"Peter Clinch" wrote in message
...
Ewan Scott wrote:

Unecessary implies not needed at all. I'd argue that isn't the case, but
then I'm not doing placid water nowadays.

with me, but having said that I always had a cag with me when I first
started. It was the Peter Storm pullover smock I had in the cubs/scouts
for keeping the rain off and just about everyone has something equally
good (well, just about everyone who's going to want to take up
paddling...) they can use to keep the worst off and see if they like
paddling before they spend £50+ on a twin waisted cag with serious seals
that won't be much use for anything bar paddling.

Expense is relative. Warmer drier, happier paddlers for the cost of a £15
wind cag is cheap if it overcomes initial barriers. Remember, for most
kids
starting out paddling the biggest fear is getting cold, and cold water.
The
psychological effect of having some protection pays fantastic dividends.

Agreed, but I think most people have something that will do as a
windbreaker, or can borrow something that will, without going off and
buying a paddling cag.

Not so I'm afraid. Most kids don't appear to have waterproof clothing
nowadays. Of the 50 something we have started out on One Star courses over
the past four years I think three have actually turned up with a waterproof/
windproof top. the rest have all had "shower proof" branded fashion tops. I
have a growing colection of old cags which we loan out - but it gets a bit
tiring washing the kit every time we go out. e still have three star
paddlers who haven't bought any kit yet. Perhaps the difference is that we
are not a kayak club, we are a Scout group that majors in kayaking (amongst
other activities), and parents won't fork out for what they see as a short
term activity. Sadly, that approach leaves some kids poorly prepared for the
colder weather.

If we are talking beginners, I can't think of a single time we have been
out
and they haven't got wet, either by splashing each other, accidental
capsize
or deliberate capsize. If we are on the water for two hours and one of
our
beginners is inappropriately dresed and falls in within the first five
minutes (as sometimes happens with one or two of them) then the following
hour and 55 minutes may be less than pleasant.

If you're in in 5 minutes then it's easy enough to get changed and dried
and start again without killing it for everyone. Being splashed when
you're wearing a windproof smock as against capsizing in a cotton T are
rather different things.

You obviously don't have the same set of problems we have :-)

We tell them arrive for 9:30, on the water by 10:00 at the latest.

We arrive at 9:15, offload the boats, and fit them all with kit. By 9:30 the
first couple have arrived. By 10:00 we are still short a couple. We put the
extra kit and boats back on the trailer, and head off to the water. 10:10,
the last two arrive, and we are back up to the trailer to offload the boats
and kit. So we don't actually get started till maybe 10:25.. At 10:30
someone in a tee shirt and shorts falls in, and needs to get changed. So I'm
back off the water up to the car and we wait another 10 minutes for them to
get changed....

I'd rather they came as well prepared as possible and we set off to do our
stuff, and only returned at the end of the session.

I'd tell them that if they are late then they go home, but that isn't the
way things seem to be done nowadays.


While ideally someone who's going to fall in will be better off in a
wettie than without unless it's a nice summer day (but why not start off
on a nice summer day if you have the choice?), that's not quite the same
as blow £100 on a paddler's wetsuit and cag before you start or you'll
have a crap time... Nobody's really suggested that's the case, but it
could certainly have been inferred.

We start outdoors training in April, the water is cold until late July,
stays warm till September and then gets cold again in October. With summer
holidays in mind that gives us about four weeks of warm water.

Experience tells us that the most important first purchase, and this is
probably different from what I said earlier - is some footweat. We do advise
basic old fashioned gym shoes for £1.99 a pair, which are disposable, buy
give protection against sharp stuff in the ground, and are compact in the
boat (as compared to trainers). They usually buy neoprene beach slippers or
wet suit boots because gym shoes aren't fashionable at all!

Then we advise a cag. Those who are keen tend to go out and buy a westsuit -
now that's where money can get wasted. Some buy cheap 2mm wetsuits that just
about work in summer. Better spend an extra 15 quid for a 3mm, for a
beginner. But what they buy is up to them.


Indeed, but the more comfortable we can make them the more likely they
are
to get into the sport.

This is true, but one also has an obligation not to waste people's
money. Paddling isn't for some people even if they do get all the gear
(I'm rather hoping that the "new black" status of sea paddling will mean
a rash of second hand hardly used and very nice boats in a couple of
years... ;-)) and I think in a lot of cases they would be better off in
make-dos for the first few sessions. And that's not necessarily a
problem: friends that have paddled for 3 or 4 years now still hire out
TSKC wetties, cags and BAs, and though I personally think they'd be
better off getting their own at this point it certainly hasn't put them
off! My cag is a semi-dry, I'll borrow a dry for surf if I can, but the
amount I do I can't justify the cost compared to stuff like, say, beer! ;-)

I'd agree that we don't want to waste peoples' money but on the other hand
we have a bunch of kids who, if they are going out to play football on the
street, have to have the latest Man U kit ( down here anyway). We used to
play in tee shirts and shorts, nowadays they have to have all the right kit.
Now this may be a self fulfilling prophesy, but the kids who buy some kit,
tend to be the ones who carry on with the activity. If they ask I'll not
put them off. The one thing I do put them off buying is a boat. A lot of
people are way too fashion conscious and will buy the flavour of the month
rather than a boat suitable for the paddling they are doing. My own lad
bought a Sub 6 - against my advice. I knew that he would be doing river
running and it was way too small (cue debate), two years down the line he is
egging for a bigger boat for river work and coaching. But some folks just
won't be told :-)

I started in tee shirts and shorts, but soon discovered that a thermal
and
cag, of any sort were a better bet.

Right, here's one I think we can suggest for almost anyone: a good
wicking baselayer top! Keeps you as comfortable as you'll get and dries
out nice and quickly. Helly Lifa, Lowe Dryflo or similar. Highly
recommended!

I use a Salewa, thermal. Polyester, breathes and wicks, I can come out of
the water wet, and if I take my cag off it dries in minutes yet I stay warm.
So I think 100 per cent agreed on that.


when I'm likely to end up standing in the water for extended periods
(always
a possibility) I prefer my wet suit..

Though you'd probably prefer a dry suit. I can't justify one myself,
but for those spending a lot of time in the water they seem to be well
worth thinking about. I'll get one some day, probably when (not "if",
but "when") I win the lottery...

Yup, a dry suit is on the wish list. I just have this fear of wasting the
best part of £350 and getting it ripped on a thorn bush or something on the
first trip out. So far getting wet in the wetsuit hasn't really been an
issue. I did get hypothermic on one trip and my bodily functions shut down
for three days - that was pretty scary, but I doubt that a dry suit would
have made any difference that particular day.

Ewan Scott