On 15-Jan-2005, "Tinkerntom" wrote:

That is one big focus, "make sure you are prepared, the risks are easy
to control"??? The problem is that as a newbie am I trully capable of
assessing the risk, and being properly prepared? to go out in extreme
cold water conditions.

My first paragraph addressed the issue of "extreme" conditions. The only
thing different about winter paddling should be the temperature - that's
not extreme. If you insist on paddling in extreme conditions, you deserve
what you get.

Sparky asked for advice - I assume that he therefore has enough interest
in safe winter paddling to study the situation. If he does this and still
makes an error in risk assessment, and he has heeded other guidelines
(not paddling alone, carrying emergency gear, staying a reasonable
distance from shore etc) a failure is not likely to be deadly. It's just
a learning experience.

If I have a drysuit, then the weather and
water conditions are no longer a concern. And to suggest that if I have
a drysuit, I now have clearance to paddle solo in critical conditions,
only adds to the dangerous lack of proper risk assesment.

No one has suggested that. I said specifically that the gear is not
the risk - it's the weather and water.

But the newbie
that dons a drysuit and paddles off on a new adventure, is likely the
same one who does not check the weather, or that the seals are all
good, or there is not a tear in the drysuit that they got on eBay for a
bargain, or that the zipper is closed all the way.

That's not a newbie, that's a fool. We're not saying that there should
be billboards advertising that anyone that wears a drysuit is ultimately
safe and should paddle all winter. We're saying that immersion
protection is a first step. We've also added other bits of advice
concerning conditions and preparedness.

I disagree with you, that "the cold weather gear is to protect against
an unlikely condition."

If I've paddled for years and _never_ capsized, how does a capsize
become a likely condition?

This as you point out, could
just as likely be during a season when the water is warm enough that
wearing a drysuit is not required, and by so doing, the newbie exposes
himself to an unnecessary elevated risk!

Fact of life - most paddlers are out in the summer and hypothermia kills
more than drowing. Risk management in paddling is not a seasonal thing.

Lots of people paddle in the winter and survive. Some of us cross-
country ski in the winter, kilometers from a shelter, wearing little
more than long underwear and skin-tight Lycra clothing. We don't
die of hypothermia every day. We sleep in snow shelters winter
camping and survive. We swim in arctic rivers in winter and then
hop into a sauna and survive (photo at link taken by me in Finland
a couple of years ago - 150km north of the Arctic Circle).

http://www.greatlakeskayaker.ca/images/crazyAmie.jpg

The kayak was invented in the environment that you seem to fear. Those
of us that live in winter, rather than hiding indoors, learn to accept
and deal with the risk and enjoy life.

Mike