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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
Re: TR: Flathead Lake "Safe but Sorry"
Posted By: lee In Response To: TR: Flathead Lake "Safe but Sorry" (Shawn Baker)
Date: Tuesday, 21 September 1999, at 3:34 p.m.
> I obviously made a smart, prudent, and safe choice by not attempting the
> crossing, but, my trip begs the question: If I had my wet bottoms and
> flares, would the equipment have given me a boosted ["false"]
> sense of confidence, OR would I have just been in a safer position to do
> the crossing?hi Shawn, enjoyable read,
can't answer your questions directly , except maybe to ask:
Have you practiced rolls and self-rescues in 55degree water,in the outfit you were wearing? And would that experience translate well after 12 miles of paddling with 4 to go? I don't think neoprene shorts,flares or other stuff makes one safer. I like to think of safety as being based on a foundation of judgement and skills, then environment, then equipment in descending order of importance.
The thing that gets me is when I did stuff knowing that it was stupid, even though I had the skills and had the equipment.
ps. it's getting cooler here, I'm looking for a rubbery polartec type of beanie that I lost last spring,folded up it fits in a pfd pocket,won't blow off, and probably would do as much or more than neoprene shorts to retain heat. I was surprised to find out that one of those storm whistles blown really hard can make your ears ring, but a paddler 100yds away may not hear it, now my whistle on a string has a small airhorn on it.
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