Subarctic builders designed and built their boats based on their own experience and that of the generations before them passed on through oral tradition. The word "kayak" means "man's boat" or "hunter's boat", and subarctic kayaks were a personal craft, each built by the man who used it and closely fitting his size for maximum maneuverability. For this reason, kayaks were often designed ergonomically using one's own body proportions as units of measure. The paddler wore a tuilik, a garment that was stretched over the rim of the kayak coaming and sealed with drawstrings at the coaming, wrists, and hood edges. This enabled the "eskimo roll" and rescue to become the preferred methods of recovery after capsizing, especially as few Inuit could swim; their waters are too cold for a swimmer to survive for long.D. C. Hutchinson, The Complete Book of Sea Kayaking, 5th ed., Falcon Guides, Connecticut.
Subarctic builders designed and built their boats based on their own experience and that of the generations before them passed on through oral tradition. The word "kayak" means "man's boat" or "hunter's boat", and subarctic kayaks were a personal craft, each built by the man who used it and closely fitting his size for maximum maneuverability. For this reason, kayaks were often designed ergonomically using one's own body proportions as units of measure. The paddler wore a tuilik, a garment that was stretched over the rim of the kayak coaming and sealed with drawstrings at the coaming, wrists, and hood edges. This enabled the "eskimo roll" and rescue to become the preferred methods of recovery after capsizing, especially as few Inuit could swim; their waters are too cold for a swimmer to survive for long.D. C. Hutchinson, The Complete Book of Sea Kayaking, 5th ed., Falcon Guides, Connecticut.