Muzz wrote:

I am a beginner, doing my two star training

Define "beginner"... it would be fair to take it to mean "has never
been in a boat before", or just two or three times. Rather lower than
prospective 2* in terms of experience.

before getting in the boat we
must put on the kit the coaches lay out, BA, Cag and Helmet. They also
recommend the long john wetsuit. There were six coaches there and guess what
they were wearing ?

But what sort of paddling and in what conditions? We never put helmets
on people for pool sessions and typical touring paddling, they're not
really any use and just make it hard to hear what's going on while
reducing comfort (and consequently enjoyment). In white water and surf
it's a very different matter, you'd probably be daft not to, but that's
not the only way to go paddling.
BA I always wear, but lots of people in my club just borrow one form the
club, so they don't need one themselves. Same for a wetsuit and cag,
though most people wear them because they assume they're better off in
them because they're there... and when we're out on the water I'm far
more comfy in fleece tights and shirt than they are in their "proper
paddling kit" of wet suit and cag.

But in any event, your coaches have put all this stuff out, why do you
need to go and buy it yourself right away? Surely you'd be better
getting experience before you decide what to spend your funds on so you
can make an informed choice on what *you* need rather than what I think
you might?

I am a beginner, but I am happy to go along with the coaches
recommendations.

Though there's more to a coach's recommendations than what is what
you'll reasonably get away with. If they have access to a load of
safety kit to loan out (check!) and they live in an increasingly
litigious society (check!) that tends to be preoccupied with Having All
The Right Stuff (check!) then it's hardly surprising they get people to
wear it. And we're back to particular discipline of paddling. AB is a
coach, but flat water marathon and sprint IIRC, which has no need for
helmets or wetsuits and little use for cags beyond windbreakers.

I recently did cycle leader training. We were told we should always
wear cycle helmets to be "good role models". I pointed out there is no
good evidence that cycle helmets make any useful difference to serious
injuries on the roads (don't believe that? look at
www.cyclehelmets.org), and I prefer to be a good role model by showing
you can ride a bike without recourse to unnecessary and ultimately
unhelpful accessories that put many people off what is often seen as far
more dangerous than it really is, so I'll be wearing my cotton cycling
cap when I'm out teaching tonight. Cycling isn't the only area that
suffers from a preoccupation with supposing safety gear aimed at far
different situations must be a benefit anywhere else it can be deployed.

I done three eskimo recues last night and felt nice and warm in my wetsuit,
one of the girls wearing a pair of shorts was complaining about the cold on
her first tip over. Not too specialist or extreme

An eskimo rescue is specialist if you take a general view of paddling
the full spectrum of canoes and kayaks. There are plenty of boats where
you won't do one because the boats don't run with decks and you can't
brace yourself in. For such craft an eskimo rescue is esoteric and
overspecialised, and thus rather an extreme thing to learn.
In many boats if you go in then you'll swim. As long as you can swim
then there's not much issue with doing extra practice, and you're better
getting on with how not to swim...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/