Outstanding info all!  Thank you for the pointers.

I'm a transplant from So. California where I grew up (I left as soon as I could... can't stand the crowding, pollution, and politics!).  What surprised me is how few people in the midwest can swim well.  Out there, learning to swim before reaching kindergarden age seemed to be the norm.  While it was a desert with no good lakes to speak of, there was the beach.  I was body surfing and bobbing in waves as young as I can remember.  In grade school I was on swim teams.  Yet here in the midwest, it seems few youngsters learn to swim beyond a feeble head-up dog paddle.

Everyone on my trips wears a pfd whenever they are on the water.  I've had a canoe "turn turtle" a couple of times (overloaded and unstable, or hitting a submerged rock in wind/waves).  Even though I'm a strong swimmer, that's been enough to make a believer out of me.  Doubly so for any youth or kids in the group.

Other good uses for pfds:  pillows, seat cushions on hard rocks / logs, wind shells on cool days.  They are actually quite useful in the BW/Q beyond just keeping you upright in the water!

ws