Doug Lloyd asked: Do paddlers who mature in years through our sport give more, or less thought to cold water immersion risks? I never gave much thought to cold water risks in a sea kayak and don't now. I am 59 years old and have been kayaking a lot since 1966. When I was a slalom racer I would paddle whitewater all year long, which in the Midwest means on cold rivers with ice-covered banks. I never wore a drysuit and never swam in cold water. I got pretty cautious when it was cold, and was lucky besides. Like Rev. Bob, I have never been knocked over in a sea kayak except when surfing. I have not missed a roll since 1991 (there it goes - my next attempt will be a swim, I'm sure), and I work on my skills a lot. So, on the safety continuum I am at the first step - avoiding problems by prevention through skill building. At the second step, self protection, I have my reliable roll. At second step part two, the failed roll, I am good at re-entry within 30 seconds. All that to say - I don't expect, can't even imagine, being in the drink. I'm cowardly, so I'm not out in conditions that are beyond my ability. In cold weather and on cold water on expeditions I wear wetsuit stuff. I don't trust my drysuit because a hole in it is catastrophic. In really cold weather and on expeditions alone, which I do on the Mississippi River in the winter, I wear a Mustang floater suit. Nice to have on shore, too. On my three Greenland trips I have worn polypro under paddle jacket and paddle pants. Weather there is good in the summer and I can swim in cold water long enough to self-rescue. Hope the answer wasn't too long. Jim Tibensky *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Nov 05 2007 - 05:23:03 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:27 PDT