Re: [Paddlewise] River Death from July

Maybe her petite size made for the appearance of gear too large simply because it was

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 2, 2013, at 11:45 PM, Mark Sanders <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net> wrote:
> 
> I was just reading an article about Shannon Christy who died in a river 
> accident back in July and it made me think of a couple things I thought 
> I'd bring up. Namely, the size of her helmet and the baggyness of her 
> drysuit! I don't paddle rivers and I don't own a drysuit, so I'm no 
> expert on the subject, but I don't like the design on this helmet. It 
> seems to me the built in flare around the whole helmet and especially 
> the hard visor could create a lot of drag in the hydraulics of the 
> river. In the video posted with the story, the helmet she's wearing 
> looks even bigger than this one here. I know just in surfing small waves 
> that my helmet can get discombobulated in a drop and it seems much more 
> form fitted than this one and also has a floppy material type visor. 
> Also, while wearing a paddling jacket in the surf yesterday, I was 
> bothered by the way the extra fabric seemed to impede my movement. I 
> thought that if I wore a jacket often, I'd want some way to tighten the 
> loose material along my arms, like some type of gaiter. I can see that 
> that might give you more protection from the rocks, but is there a cost 
> to it and couldn't there be an easier way? I hate to even think of the 
> hydraulic forces she had to endure, but it seems to me these factors 
> coundn't have helped. Drysuits are great for saving you from 
> hypothermia, but what about the other issues out on the water. Thought 
> it worthy a discussion.
> 
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2442083/Extreme-kayaker-Shannon-Christy-killed-2-days-60-Minutes-Sports-profile.html
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