azalea wrote on Jul 20^th, 2010 at 11:28am:

Gear you're actually using at the time isn't the same as gear you're not using at the time.  Having a tent handy isn't going to prevent you from going over a waterfall or from being swamped in big water.  

What good is a paddle in a canoe you're not in when you've lost the one you were using?  Not having a spare paddle handy when you need it is at best a hassle and at worst life-threatening.  Again, back to those situations when things are happening fast and a spare paddle 20 yards away may as well be in China for all the good it will do.

Cornerstone said it well.  It's a calculated risk.  I think those calcualtions show a fundamental lack of arithmetic skills, but it's not my Darwin Award.

One spare lashed in per 2 canoes does just fine for the style of canoeing I do.  Flatwater for the most part, with plenty of portaging.  I want to minimize weight and minimize hand-carry items.  I wasn't suggesting that my solution was the best for all situations.

Your mileage (or arithmetic) may vary.

Westwood,

I just reread the 2010 Q Wilderness Guide section on boating safety. It makes no mention of any requirement for any canoe to have a spare paddle. It only mentions that each canoe must have at least one paddle, oar, or anchor.

I have no argument with you or anyone who feels that it would be prudent for each canoe to have a spare. Like an insurance policy, the law requires certain minimums, and each person has to do their own risk analysis regarding how much coverage to have...

If I read it right, the poll was more about our actual practice, than it was about law or what we think everyone should do...

This is how I/we do our risk assessment. This year, Snowdog paddled his solo, and I paddled my tandem with a friend. For the three of us, we carried four paddles. SD lashed in one paddle for our spare. Our reasoning was as follows: If SD lost/broke his paddle, he would be in immediate need of a spare, so he carried it. If one of us in the tandem, lost/broke a paddle, our canoe could be paddled with one paddle. Our assumption is that any lost paddle will float and can be retrieved, so the need for a spare is temporary. We also carry duct tape, which can be used with a splint, if need be, to repair any broken paddles. In all of my years of paddling, I've only had two or three occasions where my bow paddler lost his paddle. These were when we were fishing, and he was careless about where he put his paddle, and it slipped over the side. In each case, it was no big deal, as I simply picked it up for him. He always wondered how I got it, when he put it behind his seat...

azalea wrote on Jul 20^th, 2010 at 11:28am:


Spot-on accurate statement, as I see it.  We bring one spare paddle per trip regardless of how many canoes we have.  In 25 years of tripping, we've never broken a paddle, thereby making it a slim chance that even ONE paddle will break on a trip, let alone more than one.  Thus, the reason we carry only one paddle as insurance.

As Azalea said, one assesses "the liklihood and severity of failure" and makes a decision.  Based on past experience, one paddle per group is more than enough for us.

We agree about the anchor. I suppose that if you anchor from the bow, the wind will keep your canoe alligned to take the waves. But, if one depends on the wind to actually go somewhere, it probably will be a short trip. The winds never take me where I want to go...