Boat Building Forum

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Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
By:Robert W
Date: 11/15/2014, 8:24 am
In Response To: Off Topic: Winter wear (Gero Verheyen)

How likely are you to capsize? If that's a real possibility, and the water is lethally cold, you have to wear protective clothing, drysuit being the only truly effective choice.

But perhaps you paddle in places where capsize is highly unlikely. Ex. small, slowly flowing rivers, back-channels etc.
If you stay close to shore (as in 'very close to shore' , say no more than 15 or 20 meters), you may safely paddle all winter without any cold-water immersion gear.
If your kayak is relatively stable, and your skills reasonably good, the probability of capsizing in such a place is close to 0. In the highly unlikely event you do, the shore is close enough you should reach it within couple of minutes, before the onset of hypothermia.
Some will always bring the worse case scenario, but there is no such thing as risk-free. It's a matter of tradeoffs, in this case, the expense and inconvenience of drysuit vs. the minimal likelihood of having to use it.

Messages In This Thread

Off Topic: Winter wear
Gero Verheyen -- 11/14/2014, 6:01 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
george jung -- 11/14/2014, 8:16 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/15/2014, 8:33 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
howard -- 11/14/2014, 8:16 pm
Winter wear Now for something completely different *PIC*
John Messinger -- 11/15/2014, 3:01 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Robert W -- 11/15/2014, 8:24 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Jay Babina -- 11/15/2014, 11:32 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Mike Bielski -- 11/15/2014, 3:41 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/16/2014, 12:15 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Mike Bielski -- 11/16/2014, 8:56 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/16/2014, 12:12 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/15/2014, 8:26 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 11/15/2014, 11:11 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Mike Bielski -- 11/15/2014, 11:34 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Yoshi -- 11/15/2014, 5:22 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 11/15/2014, 10:48 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Yoshi -- 11/16/2014, 1:36 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
george jung -- 11/16/2014, 1:56 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
John Roberts -- 11/16/2014, 4:34 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
george jung -- 11/16/2014, 7:33 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Gero Verheyen -- 11/15/2014, 10:33 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 11/16/2014, 4:23 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 11/16/2014, 4:28 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Ken Blanton -- 11/16/2014, 1:00 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Etienne Muller -- 11/16/2014, 2:10 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Ken Blanton -- 11/16/2014, 10:54 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
scottbaxter -- 11/16/2014, 11:33 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Etienne Muller -- 11/17/2014, 4:55 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
JohnAbercrombie -- 11/16/2014, 11:50 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/17/2014, 12:30 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Gero Verheyen -- 11/17/2014, 7:38 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
JohnAbercrombie -- 11/17/2014, 9:43 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
JohnAbercrombie -- 11/17/2014, 10:35 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/18/2014, 12:28 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear *PIC*
Sean Dawe -- 11/17/2014, 10:56 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Gero Verheyen -- 11/17/2014, 10:23 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Mike Bielski -- 11/17/2014, 10:49 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Gero Verheyen -- 11/17/2014, 10:53 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Mike Bielski -- 11/17/2014, 11:02 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/18/2014, 12:37 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
JohnAbercrombie -- 11/18/2014, 2:02 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Sean Dawe -- 11/18/2014, 9:10 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Nick R. -- 11/18/2014, 6:07 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Robert N Pruden -- 11/20/2014, 5:48 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
JohnAbercrombie -- 11/20/2014, 7:00 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/23/2014, 1:54 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Gero Verheyen -- 11/20/2014, 10:24 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
scottbaxter -- 11/20/2014, 10:51 pm
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
JohnAbercrombie -- 11/21/2014, 12:03 am
Re: Off Topic: Winter wear
Bill Hamm -- 11/21/2014, 8:50 am