Re: [Paddlewise] River Death from July

On Fri, Oct 04, 2013 at 01:51:45PM -0700, Mark Sanders wrote:
> I wasn't really trying to implicate her gear in her death, as it seems
> the area she went over in it might not have mattered what she was
> wearing, but it made me think others might have had issues in the
> past they could speak to. Big helmets and baggy clothes might not
> seem to be too dangerous, but when you get into trouble the
> cumulative effects of little things might have a big impact. I think
> when you read a sad article like this one, you just start to look
> for answers and it seemed this was the place to ask them.

Ah, understood.  You're correct that the key was her location: with
or without gear, clothing, or anything else, that's a horribly bad
place to be, and survival is unlikely.

And your point about cumulative effects is well-taken: many of the
accident analyses carried out by Charlie Walbridge (who is the de facto
keeper of incident reports here in the US) often show exactly that:
several small things, none of which are particularly important,
combine to create a significant cumulative effect.  One of the things
that he, and others, look for are commonalities: is a particular type
or model of helmet consistently involved?   Does a certain PFD design
have a hidden liability?  Does a particular boat type have an issue?

One of things I've learned is that hydrodynamic drag matters, particularly
when you're out of your boat (e.g., big helmet/baggy clothes, as you said).
It's much easier for me to do swimming rescue drills in July when I
have on a PFD and shorts; much more difficult to them in December with
a drysuit; and always more difficult when wearing a sprayskirt.  Add to
this various combinations of other gear, drop the water temperature 40
degrees, and what's fun and easy midsummer is not so in winter.  I'm much
more careful now about what I choose to wear and when: of course there
is no "right" choice, only the one that I guess will be "right" for that
river on that day.

---rsk
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