WP Issue 1 Commentary

[qp]

With the heat in the BW/Q the last couple weeks I felt it necessary to post the Wilderness Passages Issue #1 Commentary a little earlier than I had intended. High temps tend to make it, at times, very hot to be wearing a PFD “personal floatation device” Neal Oberlee author of the first commentary wrote a great piece which I feel makes some very valid points.
In each issue of the Wilderness Passages Magazine on CD, a commentary section is offered that allows the author a place to make note-worthy points to help others, to understand the importance of the Authors opinion on various issues. Please read the writing Neal has presented and post your comments/opinions.
Have a safe and enjoyable canoeing season and issue #2 will be out in early fall.
qp

P.S. If anyone would like to write a commentary for future issues, they can be submitted on the Wilderness Passages website.
www.wildernesspassages.com

Wilderness Passages Commentary
This viewpoint is made possible in each issue by readers like you. As a Wilderness Passages reader we would like to hear your viewpoint. “Do you have a wilderness-related pet peeve?” Maybe you saw something in the forest that bothered you and you feel the need to express yourself? Is there a special moment in the forest you wish to share? Regardless of your comments in this section, Wilderness Passages goals are to provide an area where these viewpoints can be expresed.


What is an Acceptable Risk??
By Neal Oberlee

Recent on-line discussions with friends on my favorite BWCA/Quetico website, QuietJourney.com, have raised the notion of “acceptable risk” with respect to paddlers wearing their PFD’s. I’m a firm believer that PFD’s are meant to be worn while canoeing, no matter what the conditions are.

In my opinion, the notion of “acceptable risk” is really just an excuse for selfish behavior!

When I was growing up,” acceptable risk” pertained to people whose job requirements put them into danger. It was part of their job description. These included professions like police, fire and, rescue workers, men and women in the military, high risk jobs like ironworkers, and oil rig workers.

The “Boomer Decade” somehow perverted the meaning of acceptable risk to include high risk recreational activities with or without proper gear or training. I have a real problem with the mindset behind this notion, especially regarding activities not involved in the public good, defense of our country, or the nation’s economy!

Please be advised that my remarks do not pertain to you IF you mark your federal income tax form “single with no dependents” or you are in a profession similar to one described above. Otherwise, when you do not avail yourself of basic safety gear and training, is not an “acceptable risk”. You are simply rationalizing your decision to put your needs above the needs of loved ones who depend on you, emotionally, financially, or both!

Too often we hear of someone who was killed or seriously injured in an activity, which carries a degree of risk and we learn the participant decided not to wear the safety equipment available to them. The typical litany of excuses for such behavior includes: “uncomfortable”, “too hot”, “too cold”, “gives false sense of security”, “good judgment is my best safety device”, and on and on! Sometimes we even hear a “family spokesperson”claim the victim died (or was seriously injured) knowing the risks and doing what they loved.

If you don’t utilize basic safety gear available for your activity, it isn’t “acceptable risk”. It is ego-driven selfishness and irresponsible behavior!

So many paddlers accumulate various rescue and tracking devices to alleviate concerns of spouses and family worried about their wilderness trips (especially solo trips). These include PLBS (personal locator beacons), satellite phones, cell phones, and GPS. The fact is: YOU need to be ALIVE to use any of these devices!

How would your loved ones feel about your latest hi-tech safety device if you drowned because you didn’t feel it necessary to wear the most BASIC one… a PFD!?!

To those of you who say “life itself is a risk”, I beg that you consider the bigger picture.

Think about your spouse struggling with the grief of losing his/her life mate. What will your death or serious injury do to them emotionally/financially? Think of his/her hardship
raising a family as a single parent, with half the income and all the responsibilities you left behind. Do you SERIOUSLY think your family will be “comforted” by the idea that you took a “acceptable risk” and did things YOUR way?

Take a look at a high profile “acceptable risk” taker Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter! Admired as a passionate advocate for the environment and the natural world, Irwin was also an expert “acceptable risk” taker. His “need” to push the envelope constantly put him in positions that had more to do with television ratings than with science. It cost him his life!

