Dangerous sport

One more story:
I’ve also seen one of my flying buddies get into a head-on-50mph+ car crash while going to our launch site (I was just a minute behind the crash). He lived, but it goes to show driving cars are probably a lot more dangerous than the stuff we do.



Okay I’l stop now.

The Way I Figure It…
I survived my youth. Everything else is gravy… :wink:



sing

Come and watch the heron

– Last Updated: Feb-15-05 11:45 AM EST –

fish, the swans swim. Ponds are OK too.

As to danger: acknowledge it, mitigate it, and take small steps up the learning curve and it's not so dangerous.

Proceed on the sea in ignorance or arrogance, danger is nigh indeed.

Things that would be very dangerous for me would be easy for the Titans.

"how dangerous they look"
Well, they probably equate “narrow boat” with “tippy” with “automatic danger”.



Yet it’s the narrower ones–not wide, flat-bottomed rec kayaks–that handle a wide range of conditions better…assuming the paddler has some skills.



This is equivalent to a noncyclist thinking that an upright bike with huge fat tires/rims and huge, soft saddle is “safer” than a performance-oriented bike. Yet anyone who has ever watched the Sunday freak show on the bike path (all types of riders) knows that the most dangerous riders are newbies on upright bikes with fat tires.



It’s not just the bike/kayak itself or the physical training and skills acquired through practice; it’s also a matter of good judgment.



Danger is a mismatch between conditions and paddler ability. Some conditions are so severe that they’d be dangerous for ANY paddler, but I suspect that the people who commented to you “how dangerous they look” are focusing on only the fact that kayaks are fairly narrow.

In SOLO wilderness fort aid course
I learned that more people are hurt in the backcountry slicing bagles than by any other activity.

That’s why you “tear” bagels!

a large spectrum…
There’s kayaking (ho hum), and then there’s

KaaaYAaaAKinnGGG !!! WHAAA WHOOOO!!!).Everything from a lazy paddle down a 2’deep meandering brook, to an adrenaline orgy down a Level 5 river, or surfing through a rock garden. And, of course, everything in between. And it’s all personal preference. And even though I prefer the excitement end of the kayaking spectrum, I also enjoy “standard” sea kayaking, and even some calm stuff occasionally. But aside from using a boat and a paddle, we’re talking about completely different activities.

Tony

Risk Homeostasis?
What about the idea that as we learn new skills many of us choose more difficult activites, keeping the level of risk (relatively) constant.



Do you feel that the wild stuff you do know are truly 10X mor dangerous that your first adventurous paddles?



What is the same in paddling activities: a good forward stroke is helpful. really cold water can kill the unwary. Finesse and knowledge are ususally more important than brawn. Practice is necessary if you want to progress in ability.

dangerous?
danger is dangerous…sea kayaking is sea kayaking and can be whatever you want to make it.



dumb…also very danegrous and that probably has more to do with “danger” as a component of sea kayaking.



i saw a great “get fuzzy” cartoon today where bucky unequivocally and with the logic of insane stated that beavers were one hundred billion times MORE dangerous than t-rexes simply because while t-rexes were extinct, beavers were still roaming around…and yet t-rexes are feared? this made no sense to the buck-meister.



beavers…kayaking…whatever