Russ,
great info on the coatings, thanks.
Your comment about the leather and heat wrap is spot on and it is more than
just a metaphor. . . and brought me back to my wild river days.
I used to compete in white water rafting contests and faced my stiffest
competition in Siberia. The Russians would come to the river with only metal
for the paddles, a few hand-stitched and rubberized bladders. They would cut
down and strip birch trees along the shore (there are millions in the south
near Mongolia and China) pump up the bladders and lash the whole assembly
together with wet leather strips.
We Americans with our big bucks store bought stuff thought we would wipe the
shoreline and laughed at the hokie rig. Fat chance. The best ANY American
team placed was 7th (and don't tell Keith, but it was the women's team) with
the California crew slotting in 9th.
Never once did those rafts come apart -- they just got tighter and stronger
as the days (and the difficulty levels and river CFM flow) progressed. And
before you say something about home court advantage and local knowledge . .
.
When the competition moved to North Carolina, North Carolina, Nepal and
finally Istanbul, those darn Russians used the same Neanderthal technology
and cleaned up big in every country. Each time, they had to saw through the
lashings to "rescue" the bladders, the leather had a stranglehold on the
pole frame.
They were true champions and courageous competitors in every sense of word.
Be Vigilant,
"LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth
LandSpeed Productions
Telling Stories with Words and Pictures
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