Re: [Paddlewise] What's in the PFD?

From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:36:09 -0700
Doug Lloyd wrote:

> So what's wrong with trying to maintain a good safety message anyway? Or 
> is it just the dogmatic way some posters present themselves?

Nothing.  Problem is that the message varies with conditions, environments, 
and the paddler.  Guys like surfer Scott know when it is more dangerous to 
wear the PFD than not (big surf).  Newbies do not, that's why wearing the 
PFD as a default choice should be out there as a fundamental tenet of 
beginning paddling on any water:  wear the PFD so we can find your body 
more easily!  Later, you can decide if the PFD is apropos.

BTW, some of the inflatables I have seen in use have kinda cheesy methods 
of attachment to the body.  In one self-rescue session on rough water, my 
rotund paddling partner had his so loosely attached it would not have given 
him any flotation.  Queried why he wore it that way, he said, "It's more 
comfortable loose like this."  Fortunately, he quit paddling five years ago.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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Received on Tue Mar 20 2007 - 12:36:47 PDT

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