# Safety Tips---Please Add Your Own



## mustloverafting (Jun 29, 2008)

Please add to this thread of any personal tips you have.

If you fall out in a class 4 or 5 rapid and you can't get out of the undertow....curl up in a ball and usually you will be spit out.

If you have a DRE (Down River Equipment) seat, strap it to the bar behind you so when you get bumped, the seat will not bump you out. (This has saved me in Dagger and yesterday at Shoshone).

Keep all straps and ropes tight around your boat.

Put a pad or a poco pad on all dry boxes that are riding in front of the oarsman or oarswoman or oarsdog. A friend of mine tore off his fingernail 3 weeks ago on the MFS in Idaho and broke that same finger. We pushed out to get medical attention. It took another 4 days before he got medical help.


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## LineDawg (Oct 18, 2009)

Mother Nature Is Stronger Than You Are. Know your limits. Don't get talked into boating water you can't handle. It's better to walk away, than be carried away.

If you have gills, run everything!


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## rivervibe (Apr 24, 2007)

Always remember to BREATHE (except when you're underwater, or have gills), also, you're mind is the best piece of safety equipment you have... make sure you slow down enough to put it go good use!


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## bob larrabee (Apr 4, 2007)

I keep a climbing nut on the boat in case I need to tie up against a cliff.


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## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

There are so many but my main one would be use your aggressive swim as a first choice over the defensive swim. Get out of whitewater as quick as you can.

my second tip is don't launch in flood conditions.


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## SimpleMan (Dec 17, 2009)

Before a situation, designate and delegate in case of a situation. Nothing worse than a boat with all chiefs and no indians.


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## Snowhere (Feb 21, 2008)

If you dig big high water, envest in a NRS anti-gravity shirt. It will give you 10 additional lbs of floatation for the big water. Yea, no one ever swims big water, but shit happens. I have had skirts blow from the force of a hole and everyone in their boat is just in-between swims or flips. I don't use my anti gravity shirt for normal flows, but when the water gets big, I wear it. It could mean the difference between just a bad swim and a flush drowning if things don't go as planned.8)


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## cpollema (Mar 9, 2009)

Safety gear is essential, but everyone on the boat needs to know how to use it. Spend some time training on your gear. Practice throwing the bags...more than once. Find a safe stretch and put someone on the water to be pulled back in. Flip the boat and flip it back. Practice knots and rigging mechanical advantage. Train...train...train.


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## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

Snowhere said:


> If you dig big high water, envest in a NRS anti-gravity shirt. It will give you 10 additional lbs of floatation for the big water.


Never even heard of this. Sounds like a good idear. 

My safety overkill that I do is to have a throw bag at the front and rear d ring and one at each oar tower. That way no matter where I come up on the boat I am only 4 feet away from a throw bag .......in case the boat is not right side up and needs to be belayed in to shore. 

The other thing that I usually do is have every throw bag get thrown right before the trip. I didn't the last trip and my first throw got all bound up and fell ohhh about two feet short. Sorry about that Jeff - it will never happen again.


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## ednaout (Jun 3, 2005)

Paddle/Raft with people you feel safe with! 
When you want to get out and scout something - DO IT, regardless of whether someone says its unnecessary - its not a waste of time! 
When you run something that is above your skill level, you are putting your party in a sketchy situation too...


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## CBrown (Oct 28, 2004)

Having a sharp knife within short reach is a must. I got tangled in a rope in Slaughterhouse years ago and w/o a knife I would have been [email protected]#%ed!


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## mustloverafting (Jun 29, 2008)

*On Your PFD*

Have a z-drag card with you on your PFD. That saved my butt on the MFS. Also have the hex wrench with you on your pfd too. In fact, I think on your personal PFD you should have,
1. Knife
2. Whistle
3. Hex wrench
4. Z-Drag card
5. ?????? Other thoughts?


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## FLOWTORCH (Mar 5, 2004)

My two cents, since everybody loves to throw it out there-you can take a swiftwater rescue course(and should)and still not know shit. Ask me how I know.

Experience is the best teacher.


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## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

CBrown said:


> Having a sharp knife within short reach is a must. I got tangled in a rope in Slaughterhouse years ago and w/o a knife I would have been [email protected]#%ed!





FLOWTORCH said:


> My two cents, since everybody loves to throw it out there-you can take a swiftwater rescue course(and should)and still not know shit. Ask me how I know.
> 
> Experience is the best teacher.


