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| This decision depends on **water temperature, air temperature, your paddling skill, your experience on and in cold water, water and weather conditions (wind strength, direction), proximity to shore and who you are paddling with**. Don't dress less carefully because you put any responsibility on others for your rescue (not a good mindset). Paddling with groups that have a strong "watch out for each other" ethic you should still be **at least** as prepared as you would be paddling solo. Otherwise you are putting unfair responsibility and risk on your fellow paddlers and at the very least reducing their freedom to enjoy their own outing. And If you are responsible for other paddlers, particularly less experienced ones then you may even need to dress and prepare more carefully for more potential water immersion in order to assist in someone else's rescue. | This decision depends on **water temperature, air temperature, your paddling skill, your experience on and in cold water, water and weather conditions (wind strength, direction), proximity to shore and who you are paddling with**. Don't dress less carefully because you put any responsibility on others for your rescue (not a good mindset). Paddling with groups that have a strong "watch out for each other" ethic you should still be **at least** as prepared as you would be paddling solo. Otherwise you are putting unfair responsibility and risk on your fellow paddlers and at the very least reducing their freedom to enjoy their own outing. And If you are responsible for other paddlers, particularly less experienced ones then you may even need to dress and prepare more carefully for more potential water immersion in order to assist in someone else's rescue. | ||
| - | * [[:stories:dress_air_water|Dress for Air or Water]] ? | + | * **Paddlers Who Got Too Cold But Lived to Talk About It** |
| - | * [[:stories:lawler_loch_ness|Ivan Lawler Choosing the Wrong Surfski and the Wrong Clothing for Cold Scotland Race]] | + | * [[:stories:heavy_weather_9_28_2013#several_people_got_into_trouble_and_cold|Several Paddlers Got Into Trouble Bellingham]] (Conditions Got Stronger While They Were On the Water, But That Should Not Have Been A Surprise) Sept 2013 |
| - | * [[https://www.coldwatersafety.org/hot-weather|Avoiding Overheating When Weather is Warm but You Are Dressed for Cold Water Immersion]] | + | * [[:stories:unexpected_consequences|Too Cold and Too Tired to Remount Seattle]] Dec. 2014 |
| + | * [[:stories:lawler_loch_ness|Ivan Lawler Choosing the Wrong Surfski and the Wrong Clothing for Cold Scotland Race]] 2020? | ||
| + | * [[https://tcsurfski.com/2020/10/25/a-very-cold-virtual-chattajack/|Billy Belinger's 4hr Michigan Back Country River Race in Cold Conditions]] Oct. 2020 | ||
| + | * [[:stories:coastguard_rescue_12_11_2022|Bellingham Coast Guard Rescue]] Dec. 2022 | ||
| + | * [[:stories:coastguard_rescue_safety_lessons#dan_s_water_clothing_and_immersion|What the Paddler Was Wearing]] | ||
| + | * **Paddlers Who Did Not Survive Cold Water** | ||
| + | * **Possible Mistakes: Paddling Solo, Inadequate Clothing, Inadequate Communication Devices** | ||
| + | * [[:stories:new_zealand_death_8_11_2018|New Zealand Fatality]] Aug 11, 2018 (hypothermia and drowning interaction?) | ||
| + | * **When Conditions Turned Markedly Worse During Paddle** | ||
| + | * [[:stories:unfortunate_accident|A Very Sad Accident - Bellingham, WA, USA ]]November 15, 2007 incident | ||
| + | * [[:stories:dress_air_water|Doug Tompkins's Death in Chile]] Dec 2015 | ||
| + | * … | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | ===== Experienced Boaters ===== | + | ===== Recommendations from/for Experienced Boaters ===== |
| <WRAP indent> | <WRAP indent> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Canada ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * **Vancouver Island, BC, CA** | ||
| + | * **Victoria and nearby** | ||
| + | * **[[:victoria_bc_clothing|Greg Miller's Summer & Winter Clothing ]]** **[[:victoria_bc_clothing|Choices]]** | ||
| + | * … | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| Line 24: | Line 44: | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | ==== Pacific Northwest USA/Canada ==== | + | ==== USA ==== |
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Midwest/Great Lakes ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | (water temperatures in the Great Lakes get close to freezing in the winter and cold water (~5.5º C/42º F) from the deep can well up from the depths anytime of the year depending on weather. Paddling conditions are also often "oceanic") | ||
| + | |||
| + | * **Lake Michigan** | ||
| + | * **[[https://tcsurfski.com/2021/04/16/updated-guidance-on-cold-water-paddling/|Nick Murray's Cold Water Clothing Choices]]** | ||
| + | * **Lake Superior** | ||
| + | * **[[:lake_superior_clothing|Tim Traynor's Year 'Round Clothing Choices]]** | ||
| + | * … | ||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Pacific Northwest USA ==== | ||
| * **Bellingham, WA, USA** | * **Bellingham, WA, USA** | ||
| Line 31: | Line 69: | ||
| * **Columbia River (the Gorge) OR/WA, USA** | * **Columbia River (the Gorge) OR/WA, USA** | ||
| * **[[:goodson_cold_weather_clothing_choice|Larry Goodson's Winter Clothing Choices]]** | * **[[:goodson_cold_weather_clothing_choice|Larry Goodson's Winter Clothing Choices]]** | ||
| - | * **Vancouver Island, BC, CA** | ||
| - | * **Victoria and nearby** | ||
| - | * **[[:victoria_bc_clothing|Greg Miller's Summer & Winter Clothing ]]** **[[:victoria_bc_clothing|Choices]]** | ||
| * … | * … | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | ==== USA Midwest/Great Lakes ==== | + | ==== San Francisco Bay Area ==== |
