Kayaking faces several challenges for new participants, but many of these issues can be avoided through proper preparation and safety practices. The main safety concerns are drowning, getting stuck underwater, and developing hypothermia from prolonged exposure to cold water. Panicking underwater or flailing about unnecessarily wastes energy and increases risks. Kayakers also must ensure they have the proper equipment, such as a durable paddle, life vest, and helmet designed for their activity. Novice kayakers should learn about different boat designs to match their goals. Finally, with some used equipment available and initial costs offset by long-term use, kayaking need not be prohibitively expensive despite the up-front investment in gear.

1. Amber Regitschnig
Tillery
2011-October-14
Kayaking has many problems within it; however most of them can be avoided.
The main issue that new kayakers face is actually the safety concern such as drowning and
getting stuck underwater. The other thing that kayakers face is the financial investment they
make. The equipment is either cheap or very expensive, and they will perform at the price one
will pay. Last is actually being prepared to go down rivers or do long term expeditions on lakes.
Regardless of these issues they all have a counterpart that can avoid these issues.
The main safety concern that people do not truly know about is not getting stuck
underwater, it is actually the cold water “[People] don’t relies that if [they] go out for a long
paddle and get wet and stay wet or swim and loose [their] boat…and [they] are in the river for a
long time, even moderately cold water, if [they] are in it long enough [they] can develop
hypothermia (Robinson).” Joey Robinson explains that people are very unaware of this safety
concern. Kayaking in winter can be very dangerous and the kayaker; weather new or even
experienced should dress accordingly for the cold water and air around them. “When I wore
sweatpants and had to wet-exit, the rest of my trip was awful. My legs were freezing the whole
time (Castellucci).” Kate Castellucci is an experienced kayaker who river runs often and she
wore sweat pants while kayaking in the middle of fall and when she got wet from wet exiting,
the cotton on her legs absorbed any heat she had. New kayakers mainly fear drowning or getting
stuck on something submerged in the water. “Many people have drowned not because they were
unable to swim to shore, but because they panicked and succumbed to exhaustion. One of the

2. most important survival tools at your disposal weighs nothing: it’s the ability to relax when you
feel fear (Glickman72).” When a new or unexperinced kayaker goes underwater, the brain sends
panic signals due to being stuck in a boat in the water and to get out for air as quickly as
possible. “The first instincs is to lean near the back of the kayak and flail about, this is a bad
thing. This is exposing [the] jaw to any rocks or debris in the moving water, you are also wasting
a lot of energy which will make a capsized kayaker tired and run out of breath quicker
(Robinson).” The main issue is not staying calm while a kayaker is capsized, even if a new
person rips the skirt off they will “still lean back and kick their way out of the kayak, this is
mainly how they can get their leg or foot stuck in the boat and hurt their legs or feet (Robinson).”
Equipment is an issue to some new kayakers. Finding the appropriate kayak, paddle, life
vests (PFD) and helmet is essential to any form of paddling. “You do not want to go down a river
with a biking helmet or a rock climbing helmet on. They are not designed for the same force of
impact. [Also] an aluminum shaft on a paddle is not good for whitewater kayaking; it is not
durable enough and could snap.” Furthermore, a kayaker should not use an old life vest or
helmet. The reason being is because “the vest could be out dated and may not float as well and
could have corroded over the years [also] if someone new buys a used helmet off Craigslist there
could be fractures and/or faults in the helmet. So a beginner should always buy a helmet and life
vest new (Robinson).” Kayaks come in many forms and styles such as ocean kayaks, play
kayaks, river runner kayaks and recreational/tour kayaks. Each kayak has a special design that
will help it (as well as its paddler ) exceed at what it was designed to do and because of this, no
style is the same. “ A kayaker should look into what they want to do, do they want to do
recreational tour kayaking or whitewater river running, because you do not want to be going

3. down a rapid in a recreational kayak that was not designed to do that and take that impact
(Robinson).”
Attire is also very important to understand for a beginning kayaker. Joey Robinson explained
earlier that staying dry and warm is most important to a paddlers’ safety. Therefore a beginner
kayaker should prepare for anything from the warm days with moderate waters, to the brisk
winter days with freezing waters. Hypothermia is the biggest threat, so any kayaker should be
sure to have proper attire with a wet suit and a spray jacket on, and sometimes even pogies will
be needed. (“Pogies are paddling-specific fingerless mittens fit around your paddle shaft and are
secured with Velcro.”) Wetsuits are most important during any activity in cold waters. “A
wetsuit without sleeves, a farmer john keeps you warm when the water or weather is cold, but it
allows you freedom of movement in the upper body.” A dry suit is also something “Paddlers will
swear [by]. A dry-suit is designed to keep you dry even if you are immersed in the drink
(Glickman45)”. Appropriate shoes is also curtail to kayaking. A kayaker will normally look for a
“form fitting [shoe] so you won’t have to worry about bulky shoes catching in your boat when
you wet exit (Castellucci).” A shoe for kayaking should be very flexible and tight to the foot of
the kayaker, the shoe should also have good traction for slippery rocks in the water and even the
terrain for hiking with the kayak on the shoulder for going around an obstacle in the water, such
as a fallen tree or a waterfall that is to demanding for a beginner.
Most new kayakers will actually worry about their financial issue. Kayaks are expensive,
“ but they are actually considered fairly priced. I had a gentleman come into the store and he sold
plastics to a company that makes kayaks, and he said that the price was about the same. So you
are actually getting all your monies worth and they are making just enough to make a small
profit (Robinson).” Even though a new kayaker cannot get a life vest or helmet used, they can

4. actually get a paddle and kayak used and online. “Many people will sell their old equipment so
they can get new and advanced equipment for themselves.” Also the financial issue is not too
much of a problem once a beginner has all the gear they need. “Once you get into it and have
everything you need, you hardly pay for anything else. I mean some rivers might have a fee, I
had to pay a fee to do river running, the fee was one dollar.” In conclusion, kayaking is not as
expensive as it may seem. Now granted getting the equipment is indeed expensive, but a
beginner should remember that the product is durable and can last for a long time. The beginner
should also remember that the product will perform at the price they pay “If I spend twenty
dollars on a paddle, it will not last long down a river, it will most likely get bent blades and a
bent shaft, on the other hand, if I spend a hundred and sixty for a paddle, it will be a fiberglass
blade and a good shaft and therefore it will last a lot longer and it will be more durable for river
running and also give me more power and efficiency as I do power strokes down rivers. And
remember, you are paying for the blade, almost all shafts are the same, and the blade is where
you put your money.”