I watched Steve Irwin’s funeral on TV. I was struck by the sadness of his pretty young wife and two young children at the services. Yes, they were proud of his accomplishments
and loved him dearly. Yet, they also will never have the father and husband he could have been. If only he had thought more about “their” needs instead of his own!

Could Irwin have pursued his passion and stayed safer? Yes. Rather, he fed his need to push boundaries and get press to fuel his conservation efforts!

When I watched his sobbing widow on television, I had a hard time believing his efforts were worth it.

Paddlers tell me how they miss family and/or delight in taking them on trips to bond and make memories of for a lifetime. Think about the sort of memories you will leave for these loved ones if you don’t come back from your trip, simply because you neglected
to utilize the most basic safety gear available to paddlers… your PFD.

You owe it to those you love to be responsible with your life. Your children need YOU in their lives.

Do you have a daughter? Who will walk her down the isle on her wedding day if you drown?

Do you have a son? Who will offer him advice when he confronts Life’s big decisions?

How about your grandchildren? What will be their lesson from your “acceptable risk”?

The needs of others should trump any of your personal needs for freedom!

Be mature. Put your own ego aside and shoulder the responsibilities you have created. “Acceptable risk” is not only about YOU. Think through the consequences of a
“worse case” scenario.
Wear your PFD!

[azalea]

I believe Neal inaccurately insults those who make what he calls "acceptable risk" decisions when he says they do so out of "ego-driven selfishness and irresponsible behavior!" The decision is more of a cost/benefit analysis where people evaluate the costs/benefits differently.

Everyday, people make decisions on risks. When you go to store, you are weighing the risk of being killed traveling to the store versus the benefit of getting what you seek. We all could significantly reduce the amount we travel by delaying trips to stores and doing all are shopping in big chunks, maybe once every two weeks. Traveling out to stores more frequently exposes us to risks inherent in travel. But those risks are minimal. Consciously or unconsciously, we make a cost/benefit analysis. Most of us decide the benefit of more frequent trips outweighs the risk. Daily life is filled with such decisions.

I was brought up as a water rat with significant experience both in lakes and the ocean. In a few weeks, I will spend a week vacationing on an ocean beach. Like 99.9999% of the other beach goers, I will swim in the surf without a PFD. Of all the beach goers, some will swim very near a lifeguard, some will move to areas less crowded away from guards, and some will swim on totally unguarded beaches. Regardless of how close to a lifeguard, in virtually all cases swimmers will be without a PFD. Are those people engaging in "ego-driven selfishness and irresponsible behavior"? No, they made a judgment that the benefit of swimming without a PFD exceeded the additional risk. (How close one swims to a lifeguard tower is also a cost/benefit analysis.)

So let us compare a paddler in a canoe in the middle of summer on a calm canoe country lake with a beach goer swimming not in the near vicinity of a lifeguard (but with a group of 5 other people). I would assert the ocean swimmer is at far greater risk of drowning then the canoeist (assuming equivalent swimming ability), even if the canoeist is wearing clothes. I am confident that virtually anyone familiar with the ocean would agree with I disagreeessment of the comparative risks. The "acceptable risk" the ocean swimmers are taking is not out of ego, but there judgment that the benefit outweighs the risk.

Much of the shore in canoe country is rocky. While in camp and walking or sitting by the shore, does Neal always wear his PFD? There is a risk, he could trip or slip, fall, hit his head, and roll into the water. A PFD could save his life.
But the risk is very small. I doubt Neal wears his life jacket in those situations, not because of his ego but because a risk/benefit analysis indicates the risk is not worth the trouble of always donning a PFD in those situations.

As I paddle down a calm Quetico lake in early August, I will make a similar risk/benefit analysis. In my analysis , my risk is no greater than the risk I run when I walk the shoreline. I will not be wearing my PFD.

My analysis of the degree of risk may be wrong. But that is not the point. If any worst case scenario might cause significant harm (which for example is true in the case of walking the shore) and a piece of safety equipment could improve your chances of survival (wearing a PFD while walking the shore), do we conclude there is no acceptable risk, only selfish behavior? I think not. And if not, then lets not talk about those who concluded the risk to be acceptable as being selfish and ego-driven. They just evaluated the degree of risk differently. Instead, lets respectfully discuss how we differ in our analysis of those risks and benefits.