| - | (water temperatures in the Great Lakes get as cold as ocean temperatures fairly far from the Equator. Paddling conditions are also often "oceanic") | + | * [[https://101surfsports.com/pages/what-to-wear-while-surfski-paddling|101 Surf Sports Clothing Recommendations for Bay Area]] |
| - | + | ||
| - | * **Lake Michigan** | + | |
| - | * **[[https://tcsurfski.com/2021/04/16/updated-guidance-on-cold-water-paddling/|Nick Murray's Cold Water Clothing Choices]]** | + | |
| - | * **Lake Superior** | + | |
| - | * **[[:lake_superior_clothing|Tim Traynor's Year 'Round Clothing Choices]]** | + | |
| * … | * … | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | </WRAP> | + | </WRAP></WRAP> |
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | ===== Average Boater, Novice Boater ===== | + | ===== Recommendations for Average and Novice Boaters ===== |
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| * There is no universal formula for what is right for you. This is an education process. Experienced paddlers can take years to develop their scale which evolves and changes with experience, skill, and new paddle clothing options. Please **start on the conservative end of the scale** in terms of water temperature and weather conditions and incrementally test how long you can survive in the water given what you have on and where you are. Is that long enough for you to have a good chance to swim to shore (probably not at all easy in rough conditions and much more than a short distance from shore)? Or long enough for you to have a good chance to be rescued? | * There is no universal formula for what is right for you. This is an education process. Experienced paddlers can take years to develop their scale which evolves and changes with experience, skill, and new paddle clothing options. Please **start on the conservative end of the scale** in terms of water temperature and weather conditions and incrementally test how long you can survive in the water given what you have on and where you are. Is that long enough for you to have a good chance to swim to shore (probably not at all easy in rough conditions and much more than a short distance from shore)? Or long enough for you to have a good chance to be rescued? | ||
| Line 65: | Line 99: | ||
| * [[:stories:coastguard_rescue_safety_lessons#dan_s_water_clothing_and_immersion|Farmer]][[:stories:coastguard_rescue_safety_lessons#dan_s_water_clothing_and_immersion| John Westuit Was Not Enough Immersion Protection]] | * [[:stories:coastguard_rescue_safety_lessons#dan_s_water_clothing_and_immersion|Farmer]][[:stories:coastguard_rescue_safety_lessons#dan_s_water_clothing_and_immersion| John Westuit Was Not Enough Immersion Protection]] | ||
| * [[:cold_water_immersion|Test Your Cold Water Kit For All Seasons (Don't Underestimate the Risk from Immersion During "Warmer" Seasons)]] | * [[:cold_water_immersion|Test Your Cold Water Kit For All Seasons (Don't Underestimate the Risk from Immersion During "Warmer" Seasons)]] | ||
| - | * … | + | * … |
| ---- | ---- | ||
| Line 72: | Line 106: | ||
| * [[:clothing_cold|Cold Water Clothing]] | * [[:clothing_cold|Cold Water Clothing]] | ||
| + | * … | ||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Dealing With/Minimizing Overheating ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
| + | |||
| + | There are various suggestions sprinkled around the wiki about ways to minimize overheating when you are dressed warmly enough to protect yourself during immersion. We are now going to try to collect and centralize such comments and suggestions here. | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[https://www.coldwatersafety.org/hot-weather|Avoiding Overheating When Weather is Warm but You Are Dressed for Cold Water Immersion]] **National Center for Cold Water Safety** | ||
| + | * Having **removable/adjustable clothing** like warm hats and hoods that can be removed or adjusted | ||
| + | * Hoodies that are part of wetsuits can be pulled down to release heat | ||
| + | * **Cooling down if needed** | ||
| + | * Taking a dip in the water/Practice remounts | ||
| + | * Sticking your hat in the water and back on your head. | ||
| + | * From Jim Schulz: | ||
| + | * "One thing you can do to help keep from overheating in a neoprene wetsuit is to wear a **long sleeve SPF shirt on the outside of the wetsuit**. It will **keep the sun from heating up the black neoprene** and you can also **get it wet if you need to which will help create some evaporative cooling ** (Ed: //These will work better on days when there is sunshine which are also the kinds of days when you will have the greatest tendency to overheat. And cold water on your outside shirt could also add a bit of conductive cooling. Cotton works very well for evaporative cooling. Every thing needs to be kept in balance - if you are downwinding, you may find that you are kept sufficiently wet to not require or want additional cooling//). These were suggestions given to us on a web meeting from the director of the National Center for Cold Water Safety, Moulton Avery (see [[http://www.coldwatersafety.org/hot-weather|article link]] from the Center above) and has worked for me on sunny days when the water is still very cold. He also recommended wearing thin neoprene gloves under pogies which I don't do but I do sometimes carry some neoprene gloves with me on downwinds just in case. On really cold days depending on how far I have to walk to the put in, I wear winter gloves to the put in then stash them in a dry bag on my boat then paddle with pogies then put them on after the paddle to carry the boat to the car. This is something that creek boater taught me!" | ||
| + | * … | ||
| + | |||
| + | </WRAP> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| </WRAP> | </WRAP> | ||
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