students to cut the toggle loops on the bow of 
kayaks and to suspend the toggle from a single line.

As some concluded this is to prevent injuries in the surf 
zone.  According to the British Canoe Union (BCU) handbook the 
original purpose of the toggles was not to provide carrying handles 
but as a last resort grab point in rough waters.

Kayakers who come out of their boats and are in danger of loosing the 
boat in rough water, tides or strong currents, can as a last attempt 
grasp the line at the bow or the stern.  The toggle or handle at the 
end of the line is there to prevent the line from slipping through 
your hand.  see page 111 of the BCU handbook.  The reference page for 
the newer handbook is likely different.

Anyone with the BCU handbook will no doubt see the ironic reference 
as the diagram, Fig. 4:12, depicts a kayak with the toggle attached 
to the kayak by a looped line.  This loop can injure the kayaker 
should the boat start to spin.  The boat will spin the kayaker won't 
and if the kayakers hand or finger is inside the loop something will 
give as the loop spins and tightens.

This is what happened to myself not on the water but on the 
beach.  We'd just landed.  I had switched boats with a friend who 
wanted to paddle my NDK HV Explorer.  I was in a Nigel Foster Shadow. 
A third friend had the bow of the Shadow. I had the stern.  Neither 
of us were using the looped toggles to carry the boat.  Unfortunately 
the friend on the bow stumbled and the bow dropped.  This resulted in 
me loosing my grip on the stern.  As the kayak was slipping from my 
grasp I instinctively reached for the toggle.  My left index finger 
slipped through the looped line but I was unable to get a firm 
purchase on the handle or toggle.  The boat slipped away and my 
finger tip was crushed by the line as the boats weight put tension on 
the line.  The kayak was essentially empty.

My Doctor suspects that I may have a chipped bone on the last knuckle 
of the finger.  Since time is the only cure I choose to skip getting 
an Xray.  The doctor advises me I will likely develop arthritis in the joint.

Prior to this I have repeatedly passed along the BCU and BBB 
warnings.  To my knowledge no one I paddle with have removed the 
loops.  My advice simply does not match the weight of the 
manufactures long standing practice.

The further irony is that while this looping the toggle is 
discouraged by the BCU it has not become the standard practice of 
British or any other manufacture.  The BCU handbook was first 
published in 1981 proving that habitual practices are indeed hard to break.

My intent is to gather some evidence and politely bring this to the 
attention of the industry so if they choose they may change this 
practice before some nefarious character decides to sue.

Finally I have decided that in the future I will not assist in the 
lifting of any kayak with a looped toggle on the bow or stern.  My 
kayaking friends don't have to take good advice and by the same token 
I don't have to stick my hand into "loopy" situations.

Gordin Warner
Victoria BC
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