Re: Do you wear a PFD?
Well, I answered "always", but that was a lie. There was one memorable trip on which I made a deliberatee decision not to wear it.
We were poling and tracking our way up Spencer Stream and Little Spencer Stream in Maine. The water was shallow (deep enough to drown in facedown, but that was about the only way), and the air temp was, like, 95 and humid. There seemed to be more of a chance to succomb to heat exhaustion than to need flotation, so the PFD's came off.
Every other time, it has been on. I've seen the results of people not wearing their PFD, assuming that they can just swim out of any trouble, which also incorrectly assumed they'd be conscious at the time.