: The MOST important thing about cleats is that they not catch on your clothing
: when trying to re-enter after a wet exit.

I agree that snagging is a hazard, but in my experience, having a snag-free boat is not the "MOST" important thing.

: Flush mounted hardware is
: aesthetically pleasing, doesn't throw up spray in rough/windy conditions
: and is less likely to snag you at a very precarious time.

The downside of flush hardware is that it makes it very difficult to grab your deck lines/bungees, especially with cold hands or while wearing gloves. As for not throwing spray, it sounds good in theory, but doesnt' seem to make much difference in practice. When water hits the recessed fitting on my boats it gets thrown up just as much as it does when it hits fittings that aren't recessed, which isn't much in either case. Besides, you've got yards of rope and bugee cord on the deck kicking up spray. I get far more spray off of my paddle than my deck fittings and lines. Flush hatches can certainly make a big difference in spray, but flush deck fittings really don't seem to.

The way I see it, deck lines are useless if you cannot grab them when you need them. When I'm in the water and trying to get back in, or I'm assisting someone in getting back in their boat, I couldn't care less about the aethetic appeal of the deck fittings; I just want to be able to grab the necessary lines. When I need to stow a paddle quickly, I don't want to be fooling around with trying to sneak it under a bungee that's flush to the deck. Of course, you can remedy the situation by putting balls or corks on the lines, but then you've defeated the purpose of having flush deck fittings. That being the case, what's the point of using flush fittings at all? It would seem to me to be smarter to make low-profile, smooth, surface-mounted fittings that would hold the deck lines off the deck by a quarter inch or so. They'd be easier to install and wouldn't create knee bashing bumps under the deck. Anyone have any ideas?

I don't want to sound like a Greenland zealot, but when you look at the boats of people who depend on them for their survival, they make it a point to have their deck lines up where they can grab them and slide gear under them easily.

Sorry to rant, but I've been in potentially bad situations due to not being able to grab deck lines and I've seen others struggle with it, too. In my opinion, when it comes to safety, form should take a back seat to function.