> But perhaps the hazard depends on the likelihood of your suffering a > particular type of fall.
Being pedantic(!) the hazard is the same it's the risk that varies! Being serious however there is always a danger of protective equipment making things more hazardous. I've worked from small boats where we decided life jackets were not required. There were two boats, in relatively shallow water, with plenty of people on the bank. Indeed the nearest we came to a capsize was when someone who was wearing a life jacket got it caught up on a tree! Using the two factors we would normally apply in risk assessment - risk and severity - I would suggest the following for solo boating... In canal waters, when boating along, it is rare for somebody to fall in off the back of the boat (low risk) and normally if they do they stand up and then climb out (low severity). Indeed I would hazard a guess that a fair proportion of the serious falling in incidents have involved a visit to the nearest hostelry - so wear your life jacket to the pub! In wide deep waters (or if you are working around the boat as with tugs or workboats) however things change. There are more likely to be unexpected waves and the like, so I would push the risk of falling in up (say medium) and also if you do fall in could you swim to the bank? In any case the severity goes up to medium or high. In that case wearing a life jacket makes sense. Whether to wear an auto or manual LJ is another matter. If you plan to hit your head when falling then an auto is probably a good idea! Personally I think I'd be looking for a strong reason to wear a manual rather than an auto (helicopters are a good case in point - you need to evacuate first before triggering the life jacket). The only proviso I would put on this is that I would only use a pressure-activated one, rather than the "salt tablet" activated - the latter I believe are prone to false triggering. Glen