[qp]

In the mater of what is acceptable risk I think most of us tend to think oh it won’t happen to me. In my opinion I think this is a lack of well being for yourself as well as others involved in your life.
I think I speak for everyone when if comes to taking a risk at some point in life. We’ve all done it and likely will again maybe not by choice. but accidents do happen, and always will.
I will say though “acceptable risk” not wearing a PFD you're asking for trouble. There have been times on the water I’ve been guilty of having the PFD laying on the floor of the canoe and a gust of wind has created an event where I was wishing I had it on but could not take the time due to the concern of tipping. I’ve been lucky!
I will share an experience, which due to me having my PFD on I’m hear today to tell.
Setting up the circumstances:
Day 6 of a planned 14-day Quetico trip. Early September temps. that morning were about 45 and the water was cool.
We broke camp early, arriving at the bottom of a waterfall that we were to portage around. On the other side we put in just above he waterfall. The current was fast but passable.
For some unknown reason on this morning leaving camp we put our PFD’s on, for the first time of the trip. I suspect it might have been because it was cool that morning and the added insulation of the vest would keep us warmer.
We had paddled a couple hundred feet above the waterfall when we came to a small 8 to 10 inch drop in the river. We opted to paddle through, "big mistake" as it appeared harmless. As we hit the ledge the canoe was quickly submerged. Dumping me one-way, my partner the other with the canoe.
I remember my boots filling with water and even with the PFD on I could not swim in the current. I finally got to shore, exhausted, as I looked for my buddy. I see him struggling on the other side holding onto a tree with one hand the other hand holding the canoe, that was completely submerged. Quickly I remove my boots and jump back in to swim across to him to help.
We managed to get the canoe and ourselves to shore, but not with out the loss on several hundred dollars in gear. Including all of our food, maps, camera, fishing gear etc. The packs were tied in but the current managed to pull some gear out.
Once we made it to shore. We were very thankful to be alive and both of us knew all to well we had just had a brush with death. We both commented on the fact that the PFD saved our lives. This did ruin the trip for us being a good 2 days from an exit point, no maps, and no food other than an emergency meal packed in the bottom of one pack. This is the one experience my buddy and I refer to on each trip now, included in the planning stages.
We don’t even paddle across a small creek with out it on. This is of course our option to do so as is anyone else and I think the choice approach is best. I don’t like someone telling me what I should do more than anyone else. But, I’m constantly reminded from that experience and what the consequences could have been if my buddy or myself hadn’t made it?
Like Neal mentions, my buddy and I would have left a very empty hole in the lives of our families. Plus I couldn’t even fathom the though of the loss of my friend. True either one of us could be killed tomorrow. But prevention can and does prevail in the event of an accident. Such as seat belts and air bags in automobiles they save lives.
Since this trip in 94, I wear my PFD every moment I’m on the water. Same thing goes for my friend. We were lucky, I personally think until you have had a life altering experience like this, you can’t truly understand the danger involved. Even the best swimmers can have troubles in a spill; such was the case for me with my boots.
My motto is be safe not sorry.

qp

[Solotripper]

