Why would you want to roll a kayak? Is it just for fun or is...

Why would you want to roll a kayak? Is it just for fun or is there a better reason for it?

Some kayakers roll for fun - I've seen videos of people 'playing' and rolling is sometimes part of that.

In my experience, most rolling is done to practice self-rescue. If a wave flips the kayaker, he/she can wet exit, flip the kayak and climb back in. Sometimes, its more efficient and safer to is well served by the ability to right the body& kayak - rolling.

It is for self rescue but its is alot of fun! The inuits had many different rolls for the situation they were in Example hand roll- if they lost their paddle whent they capsized. The reason the inuits learned to roll was because the artic oceans where they hunted in their kayaks was to cold to wet exit and the kayaks are very tight fitting so wet exit would mean almost certain death. If you are intrested in these rolls goto qajaq usa's web site you can also find vids of the different types on utube by searching greenland rolls Jules