Round-Up of Our Best Canoeing Safety Topics
8-minute read
“Safety First” is a great rule to live by when canoeing. Here’s a round-up of our best canoeing safety topics. Browse through these twelve important blogs so you’re prepared for a lifetime of fun and safe canoeing.
(Photo courtesy of Harold Born)
Whether you take this all in during one sitting or bookmark this page so you can go back to each topic one at a time, we hope you’ll find a lot of value in these blogs about canoeing safety:
General Safety for Every Canoeist
Canoeing and Kayaking Safety Essentials
Every canoeist faces some risk when out on the water, whether a local lake just down the road or a remote wilderness river system. This blog highlights seven common risks and how to protect ourselves when we face them.
We’ll mention here one of the tips we offer to minimize any canoeing risk: Get the proper training and experience for the paddling environments you’ll encounter. The ACA (American Canoe Association) in the US certifies instructors worldwide for beginning to advanced canoeing skills. Look for an ACA course near you or a course through your country’s paddling association.
Read: Canoeing and Kayaking Safety Essentials
Life Jackets: All You Need to Know
Other than the know-how, a life jacket (or PFD, Personal Flotation Device) is your most important safety gear item. While drowning is rare in paddlesports, a high percentage of those who drown were not wearing a life jacket.
This blog covers PFD basics like what it means to have a safety-first mindset, what the law says about PFD use, the types of life jackets available for canoeists, and how to fit yours properly.
Read: Life Jackets: All You Need to Know
(Photo courtesy of Caleb Young)
Canoeing and Kayaking Safety in Stormy Weather
Being that canoeing is an outdoor activity, one thing we can always guarantee is that the weather will play a part in every outing. It can be an hour at the family cabin or a month-long wilderness excursion—no matter where or how long, weather plays a role.
Nice weather usually means a very enjoyable canoe outing. But storms happen, either forecasted or suddenly. It’s important that you know what weather hazards you may face and how to deal with them when on the water.
Read: Canoeing and Kayaking Safety in Stormy Weather
Safety First: Dress for Immersion When Paddling
While our photos in this blog show kayak anglers and not canoeists, you can be sure this topic is just as important when canoeing. Cold weather and especially cold water is a huge safety risk if you should happen to capsize.
Hypothermia is a real danger when you can’t re-enter your canoe quickly or make it to shore and warm up within a few minutes. That’s why it’s important to “dress for immersion” anytime you canoe on cold water or in cold temps, even when it’s sunny.
Read: Safety First: Dress for Immersion When Paddling
4 Paddling Safety Skills to Master
Increasing your canoeing skills is a guaranteed way to increase your safety and decrease risk. It doesn’t mean you won’t face risk, but it means you’ll know what to do when unexpected things happen.
One of these canoeing skills is to know and become proficient at many different strokes. You want to be able to put your canoe exactly where you want it in any condition—especially in challenging ones like strong wind and big waves.
Read about them all: 4 Paddling Safety Skills to Master
(Photo courtesy of @martin_trahan_canoeist)
Safety on Wilderness Canoe Trips
Wilderness canoe tripping is a major part of canoe culture. There’s nothing quite like a multi-day paddle trip in wilderness and remote areas. Most of the time, these trips go just fine. Everyone has fun and returns with stories and memories.
But canoeing in the wilderness requires a safety mindset above all. Not just in preparation for “normal” trips, but also because help can be a long way away. Maybe even days.
Here are some blogs that cover safety tips for wilderness canoe travel:
Build a Paddling First Aid Kit
A well-stocked First Aid kit is something you hope you won’t need on a canoe trip. But if you need it, you’ll sure be glad to have it along. Most of the time you’re most likely to use it for a blister or bee sting. But your kit should also include items for more serious possibilities.
In this blog, we cover the basics of what should be in your paddling First Aid kit and we go over resources to learn more.
