Can't tell you how many people I saw on my last trip NOT wearing a life-jacket. And this was right after that man drowned on Perent Lake. Take a tally on your next trip. The majority of paddlers are not wearing life-jackets up there.

Yeah, I noticed several in the recent BWJ too. Free country, but if you won't do it for yourself, how about DOING IT for the poor souls that have to recover bodies?

If I or anyone in my group is canoeing we all wear our life jackets when on the water. I’ve been known to stay on shore when others in my group start canoeing, they see my canoe does not leave the shore and have to come back to see what the problem is.

Side note, you Stand a good chance of surviving when going into the water If you have your PFD on.

Savage Voyageur: "...Side note, you Stand a good chance of surviving when going into the water If you have your PFD on. "

I don't really remember, as I was unconscious after a while. But I did have my life jacket on. It probably was a contributing factor to my survival. As well as a float plane, park ranger, other canoeists, a towboat operator and others!

Yes. Wear a PDF at all times. Your wife will appreciate the effort.

It would probably be considered rude and/or preachy to mention to someone you pass by with no pfd that they should really consider wearing one. If it saves one life....it would be worth it.

And no, that would not be the rudest thing I have ever done!

I also noticed the lack of PFD's in way too many pictures in the recent BWJ. It blows my mind how many people I see using them for seat cushions instead of life saving devices.

Having the kids along makes it extra easy to wear one but if our canoe is floating everyone in it is wearing their PFD, no exceptions.

ozarkpaddler: "Yeah, I noticed several in the recent BWJ too. Free country, but if you won't do it for yourself, how about DOING IT for the poor souls that have to recover bodies?"

Stu should refuse to publish photos that show paddlers without life jackets.

Our canoe or canoes don't leave until every body has theirs on.

I don't let anyone out without theirs on, and will remind folks (especially youth) if I catch them on the water with the buckles undone or the vest unzipped, that they need to secure the PFD in order for it to function properly.
If people go out swimming I will tell them to wear their vest as well.

Maybe canoe manufacturers need to look in to creating a beeping alarm like your car has when you're not wearing your seat belt...nobody can drive with that thing beeping. ;-)

mirth: ".If people go out swimming I will tell them to wear their vest as well. "

Yes I'm strict when it come to swimming in the rivers or in the wilderness. I make even the very best swimmers use a life jacket in a river. Rivers change all the time, you never know what could be floating by. And in the wilderness I remind them they are at least a day away from help. I am a very good swimmer but I always wear my PFD when in a boat, when swimming in rivers, and in the wilderness. Nature is unforgiving.

In fact my cousin was ice fishing years ago with his 2 year old when the child stepped in a ice hole and fell right through. My cousin was able to grab the kid by the hair and pull them out just in time. Because of that I made my kids wear pfds when ice fishing until they were bigger than the holes. I also taught them about spear fishing holes and how to avoid those.

Every time I see people not wearing their life-jackets (which is way too often) I think "I'm not sure that I am a strong enough swimmer or paddler to rescue you if you aren't floating." I have taken to casually mentioning the current annual state death count of paddlers who died that weren't wearing their life jackets, 3 at my last count, though I think it is now higher.

A close friend's nephew drowned, in front of his two young daughters about 10 years ago. He was an excellent swimmer (sound familiar?). One of the girls fell out of the boat and he went in to get her, got her back on the boat, and something happened - who knows what. And he drowned. Now how much therapy does it take to get over watching your dad drown, knowing he went in the water to get you?

I would prefer a more heavy handed approach. When you go to pick up your permit, the ranger should specifically say to the group leader: "please remember to wear your life-jacket at all times in the canoe. We've already had X number of fatalities this year, from folks who claimed they were good swimmers"...I think the message goes a little further when it's coming from a person in an authority position.

To be frank, I was a little more relaxed about life-jackets until a few years ago. Went into some heavy rollers on Mountain Lake and thank god everyone had their's on because we capsized. I'm positive we would have had a fatality if it weren't for the simple act of zipping and buckling our jackets.

Bottom line: prepare for the unexpected. Every single time.

Well, on our Ozark streams we are frequently the only folks with PFD's on. Speaking of "Rude," at least a couple times a year someone pokes fun or says something rude about WEARING PFD's. THis just happened today:

I was wearing my PFD, so was my friend, Dan, and his Border Collie, Lady. As we went past one group I heard a man telling his kid, intentionally using a loud, voice and with a derisive tone, "Look at that man, he can't swim either. HE'S wearing HIS life jacket." I looked, bit my tongue, and paddled on. About 20' later, a female with the same group says to Dan "Your DOG doesn't swim EITHER?" I looked at her and snarled, "ALL THREE OF US CAN SWIM BUT YOU WEAR A LIFE JACKET BECAUSE BAD THINGS SOMETIMES HAPPEN!" I wanted to add a 5-letter adjective to describe the un-spayed female dog of a woman, but did not.

I don't wear it every time if it doesn't make sense to, but I always wear it with a group of people or on moving water. In GS, I was trained to wear a life jacket not only for yourself, but also to assist others or if you have to mess with your overturned canoe, etc. This makes the most sense to me. You can't be effective assisting others or dealing with an emergency if you have to tread water to stay afloat. Plus, you can be knocked out, become exhausted, panic & suck in water, become stunned, have a 'victim' pull you under, etc. and not able to swim.

heypaddler: "I would prefer a more heavy handed approach. When you go to pick up your permit, the ranger should specifically say to the group leader: "please remember to wear your life-jacket at all times in the canoe. We've already had X number of fatalities this year, from folks who claimed they were good swimmers"...I think the message goes a little further when it's coming from a person in an authority position. "

The rangers at the Ely station did tell us this when we picked up our permit. Too bad they now have to up the number from 3 to 4.

Outfitters should do the same.

(the 3 total was in Minnesota in general, not the BWCA)

On radio station KAXE 91.7 (out of Grand Rapids, MN) this a.m. they interviewed a guy from the St. Louis County S&R. Good perspective on PFDs, and other tidbits. I believe you can go to KAXE website and there is an archive section, and this show would have been between the 8-9+ a.m. hour on 7/24/2018.