azalea,
In the end, it is as you say a cost/benefit decision. And NO , I don't wear a PFD while on shore even though I could slip and fall as you mentioned.
Your a self professed "water rat", if I remember right you are a former competitive swimmer as well??
Sure, people with your water skills have a far less chance than the average paddler/swimmer to drown, but every year swimmers/boaters who thought they had the skills wind up being drowning statistics.
I believe there is a reason every major boating/paddling/rafting organization recommends wearing your PFD while on the water, it saves lives, pure and simple!
You feel comfortable in MOST water situations without a PFD. Your swimming skills would probably get you thru most situations, BUT let's say for the sake of argument, that your WRONG, just one time??
Would your wife/children feel your loss would be acceptable because you deemed your choice a acceptable risk??
I hope some spouses/children of fellow paddlers respond to my comments??
Maybe I am all wrong but I have a hard time believing losing one's life is a acceptable risk for anyone?
Accidents happen to the best of us, Navy Seals drown, Air Force rescue swimmers, the best of the best have lost there life's in the right conditons.
I also see the issue as one of "monkey see, monkey do". When your paddling without your PFD and others see you, there prone to emulate you. They don't know that your a superior swimmer, face it peer pressure can be both good and bad.
When you say you'll be swimming in the ocean sans PFD and the majority of swimmers will be as well, I wonder how many of them can swim as well as you do or are the vast majority counting on the life guards to save them if they get in trouble?
Going for a PLANNED swim in the canoe country or beach is far different than finding yourself unexpectedly dumped into the water.
I would hazard to say the average person would wind up swallowing water in the initial panic of the spill and that can cause catastrophic results to a untrained swimmer.
QP is right I believe, until YOU have a near death experience, you can't really appreciate how fast things can go wrong.
I hope you or no one else finds themselves in such a predicament. I would be willing to hazard a guess that if you do get in such a fix and survive, you'll have a different attitude about it?? You mention that's its not selfish or ego driven but judging the degree of risk differently? Don't you think that not wearing a PFD which the overwhelming majority of safety experts recommend isn't a little bit of a case of one's ego coming into play?
If you wear a PFD and you never go in the water, the worse that has happened is that you were maybe a little uncomfortable? If you don't wear one and wind up in the water and in trouble, that's a big price to pay for your cost/benefit analogy. I don't see how any "benefit" out weighs the "cost" if your skills don't prove up to the challenge?
I hear the same argument in the wearing of seat belts in auto's. I have been driving for 43 yrs now, and I have never been in a accident of any kind! I could easily say that I don't need to wear a seat belt, I could do the cost/benefit thing and dismiss it because I feel I have superior driving skills? I also know, having worked as a professional test driver for GM, that IF something bad does happen that belt can make the difference between life and death. I feel the same way about wearing your PFD when on the water and not PLANNING on going for a swim.

I wrote my commentary because of a real life situation I was involved in on a trip to the Q.
I have it in a rough draft form and probably will submit it to QP for his next Wilderness Passages magazine. I can still remember how I felt during the episode and how lucky the paddlers were that no one died because of there taking an " acceptable risk".
I guess that episode is what cemented my opinion on the subject. Unlike QP, I wasn't in the water, but involved in the rescue from a observer/participant role.
It was one of the most traumatic things I've ever been involved in and I think anyone else who went thru the same thing would know where I'm coming from.

[azalea]

"Would your wife/children feel your loss would be acceptable because you deemed your choice a acceptable risk??"

My father was a rail buff. He died on a train traveling across Canada (alone in his sleeping compartment). Because of his health at the time, he took a risk taking that trip. His death saddened me, and the rest of my family. But I suspect if anyone in the family were asked, they would say his taking the trip was an acceptable risk, even though it might have cost hime his life. In comparing this to a PFD situation, clearly the benefit of the trip was greater than the benefit of not wearing a PFD. But so was the risk more than the risk of not wearing a PFD in calm warm-water conditions.

"Maybe I am all wrong but I have a hard time believing losing one's life is a acceptable risk for anyone?"

As I said before, you make countless decisions daily where you expose yourself to small risks. Yes , "accidents happen to the best of us", and usually they happen during our normal everyday lives, not while we are on canoe country. But at some point you and everybody else chooses to take that chance because to ALWAYS act in a way that minimizes risk would take some of the richness out of life.