Read: Build a Paddling First Aid Kit
Canoe Camping: Bear Safety
When you travel in bear country on a multi-day canoe trip, there are special considerations you must practice. Bear encounters usually happen when they’re after your food, so an important safety tip is to learn how to avoid attracting them in the first place.
We also discuss how to store your food properly when in bear habitat, what to do if you encounter one, and things to think about if you decide to bring your dog along. Thousands of canoeists travel wilderness waterways every year without bear issues. But…it’s that “but.”
Read: Canoe Camping: Bear Safety
(Photo courtesy of @paulvillecourt)
Stay Healthy on Long Canoe Trips
A “long” canoe trip to you could mean a weekend, or it could mean a month or more. Of course the longer it is, the more important it is to stay healthy so you’re able to complete your trip successfully and meet your intended goals.
Here are seven topics about canoe trip health that get more important the longer your trip. They range from getting good sleep to proper food care to your wilderness First Aid kit and more.
Read: Stay Healthy on Long Canoe Trips
Wilderness Canoe Trips with Type 1 Diabetes
Canoeists with chronic health concerns, like diabetes, don’t have to stay home. But they do have special considerations to keep in mind for wilderness canoe tripping that others don’t.
Rachel has Type 1 diabetes. She had wanted to go on a Boundary Waters trip for years but wasn’t sure how it would work for her. Especially with no emergency medical help close by—and not even cell phone service to call for help if needed.
She decided to go for it, though and was so glad. This is our interview with her, post-trip. Others with ongoing health issues will find this very helpful when planning their own canoe trips.
Read: Wilderness Canoe Trips with Type 1 Diabetes
Fall Wilderness Canoe Tripping: Be Safe
There are many reasons to love a canoe trip in the fall. Crisp air, beautiful colors, cooler nights, fewer bugs. But in many climates, fall also brings some serious safety concerns—specifically cold water and cold air temperatures.
But there are other things to keep in mind too. In this blog, we talk about some safety concerns for fall trips you may not have to think about during the summer. We also offer several practical tips to help make your fall trip successful.
Read: Fall Wilderness Canoe Tripping: Be Safe
(Photo courtesy of Mat Willder)
When the Worst Happens
Thankfully, it’s very rare—but sometimes canoeists face serious safety threats when out on multi-day trips. or even day trips. These can happen no matter how remote you are.
We have a couple of blogs about these kinds of paddling events and how people handled them:
A Good Read: “Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters”
“The Blowdown” was a huge and unexpectedly severe storm system that blew across Minnesota’s Boundary Waters on July 4th, 1999. It flattened 30 million trees across a swath of a half million acres.
Gunflint Falling by Cary J. Griffith tells the stories of rangers, rescue workers, outfitters and canoe trippers who were impacted by that storm. In it, your eyes will be opened to the wildness of wilderness and how those involved coped with this disaster.
While it shouldn’t scare us from canoe tripping, it should give us a proper respect for what it takes when things go very wrong.
Read: “Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters”
When Paddling Trips Go Awry: Can We Prepare for the Unexpected?
This blog includes the personal stories of two people who faced unexpected emergencies while on a paddling trip. While rare, events like this can happen to anyone. Again, we don’t want it to prevent us from going on these canoeing adventures, but we do want them to give us more awareness and not go out glibly.
One story is about a dad with his kids when they were in the Boundary Waters during that July 4th storm back in 1999. The other is with our friend Dan Arbuckle from Headwaters Kayak. One of the members of his group experienced a medical emergency while they were on a multi-day kayak trip.
Read: When Paddling Trips Go Awry: Can We Prepare for the Unexpected?
(Photo courtesy of @andrewstrain)
Safety is paramount with any paddling endeavor, including canoeing. And especially when on multi-day or multi-week canoe trips. While we can never remove all risk, we can certainly be well prepared, both mentally and physically.
What paddling questions can our Wisconsin-based Customer Service team help you with? Contact us at 715-755-3405 or bbinfo@bendingbranches.com, or choose our online chat option.
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