Don't be too hard on yourself Flow.

Have to tell a funny story. 

Bechdel was running one of his rescue classes and I was sent by my company. I happened to be homeless and a novice kayaker as well. We were on the Payette and Les saw my kayak and volunteered me to do rope ferries across the Payette at nearly flood stage. I said no ffing way dude, I don't even have a roll all the time - not hooking myself to a rope. Why do you have your kayak then?? Cuz I am a dirtbag homeless dude. 

He got all puffed up about it and asks me to get my boat and jumps in and off he goes. He gets twisted around in the eddy on the far side and rolls and comes up with his 300 foot static line not quite all the way around his neck.

Holy shit. I had my knife out and was getting ready to cut his rope when he swam and came out of it all right. I had to laugh after. For writing a pretty good rescue book, he was kind of a douche.

Lesson is don't throw ropes unless you have a knife for sure.


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## chepora (Feb 6, 2008)

Stay hydrated. PBR is like 95% water!...oh yea and I learned the "hand of god roll" to flip over a kayak with an unconscious person in it. It takes some practice to do in current but pretty nifty, hope I never have to use it.


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## loosecannon (Jul 20, 2009)

Don't forget to hold frequent safety meetings.


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## hnw2 (Jan 14, 2009)

paddle with people you know and trust. communicate with them, and know your limits, and when in doubt, scout.


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## loosecannon (Jul 20, 2009)

I like what you have in the vest 'mustloverafting'. Some other things I have are:
2 prussik cords
A few carabiners
2 small climbing pulleys
-the idea being that you have all the stuff for your z-drag on your person where you need it. Also to make your pfd so heavy it won't float you anymore.
-also sealing up your first aid kit with at food-saver keeps it nice and dry till you have to break it out. I do the same with the rafting repair kit. Keeps the glue off stuff untill I want to sniff some.
-Finally, you can also draw the z-drag on your throwbag with a sharpie, but you really should just set it up on dry land every season so you are comfortable with it. Have enough webbing on your flip-line so it can double as shore anchor. What else....


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## Theophilus (Mar 11, 2008)

Blaze it up at the take out, not the put in.


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## Miller Time (Apr 3, 2009)

If you're going to wear carabiners on your body, make sure they are locking ones (or sealed in a pocket). I have seen one occaision where a loose line 'clipped' into a guy's biner on his pfd. The rope didn't have a knot in the end, but what if it did? 

Check your partner's skirt to ensure the loop is outside the comb. I know it seems basic skills but I see it a couple times a year. 

Lastly, trust your instincts. If you've ran a rapid before, but today you aren't feelin it, go ahead and skip it. Nothing like putting your friend's lives in danger because you are just going with the flow.


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## slavetotheflyrod (Sep 2, 2009)

Whistle - can't stress the whistle enough. You can't yell loud enough to be heard over the river most of the time. It's cheap insurance. 

Throwbags - practice with them - they're worthless if the swimmer can't get to em.


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## mjpowhound (May 5, 2006)

I carry a cockpit cover to facilitate in safely reuniting abandoned boats with their owners on the other side.


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## Slunk (Jul 12, 2008)

Bleeding Jesus Christ on a stick. Get some Eye wear that is on point! $5-5,000 as long as you like it, use it, AND CAN AFFORD TO LOOSE IT.
You can have all the gear in the world but if the glare from the sun keeps you from seeing WTF?

Fools wearing contacts that get worked in a proper hole WILL come up blind. Keep that in mind when a throw bag is in your hand.


PRE!!!! Established "shit-has-hit-the-fan" routines; never will you properly explain to others while their/you/your friend is in need of precise and thought out action. I.E. If 
"X" happens everyone do "Y"

sunscreen 

If Ranger Rick wants to be a dick; just remember "The river is always too wide and always too deep for those that wear concrete boots"
In all seriousness just remind them(leo) that it is YOUR damn hippie gutter livin earth loving, smoke suckin, hash trucking ways; that pay their salaries.


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## SimpleMan (Dec 17, 2009)

Know thy self.


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## Kendi (May 15, 2009)

keep your first aid kit stocked with more than a few crappy bandaids and bring it with you! I swear I have used mine for people on average about once a trip cuz someone forgot to bring one....... ya- I'm not allergic to bees...wait why is my face swelling up?????


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