tailored PFD

[clt_capt]

I wonder if any ww paddler has ever had to deal with real USCG enforcement.

So, I haven't had to deal with USCG on a river, but I do a lot of offshore fishing - and I have been boarded by the USCG doing routine boarding sweeps. They will specifically look for an equal number of unmodified, CG labeled lifejackets to the number of people on board. They actually frowned on the attachment of strobe lights to the PFDs - but didn't cite me.

[ezwater]

Bob P commented: ".....look at the situation from the Ranger's perspective. What would happen (to the Ranger) if you got into trouble and required some expensive rescue?"

Bob, as a state employee of many years, I can assure you that a DNR Ranger's perspective is not focused on the possibility of saving state money by making sure that life jackets are USCG approved and unmodified. That they enforce life jacket rules without being able to force paddlers to wear life jackets shows that they are unable to appreciate the real problem.

I pointed out the the ranger that the racer heads in slalom boats were all actually wearing their ICF life jackets, while the unwashed masses on the river that day mostly had approved life jackets in their rafts or boats, but were not wearing them. I pointed out that people who wear obviously adequate jackets should not be bothered about USCG approval. It's a palpable waste of time.

The rescue efforts on the metro Chattahoochee have been related either to people who drowned while wearing no life jacket at all (I pulled one such out, 5 days after he drowned), or people who were on the river at very high water levels where their life jacket didn't do them much good.

Digging into the Coast Guard literature, I found a study of drownings and their relationship to the class of life jacket worn (I-V). The Coast Guard somewhat sheepishly admitted that the class and nature of life jackets did not seem at all related to survival. If a person wears a pfd, that person is very likely to survive in any sort of water body or set of conditions.

My impression about most rangers, from any agency, is that they have been told by their supervisors to *enforce those regulations*. Occasionally I do see rangers who understand whitewater and who give friendly and supportive coaching.

[hazardharry]

i just cut the label off my mattress too. so how many pfd's come with adjustable shoulder straps? if they constantly slip loose then how was it approved? plus my mod is so stealth nobody knows. modding it got rid of useless webbing. funny thing my dad who is 87 now was in the coast guard and they made most thing on board by hand. he is a master at knot making and splicing. he makes belts from just simple nylon string and thousands of knots. monkey fists and bell lanyard too. he still cuts up old leather jackets to made all kind of hand stitched pouches. the old salts would'nt give a hoot.