From another thread, so rather than take that off topic and for those too young to even know Mae West she was a Film Star from yesteryear. Mae was endowed with, ahem, a rather large frontage, so became a nickname for big life vests and in my banter with that water borne fashion icon Matteo V, I cruelly nicknamed him Mae West. So, I have been guilty of unashamedly ridiculing the use of buoyancy vests, which in all seriousness is wrong, but as is probably beginning to dawn, even on the dullard and pedant Matteo V, a lot of what I write here is for personal amusement and can not always be taken literally and certainly not seriously.Matteo V wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:59 amI agree with you in totality on this. But you still dodged my question as I predicted you would.CaptainCore wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:02 pmAs to buoyancy, should be another thread, personally I had strong feelings about not being forced to wear it, so Mae undermines all that but she's a Seppo, so doesn't worry me. Impact vest should be enough even on fresh water if there's a wetsuit involved......
So let me ask you again:
Do you have an answer for the above? And please don't dodge this one with a reference to being OT again.Matteo V wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:47 pmAnd in all honesty, don't you think those willing to use safety gear that may make them look "uncool", are actually more brave than those who forgo the safety gear because they are trying to look cool? - That is a big question, and I don't really expect you to be able to respond to that one. But give it your best shot, if you are brave enough.
Buoyancy in my former world of being a competitive windsurfer was something we battled long and hard not to be forced to wear, since in many circumtances it's better to be able to dive down under, then out, than have some great bulky (particularly US Coast Guard Approved) life support device prevent that and so become entrapped in the kit.
However that said I certainly would not wish to deprive anyone of the added feeling of security one provides and better to enjoy this sport than not so it's fine by me, what's not fine however would be situations where like Lake Garda, you can be arrested and fined for not wearing one.
My position therefore is that wearing them should be personal choice and other than ironic relief on an otherwise bereft of humour forum it is wrong to decry anyone for wearing such.
It would however be interesting to hear international views on the subject, to be honest I've never been through the training process so have absolutely no idea what's even taught in the system these days...
Anyone care to enlighten us?