I was in no way suggesting or advocating that folk do not wear a PFD, or any other safety equipment such as a drysuit, or wetsuits. I was simply noting that the current law in British Columbia requires one to have one on board, not to wear it.
This thread began with a discussion of boating safety "laws" and that of course relates to and incorporates decision making and risk assessment. Having said that, I have been doing lengthy wilderness paddle trips and other risky outdoor sports for more than 50 years. When I started paddling, you used an old school down river river kayak with a skeg, or built your own. While we did have PFD's back then, I do not believe there was such a thing as a dry suit at the time. I bought my first wet suit more than a decade after I started kayaking and then wore it and a PFD, only in extreme conditions with long crossings because it was uncomfortable. So I "grew up" paddling in another era.
As I get older, I tolerate cold less than when I was young, and am not quite so confident in my skills as once I was, so I wear the PFD and now immersion gear, always in winter and also whenever I think conditions warrant it. I have practiced self rescue skills often and continue to do so. I have had to help others re-enter their boats, but have never "had to do so for real" myself to date. So, on a warm Okanagan lake, or on quiet water on a hot sunny day on the ocean, I still prefer to paddle in shorts and a tee shirt. If I am on a trip, the PFD is there and often on, if it is not too warm, as is the immersion gear if conditions change and warrant my wearing it.
I am confident in my ability to swim, hang on to my boat and get back into it if ever the need arises. Everything that the law requires is either on me, or in the boat though. A paddle float is "always" on the rear deck next to the rescue straps and the pump is tied into the boat. As far as I am concerned, the paddle float and the skills to use it, are every bit as important as the PFD.
I sometimes go out in rough water on a warm summers day in swim trunks and play at practicing self rescue re-entries. Last summer I taught an old friend's teenage son and daughter to roll a kayak under those same conditions, though they were both wearing PFDs once we progressed to deeper water. I do not feel that I am taking much if any risk in my considered choices. And if I am, I feel that the pleasure and freedom that the lack of encumbering "safety gear" gives me is worth the small risk.
John wrote: " Without my PFD where would I put all 'my stuff' ??
Snacks, Radio, Balaclava, Hydration backpack, whistle, PLB, etc.... "
I thought all that stuff was supposed to go in the day hatch of my boat? Only my whistle and a small compass are on my PFD. But that is me doing me as Alpha Echo suggests.
Rick