4 Golden Rules of SUP Safety Equipment

For more information about all things SUP, check out SUPBoardGuide.com by clicking the link below: www.supboardguide.com/
Having the right safety equipment is very important, but there is a lot more to it than just buying some gear and hoping for the best. Supboardguide.com writer Bill Dawes has been National Safety Officer for New Zealand stand up paddleboarding for many years, during which time he has been researching the subject in huge depth, to gain the fullest possible picture of what goes wrong, how it goes wrong, why it goes wrong, and what knowledge do paddlers actually need to ensure that it doesn’t go wrong. During this process he’s learned a whole lot about how paddlers actually interact with their safety equipment, and come to realise that there are four golden rules that apply to any item of safety equipment. In this video he explains how to apply those golden rules to your SUP safety equipment - and you’re almost certainly going to find that you’re breaking several of them!
SUP Safety is a complex topic, and there’s a huge amount to say about it. Check out our other video on the four cornerstones of SUP safety, and better still, read the books that Bill has written on SUP safety now available on Amazon.com from the links below. [OR GO WITH THE BLOG POST APPROACH, AND LINK TO THAT INSTEAD]
Book 1: SUP Safety equipment:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0C63NNDBM
Book 2: Understanding the environment
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFHX3K8X
Book 3: Planning, preparation and problem solving
www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6438Q3P

[@PrisonerNChristJesus]

Enjoy your lessons

[@volyund]

Thank you for this video!

[@stevenrogers9687]

So nice video - i paddle on the river wye and in lakes always wear a palm kyak PFD your views on that please ( a bit bulky )
But my concern is no one ever seems to wear a sup helmet - I use a gull water sports helmet - in rivers its easy to beach on shallow water or it can happen and when it does if you're not ready and come off hit your head which does happen I've seen it which is why i wear one - years ago i got KO'd in a MTB ride accident luckily a doctor found me i would of been history if it wasn't for that helmet ...
Any way a helmet is part of my safety equipment ...
Ps im not an expert just enjoy my board ..
steven
PS i thought it was a good point to keep phone on your person not in a dry sack on the front of the board as i was doing --- not any more 😊
i always have a whistle with me too

[@billdawes123]

@stevenrogers9687 Helmets are an interesting one. We've discussed them at length. For sure there are scenarios where they make sense (launching and landing around locks and jetties for example), and certainly in any white water paddling we'd never be without one. In general though, paddleboarding is not really fast enough to be a high impact sport so the risks of head injuries are pretty low (unlike MTB; for sure a helmet is absolutely necessary for that). But all power to you if you want to wear one. We'd certainly never advocate against wearing them.