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

Doug writes;

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

   There is nothing at all wrong with trying to maintain a good safety
message. But what is it? I believe one of the essential elements to being a
safe sea kayaker is the ability to make decisions based on whatever
knowledge is available and weighed against an "honest" assessment of one's
abilities. This is a skill, which just like any other skill, requires
practice. What I see on the water today is a bunch of paddlers who are in
denial about their actual paddling abilities, who then attempt to supplement
those abilities (or lack thereof) with a pile of safety gear, and in an
apparent attempt to appear as the experts they wannabe, then try to dictate
just what equipment all those around them must have as well. So just what is
the safety message here?
   Whether or not one wears a pfd, particularly on the more benign paddles,
should be a matter of personal choice - as should be decklines, bow lines,
vhf radios, you name it. One cannot learn to make decisions if they are not
allowed choices. As I have said so many times before, I believe the actual
effectiveness of a pfd in your typical sea kayaking scenario has been
greatly over inflated anyway. Now you take those paddlers who have not
learned to think for themselves because someone else who believes they are
being a "responsible leader" has been doing all the thinking for them, and
give them an exaggerated picture of the merits of their safety equipment
then send them out on the water and what have got? An accident waiting to
happen! Now you take the same person and give them some solid skills and the
ability to think for themselves and what have you got? A roll model.

Scott
So.Cal.
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