Paddlec1 wrote:
Wilko posted:

"Thanks to
a young man whose last day on the river was the beginning of something
of real value; a gift of greater safety to many he will never know.
Those who will come after him, down the twisting, thundering path of
the whitewater will be able to rely on a helmet that will provide far
greater protection in this extreme, dangerous, but rapidly growing
sport."

I did not take that to mean that *all* whitewater is extreme. Regardless, I
don't think the Turners know any other kind.

Sorry Dennis, but I can only read from that they they consider all white
water paddling is extreme and dangerous. As you point out, they may not
know any other. That's a *very* small part of the community that they
aim at...

snip
From what
I've read in his message posted here and on the web, he doesn't impress
me with his knowledge about our sport.

snip

And why should he? He tells how he got into this and does not claim to be a big
water boater, or a marketing guru.

He claims to have come up with the "world's safest whitewater helmet",
without giving *any* arguments in to support his claim.

He just puts a couple of populistic terms in his article to sell it,
even though those terms aren't representative for our sport. If he
doesn't know what he's talking about with regard to whitewater paddling,
what customers (paddlers) he's aiming at, what does that say about his
product? Who says that he does know what he's talking about with regard
to that? I know other products that are sold as the world's best
whatever, but I wouldn't buy a "Tell&Sell" white water helmet either...

If he wants his product to have some effect on the safety of our sport,
it sure helps to make sure who his target audience is, and how he can
approach them and interest them in his product. IMNSHO this isn't the way.

Give the guy a little credit. I don't know him, he may not even be a paddler.
He makes one post here offering to sell what he believes to be a safe and
reliable paddling helmet (at cost of production), and he gets trashed and his
helmet gets roundly critisized (I'm not talking about you here Wilko). Quite
the reception for a guy who is trying to make a positive contribution to the
sport.

He comes onto this forum, trying to market a product to a mostly
knowledgable audience. His motives might be okay, but his advertising
tactic isn't, and he could at least not try to insult our intelligence
by coming up with unsubstantiated claims. If he wants to make a positive
contribution, he could at least have done some research into our sport
and realize what works and what doesn't.

Ever seen Nurpu?

Nope. Why?

--
Wilko van den Bergh
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.
http://wilko.webzone.ru/