Personal choices. Fate and consequences.
sing
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Helmets and PFDsā¦ When I go paddle surfing, I have gone out without my PFD (when I have forgotten it). But, I have never gone out without a surf helmet. If I forget, I rather go home than risk going out.
Personally, I donāt fear death. I fear being incapacitated.
sing
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Like surfing on a beach with a shallow shore-break and having your neck broken? We saw so much of that in Hawaii, places like Sandyās. I agree. As
I get older I tend to take more risk just because the children are grown and Iād prefer to die with my boots on vs a long chronic illness but avoiding a spinal injury gets my attention.
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Yes, personal choices, and like most things in life those choices and assessing their consequences are nuanced. https://dutchreview.com/culture/cycling/5-reasons-why-the-dutch-cycle-without-bike-helmets/
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Ha ha loved that article.
There is some famous Nordic urban planning study where they had no traffic lights and had fewer accidents. Then, there is the motorcycle lane splitting study that showed fewer fatalities. (From being rear ended if I recall)
Yes, Iāve read that study and understand that perspective. My choice of a helmet (cycling and surfing) is based on my personal experiences. I have been hit by car and sent flying. I went flying 25-30ā, I tucked and rolled up without an injury (pretty miraculously). Can really say if the helmet made a difference here. Previously, hit a pot hole going at high speed with my road bike. My front wheel crumbled and I went over the handlebar. Again, tuck and roll. I was sure the back of my helmet hit pavement but I rolled up really no worse for the incident. On another incident, I hit a pot hole, stupidly put my foot down and went flying over the handlebar with my other foot still clipped into the pedal. I definitely hit my helmeted head. I was knocked out. I woke up with good samaritans around. In this incident, I survived the concussion (probably because of the helmet). However, my knee took much worse with blown ACL and torn meniscus.
With surfing, Iāve gone over more times than I can count on my rocky home break. I felt the helmet dragging across the cobblestone bottom. I have also found trapped in the inside corner of the rocky shore line rip and the stone jetty. My head didnāt touch the jetty but my body got pretty bruised.
My own experiences inform/reinforce my choice on helmet usage.
sing
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A perfectly reasonable, personal choice based on your experiences and accepted risks.
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Iām less hard core about the helmet, always in any kind of ww, rec boating probably not. My culture was different. I was a canoer. an open boater, it wasnāt until we tried rolling that we thought about helmets. Great share. I also use a pretty minimal helmet, an ace protec. I just like how it fits. Not the safest thing though.
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Sheās been riding that bike since WW2. She isnāt taking any guff from any 20-year old kid walking around filming for socials.
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What is āFlush Drowning?ā I know nothing of whitewater and I donāt have any plans on taking on any.
Flush drowning occurs in long intense rapids where, even with a life jacket on & experience, it gets more & more difficult to get a clear breath. Currents can hold you under water for a long time or the wave trains are intense enough that you wear out & lose the timing needed to grab a gasp or air when your head happens to pop out.
Yeah I donāt expect to ever be in that situation.
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Depending on conditions, pfd is just one piece of the gear array.
sing
Maybe we should all stay in our easy chairs and quiver at the thought of water.
Not this group.
I do. Its not bad.
This river is no joke especially the upper sections. Iāve only seen it driving and hiking.
Checking the AW data, the Pemigewasset River is broken down into 4 sections ranging from Class I (easy) to Class V (Very difficult). The very short shot of moving water in the video looks like the Class I section. That is the only section that AW shows with enough water to be boatable. The Class V section needs a fair amount of water to run & has some significant hazards.
Ohā¦ I know the Pemi pretty intimately. I went with a group to the class IV section above Lincoln on an early spring run. Blew my roll and before I tried again, my upside boat with me in it, went into a strainer. The boat stopped dead. The current was so strong, it wrenched the paddle out of my grip. I had time to think, āOhā¦ This is when/how I dieā¦ā Right after that, the current pulled me right out of the boat, I remember going through the branches of the strainer and then popping up on the other side.
By the grace ofā¦
sing
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Iāve paddled that section several times - pretty and relatively calm - especially at yesterdayās level of 3ā, 300 cfs. Overnight it shot up to 4.7ā, 1650 cfs. That is a nice level for paddling. Coming down out of the White Mountains the Pemi is very flashy. There are sections that can be calm one day, and wild the next. Another reason to be prepared. Supposedly, some friends were camping on the river one night when it rose 18ā. They spent the night up in the trees. Iāve seen the spot - still find it hard to believeā¦
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=01075000&legacy=1
well this thread is about what convinced you to wear a pfd. If you had become somehow entangled by your lifejacket in that strainer instead of floating free, that would be one instance where you might want to shed the pfd. Glad that scenario didnāt happen to you. Entanglement is a real hazard. Iāve boated around a lot of wood. Things can go bad so quickly. I know Iām preaching to the choir but when it happens it is so scary. Boat control has to be precise.
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