Mike McCrea wrote:
sobering statistics snipped to save bandwidth

My take on those statistics: Wearing a PFD can obviously save your
life (duh). Mandating wear obviously increases the use of PFD's (duh
again).

PFD's are like seatbelts. There's no good argument against them and the
evidence is that they save lives, but people can always manage to
rationalize not using them, if that's what they want to do. I guess the
appropriate term for this behavior is "natural selection".

A large percentage of the small boat fatalities tied to not wearing
PFD's involve either fishermen or folks in aluminum canoes. I'd take
that as an indication that these were not paddling enthusiasts but
simply folks in boats with paddles.

And I'd take that a step further and hazard a guess that that group is
the least likely to have a comfortable, well-designed PFD. Canoe
rental places aren't exactly passing out Lotus or Extrasports and I
doubt that many folks who buy a $300 rec boat spring for a $100 PFD.

Both good point, but there are others that aren't mentioned. The
majority of canoe accidents involving fishermen and rec paddlers are due
to standing in the canoe or shifting positions, probably common
occurrences when fishing.

Alcohol also plays a huge part in boating fatalities. Aside from
intoxication related problems (impaired operation, loss of balance,
increased susceptibility to hypothermia), a high percentage of guys who
die are found with their flys open, indicating that they were in the
process "recycling" their chosen adult beverages at the time of their
accident.

I can't claim to wear my PFD 100% of the time. On a hot summer day on
a gentle shallow stream I probably won't. Unless it becomes the law,
and then I probably will.

That said, I'm still opposed to mandates that infringe on my personal
freedom of choice.

I agree. It's a simple case of us not doing the right thing voluntarily
and the government stepping in to force the issue. If people would only
use their heads...

Brian Nystrom wrote:

The majority of canoe accidents involving fishermen and rec paddlers
are due to standing in the canoe or shifting positions, probably
common occurrences when fishing.

When either touring or fishing in my very stable 20' canoe, I often
stand - sometimes for extended periods - even in 'easy' white water.
Paddling/poling and viewing are far more effective when standing - as
is fly casting. Whenever I'm in white water, I ALWAYS wear a pfd but
haven't needed it yet. The only time I dumped a canoe other than on
purpose, I had been sitting the entire trip. The only time I ever fell
out of a canoe other than on purpose was landing during extremely high
winds on a very rocky shore where knee- and elbow-pads would have been
of far more value than the pfd I had on. As for moving about in the
canoe, both in still and moving water, it's a matter of knowing
yourself, knowing the canoe & within limits knowing the conditions. Just
standing is no sin, nor is going without a pfd in some conditions.

Yours in the north Maine woods,
Pete Hilton (Reg. Me. Guide) aka The Ent

--
Don't ask the barber whether
you need a haircut.
D. S. Greenberg

The Ent wrote:
Brian Nystrom wrote:

The majority of canoe accidents involving fishermen and rec paddlers
are due to standing in the canoe or shifting positions, probably
common occurrences when fishing.

When either touring or fishing in my very stable 20' canoe, I often
stand - sometimes for extended periods - even in 'easy' white water.
Paddling/poling and viewing are far more effective when standing - as
is fly casting. Whenever I'm in white water, I ALWAYS wear a pfd but
haven't needed it yet. The only time I dumped a canoe other than on
purpose, I had been sitting the entire trip. The only time I ever fell
out of a canoe other than on purpose was landing during extremely high
winds on a very rocky shore where knee- and elbow-pads would have been
of far more value than the pfd I had on. As for moving about in the
canoe, both in still and moving water, it's a matter of knowing
yourself, knowing the canoe & within limits knowing the conditions. Just
standing is no sin, nor is going without a pfd in some conditions.

There's no doubt that standing and moving around are perfectly safe for
an experienced canoeist. I also don't mean to imply that this is
necessarily reckless or dangerous behavior. However, the statistics are
clear that these are leading causes of capsizes and falls overboard that
result in fatalities of canoeist. It seems pretty safe to conclude that
this is due to inexperience in many, if not most cases.

There's no doubt that standing and moving around are perfectly safe for
an experienced canoeist. I also don't mean to imply that this is
necessarily reckless or dangerous behavior. However, the statistics are
clear that these are leading causes of capsizes and falls overboard that
result in fatalities of canoeist. It seems pretty safe to conclude that
this is due to inexperience in many, if not most cases.


Sounds like the law should be against standing in a canoe....

It seems ironic that we spend so much effort on the low count but high
fatality factor and little effort on the high count low fatality factor.

e.g.

I would get on a bicycle without a helmet way before I got on one
without gloves. 90% of [my?] falls result in hands being thrust out.