"I don't wear a PFD while on shore even though I could slip and fall as you mentioned." I think this is the crux of the issue. Let us assume it is spring or fall, the water temperature is cold. The shoreline is rocky, maybe even slippery. The rock makes a steep, slippery drop-off into the lake, being close to shore is not going to help you. It is cool, you are wearing lots of clothes. This entire scenario is not unusual. I assert there is a risk, you could trip or slip and fail in the lake and without a PFD you could lose your life. To me, you are taking a greater risk by not wearing a PFD in that situation as a decent swimmer is by not wearing a PFD while wearing swim clothes and sandals, paddling across a warm calm Quetico lake in summer. So why is it you have a vastly different reaction to these two scenarios (too me they are very similar with slight different weight in the risk/benefit calculation)? And even if you do consider the risks to be quite different, why cannot you respect that other people who are also quite familiar with the dangers posed by water might come to different conclusions? And if you do have a different opinion but respect the educated opinion of others, how can you call the result of their analysis "ego-driven selfishness and irresponsible behavior!".

[Solotripper]

Azalea,
I do respect other's choices, even though the "ego driven selfishness and irresponsible audience comment might not sound like I do?
I was shooting at the vast majority of paddlers who don't have the skills you possess or others who will certainly criticize me for my choice of words?
I think the vast majority of "average" people, my self included greatly overestimate there abilities in just about any scenario you can mention.
I enjoy watching the show "Fear Factor" not for the stunts, but for the human drama of watching people who even though they know what's coming and talk about how its no big thing, when the pressure is on, they fail more often that not because they overestimate there mental or physical abilities.
I also think most drownings come because of the shock of a unexpected dunking and the persons reaction to it. Sure, paddling in your swim suit, sandals on a warm August night in the Q, your half hoping you go in just because the water is warm and your ready for it.
Take the same picture and add colder water, a poor swimmer, who thinks he/she isn't and you have a recipe for disaster most of the time.
This will be my final reply/post to this commentary. I don't want it to turn into just me either defending myself from critics or thanking people who feel I'm on the right track??
What I really hope happens is that others either for or against, will post and the discussion will hopefully be a productive one? I especially hope some spouses/children might share there opinions on what I've said? I thank QP for having a forum where I could express myself in a honest and open way. I felt strongly about the subject, I still do but I also realize others will feel the exact opposite. I meant well in my "rant" and since were all products of our experiences, my opinions have been shaped by events in my life. I plan on submitting a true story to QP when its ready and then all will know WHY I feel as strongly as I do!
So until the next hot topic, I'll sit back and enjoy what others have to say!

ST/NEAL

[azalea]

There is much we agree on, so let me try to bring us together a bit. If I were to give a one-sentence summation of the main point of your piece, it would be this: If you ever fail to wear your PFD while canoeing you are a selfish and irresponsible. That I cannot agree on. I think a far better angle for such a piece would be what you expressed in your final post: Most people overestimate their abilities to survive a dunking in anything less than ideal conditions so you may be risking death if you do not wear a PFD. That I can agree on.

I purposely never refered to my abilities in this thread, I was trying to speak on behalf anyone with halfway decent swimming skills. A large percentage of people only go to canoe country in warm summer months, so I think a large percentage of your audience is "paddling in your swim suit, sandals on a warm August night in the Q, your half hoping you go in just because the water is warm and your ready for it." IMHO, there is a danger in overstating the danger in those cases, crying wolf so to speak, so people do not recognize the more extreme danger under less than ideal conditions.

While I go without PFD under ideal conditions, it does not take much to make me put one on. I think you might be more effective in achieving your ultimate objective if you listed various conditions that make surviving in water more difficult, ideally with "hooks" that made those points hit home with your readers. Off the top of my head, things like moving water, waves, clothes/boots, cold water, surprise/panic, having to deal with a non-swimmer all can contribute to drowning. Relaying a story like QP's can make the dangers of boots and current hit home with people.

Another thing you can do is suggest people "practice" being dunked (something I think is as important as wearing a PFD). I think they should practice swimming in the gear they will be wearing while in the canoe. If you can get a marginal swimmer who has overestimated his abilities to take a practice swim with all his clothes and boots on without a PFD (someplace safe where doing so is not a risk), he may gain a greater understand of his need for a PFD.

[Canoearoo]

I personally feel that life jackets should be worn by everyone on all boats and that it should be a law. However it isn't the law so I support anyones decision to make there choices and live with them. However, if you ever expect to paddle with me then you better wear a life jacket or I'm not going. I'm not willing to risk my families happiness for your right sink.