Sam,
I wasn't comparing a bob to a bicycle helmet. It was just to illustrate that in both cases some non-users think of users as wimps. I don't think it is good to discourage people from using safety features by saying it makes them look like amateurs.

If you had seen as many boats turtling, many instantaneously, as I have over the past 16 years, maybe you would feel differently -- especially, as I said, if you are taking children or grandchildren out on your boat.