This thread has wandered all over the place but I still haven't seen the
justification for ALL boaters to wear PFDs all the time because a few hundred
people died (out of the tens of millions on the water). Don't you suppose there
were other illegal acts involved with those deaths and not wearing a PFD would
just be another law they broke.
At a certain point the Darwin factor will always win.

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 12:47:14 -0500, Jeepers
wrote:

In article ,
(Steven Shelikoff) wrote:

I'd think that 100% of the people who fall out of an airplane without a
parachute will die.

During a bombing raid over Germany on 23rd March, 1944, Flight Sergeant
Nicholas Alkemade, R.A.F., jumped from his Lancaster at 18,000 feet, to
escape the holocaust of the blazing bomber, leaving behind his useless
parachute, that had been torn to shreds by shrapnel. His headlong fall
was broken by a fir tree and he finally landed in an 18 inch snow-drift,
without a single fracture. Naturally, the Luftwaffe authorities were
highly suspicious of his story of falling from such a height without a
parachute, but on investigation they found his shredded and unused
Œchute in the crashed remains of the aircraft.

ok, make that 99.9%

Steve

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 05:54:11 GMT, something compelled
(Steven Shelikoff), to say:

I'd think that 100% of the people who fall out of an airplane without a
parachute will die.

I fell out of a plane and lived to tell about it.

Ok, it was tied to the ground and the drop was about two and a
half feet, but still.

Steve "My ass was sore for a week" Daniels

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:20:42 -0700, "Steve Daniels, Seek of Spam"
wrote:

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 05:54:11 GMT, something compelled
(Steven Shelikoff), to say:

I'd think that 100% of the people who fall out of an airplane without a
parachute will die.

I fell out of a plane and lived to tell about it.

Ok, it was tied to the ground and the drop was about two and a
half feet, but still.

And for Navy egress training I've had to slide down the wing of an
airplane and jump off to the ground. The flaps were lowered so it was
only maybe a 5 foot drop. So ammend my statement to say "flying" before
airplane. And no, ultralights, paraplanes, helicopters and autogyros
don't count as airplanes.

Like a parachute for an airplane on the ground, a PFD won't help very
much if you fall off a boat that's in the driveway on a trailer. Ok,
well it may help break the landing a little..

Steve

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 05:54:11 GMT, (Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On 07 Jul 2004 22:03:35 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

According to NTSB statistics, 100% of passengers killed in commercial airline
crashes were not wearing parachutes.

I guess we should be looking into that....

Parachutes don't improve your safety on a commercial flight.

They can be useful, however, when leaping out of a plane.

More people will survive falling off a boat without a PFD than will survive
falling out of an airplane without a parachute.

I'd think that 100% of the people who fall out of an airplane without a
parachute will die. I'm sure there are plenty of people who fall off a
boat without a PFD who survive.

Steve

One of our team members in Vietnam fell out of a helicopter from 1,500
feet and broke his colarbone sp. He fell into triple-canopy jungle
that was 120 feet high and broke branches most of the way to the
ground.
Mark E. Williams

"Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message
...
On 07 Jul 2004 22:03:35 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

According to NTSB statistics, 100% of passengers killed in commercial
airline
crashes were not wearing parachutes.

I guess we should be looking into that....

Parachutes don't improve your safety on a commercial flight.

They can be useful, however, when leaping out of a plane.

More people will survive falling off a boat without a PFD than will
survive
falling out of an airplane without a parachute.

I'd think that 100% of the people who fall out of an airplane without a
parachute will die. I'm sure there are plenty of people who fall off a
boat without a PFD who survive.

Steve

Only American flyer to get a German bravery medal in WW2 jumped out of the
bomber without a chute. Tailgunner, and they could not wear a chute in the
cramped confines. Plane was shot up and going to crash, and fire is going
to get the gunner before the crash. Figured going quick was better and
jumped out. Could not get to his chute. Hit a sloping barn roof covered
with snow and into a snow bank. They were first going to shoot him as a spy
as no chute was found. They checked the plane and found his hat and the
chute. Awarded him a medal, but still kept him in a POW camp. So not all
those to leave airplanes without a chute die on impact. But probably in
excess of 30-50 million people trips on a boat a year, and you are going to
save 150 people from Darwinism? Seems like an ill conceived law.
Bill