And…
Don’t give up on the BBrace, Kudzu, I bet you can do it, you just haven’t figured it out yet. It’s a worthwhile pursuit. Not absolutely necessary but the rewards can be significant.
They would die
"However it might be life saving to a hunter if they had been blown offshore, had been in the kayak for 24 hours or more – and in pain, had to cut loose the seals they were towing due to fatigue, were nearing total exhaustion with no land in sight, and used this technique as a last resort."
No, they would do what many other hunters like them have done before. They would die.
A perfect balance brace performed by a skilled practitioner used to take a nap at the point of exhaustion would result in a peaceful drift off to sleep, hypothermia and eventually death.
It is one thing to do this in cold water when you are well fed, maybe a little tired, likely sore, but with a metabolism with enough energy in reserve to warm the body.
If you are at the point of exhaustion, likely borderline hypothermic already, the last thing you want to do is allow yourself to shut your eyes and take a little nap. This is true on dry land in cold weather and doubly so on the water where any energy you may have left will be sucked away immediately.
A balance brace in your scenario is an act of desperation that only someone who has given up the will to live would consider. “Paddle or die” comes to mind.
Thanks
– Last Updated: Jun-04-10 4:12 PM EST –
I might need to borrow your kayak to get started. Nice boat!
speculation
Perhaps, my point is that we can’t frame this from the perspective of recreational kayakers.
That said, all we really know is that one of the most famous seal hunters in Greenland said that he could sleep in a “balance brace”. We don’t know under what circumstances he did this or if he meant that he simply had the skill to do it (sleeping in a balance brace is quite easy in benign conditions).
I sent out a message to several Greenlanders to get their input and will share any information.
Greg Stamer
Try this to rule out body limitations
In the thread asking for tips on doing the balance brace, I described learning to do it by sliding down via the rear deck first. Turns out I can plop backwards into a balance brace, but I have to wonder if I would’ve succeeded at that right off without learning the slide-down method first.
Why not try it by sliding down, just to see if in fact your torso and hip flexibility are the real limitations? If you can get into and out of the position this way, then you can try it the other way because you’ll know then that your body is not the limiting factor.
Yesterday I plopped down backwards in the Jackson Sidekick and was surprised to find that it was the easiest from that boat (maybe the boat’s height is lower than my Explorer LV’s?). No PFD, shorty 2mm wetsuit for the mid-90s air temps but cold water. Boat rotations were easier, too, probably because it weighs less than half what the sea kayak does. I did a butterfly roll in it (WW paddle). Don’t get too hung up on what boat you’re using. The Tempest will work for this.
The one factor that might hinder you in the Tempest is whether you set your hip pads to be tight. I left mine somewhat loose (before I sold that boat), and I took them completely out of the Sidekick since they were too low for me. I don’t have any in the Explorer LV, though I’m thinking of adding some.
Thanks
Tomorrow will be ‘balance brace focus’ day. I’ll let you know what happens.
One more thing
When I had done the balance brace last week in the Sidekick, I slid down from the back deck and thought it was a little trickier than in the sea kayak. Then when I did it yesterday by just dropping down backwards while rotating the torso, it felt easier than in the sea kayak. Whether this was just from more practice or not, I don’t know. The Sidekick does have an odd bulge upward in the rear deck–it looks like a large ball was put in there while forming the boat (apparently done to increase buoyancy in the stern). Possibly that makes the rear deck raise me up more than in the sea kayak. Not much, but it is different. Experiment with your boat(s) and have fun on a hot day!
Having Fun on This Hot Day
My body loves being parallel to the boat and hates perpendicular. Looks like I need thomasd to meet me at Bear Inlet some time and learn me how this thang is done.
I DID just figure out how to nap if I want to… Get my ass out of the boat; drape my legs across the cockpit; put my ears in the water and have a snooze.
Recreational Paddlers
Since the question was asked by a recreational paddler and this forum is focused on the needs of recreational paddlers, not Inuit subsistence hunters, the answers to the question of what the practical uses for balance braces are, should come back to how a recreational paddler would use it.
Just because a hunter who is acclimated to cold MAY be able to sleep while balance bracing, is not a good reason to suggest that venturing a snooze when in extreme conditions is anything but a very very bad idea.
That said, I would be interested to hear accounts of anyone who has actually used this technique in an immediately life threatening situation and survived.
Kampe’s reply
"Guillemot", this side discussion was in reference to Jay and I debating the interpretation of John Heath’s writings. I have already provided my thoughts on the value of this technique for recreational kayakers early in the thread.
Regarding a Greenland perspective on this, I just received a note from Kampe Absalonsen, who retired last year as the chief (kayaking) competition judge in Greenland. I met Kampe in Greenland ten years ago where he helped me work on my skills. He wrote:
“You know sea in greeland are alot cold, all I know and hear impossible using longer time and hunter used to far away from coast must be in winter time in snowstorm can be 2 3 days maybe 4 days? and them never try to sleep or will be capside and lost paddle, if sleeping a longer time or short time can be cold be immediatly, and you can using nalaasaarneq only still water.
Hunter used to take only one day hunting so never used to take extra clothes”
I interpret Kampe’s words to mean:
“You know that the sea in Greenland is very cold, all I know and hear is that it is impossible [being in water] for a longer time. Hunters used to venture far from the coast in winter time and a snowstorm can last 2, 3, maybe 4 days? During this time they never tried to sleep or they would capsize and lose their paddle. If sleep a long or short time a hunter will get cold immediately and you can only use nalaasaarneq (“balance brace”) in still water. Hunters only prepared for a single day of hunting on the water so never used to take extra clothes.”
It’s very good to get some direct input from the source. Until we know more I will amend my beliefs to assume that Greenlanders did NOT use this technique in the past to sleep in survival situations, but used it to stretch and take short breaks when far from shore. We do have Manasse Mathaeusse (a retired seal hunter whom John Heath described as “the dean of Greenland kayaking”) interpreted as saying that a skilled Greenland kayaker could take a nap in this position. Until we have more information, I will assume that he meant that a skilled kayaker had the mastery to sleep in this position (but probably only did so in practice in calm water).
In lieu of this, I’m sure that some readers will use this information to dismiss the whole technique as a trick. As I said earlier, none of this takes away from the value (among the Greenland hunters of the past and the recreational kayakers of today) of the balance brace to take a good, welcome stretch, when far from land.
Greg Stamer
I can’t balance brace
– Last Updated: Jun-07-10 12:00 AM EST –
a Guillemot..
haven't paddled one for a few years though...
should try it with a tuilik on..
shoulders squared
if you are having trouble with the position try placing the hand closest to the stern (while in the brace) under the hull. Also remember to keep your eyebrows in the water…
Practice made the difference
Answered my own question yesterday with the sea kayak. Now it and the WW boat are both equally easy to plop down from.
If you can get someone to help you, great. Then give it some thinking practice, and time (a few of those 10,000 hrs, heh heh heh). And don’t read billinpa’s thread about “pissed off the neighbor”. Which was really about the neighbor’s wife.
I sometimes sink
I sometimes sink but it depends on the boat and what I’m wearing. I also find the paddle matters due to added buoyancy. My full cedar paddle adds better support than my laminated one. The best is putting on the Tuilik and playing but it’s so much like cheating. Someone once showed me how to get to the surface by sculling in the balance brace position. If you’re sinking a bit just use you’re wrist to skull. Move the paddle gently back and forth towards the boat and then away. Pay close attention to blade angle until you feel steady resistance. It really works!
Gary