# Oar tether question



## Osprey (May 26, 2006)

I'm not exactly sure but I think it's 5-6 mm climbing cord I use with bowlines on both ends. Plenty strong, saved oars a few times. I always figured I could just cut it if I had to.


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## matt man (Dec 23, 2011)

Basically what I do, works fine.


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## kengore (May 29, 2008)

I'm using 5/8" tubular webbing. If you want to add a 'breakable link' you could include one of those key chain style mini caribiners. Some of mine have '150 lbs max.' stamped on them.

Personally I prefer no weak link. I don't want to loose another counter balanced oar.
The saddest thing about loosing one is they slowly sink handle first while the blade sort of waves goodbye.


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## markhusbands (Aug 17, 2015)

I just bought the NRS ones and they work fine. Haven't given any thought to what I'd do different.


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## raymo (Aug 10, 2008)

I have never used oar teather's, for one obvious reason. I 
would rather carry three spair's depending on the class of river I'm running, I always carried two though. I understand oars are expensive, but an entanglement opportunity out way the cost to me. I do understand why boaters use them though. I personally have never ran out of oars on any river trip. But I have watched an oar boat flip two to three times in Cataract, within a short distance a few times, on more than one occasions, with boaters trying to hang on to it. Plus if it doesn't entrap you, it could flop around and beat the snot out of you.


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## Whitewater Worthy Equip (Dec 11, 2013)

Not a fan of rings that beat up oars and spend the days clunking about. 550 cord goes away very fast under min stress. Everyone has their own formula and none are wrong.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Whitewater Worthy Equip said:


> Not a fan of rings that beat up oars and spend the days clunking about. 550 cord goes away very fast under min stress. Everyone has their own formula and none are wrong.


I'd tend to agree.


I used to use some 3/8" braided nylon, but it was probably overkill. Easy to tie/untie, but could take a bit longer to cut through in a panic. Years of sun frayed it enough that I needed to replace it and ended up with 550 cord. Figured I'd replace that after a year or two, but three years later it's still going strong. It's durable in a flip, yet will cut with a single knife stroke (let's face it, not everyone's knives are that sharp)



I do like that rope/cord is quiet and flexible.


I like the loop cam strap solutions I've seen, but it seems on multidays my cam straps always end up holding other gear and the old 550 cord goes back into oar retention duty.


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## UseTheSpinMove (Nov 16, 2016)

Boating for most of my life in Idaho in second-half-of-summer flows, I never used oar tethers and never really knew anybody who did. Just wasn't on my radar. First time I ever really took notice of them was after buying a used boat and frame that had come from CO and some bigger water kinds of vibes. I kept them on and found myself appreciating them more and more. 

That said, the way I consider the balance between strength and break-away has a lot to do with the volume of river I'm on: late summer Middle Fork, it's not real likely that I'm going to flip a boat, and if I did lose an oar on something it would probably just float calmly alongside me at the same 2mph as me and I'd grab it sooner or later... no big deal. I basically don't think I need them on low water and if I did have them I'd gladly use breakaway or light cord... I think the bigger issue in that case would be my nice oars getting dragged along the rocks behind or below my upside boat and tearing the heck out of them (or beating on me). Let 'em float I'd say.

In bigger water like my first Grand trip (with 2 flips that blew my mind) I found that it was pretty nice to be able to have bomber (not breakaway) tethers so that I was damn sure not to lose those oars in powerful water... there's not much for the oars to get banged around on, they are short enough that I don't picture an entanglement issue, plus in muddy water you can't see a floating oar as well . So I guess I'm saying that in low water I'd use breakaway or nothing, and in bigger water I'd prefer some stronger stuff. Who knows... sounds like it's a pretty personal non-scientific kind of a thing...


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Yeah, UseTheSpinMove, the Lochsa is the only place I've had my oar tethers actually come in to play.

They can definitely beat on you, but it's faster to pull a tethered oar out and put it back in the lock than to pull the spare...so it's nice to keep it near the boat. Letting it float might mean you could never see it again.


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## scoop (Oct 11, 2014)

I row with pins and clips with stirups; just not an issue.


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## bluegrassburke (Mar 3, 2015)

No to oar tethers! We can't even begin to count how many drownings have been from entanglements. I will sacrifice nice oars in flips and consider it my life insurance. 8 high water middle forks, 7 high water main salmons, 6 grands, 8 yampas, 6 gates, 9 desos, many westwaters, and many others and still no lost oars with no tethers. I get using tethers on flat water trip with no chance of flipping. I hate seeing tethers in my group and make note of the boats that have them. I will take more precautions rescuing those boats which takes more time and more lost gear. Say no to tethers I say, your mom would agree.


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## gringoanthony (Jul 4, 2009)

I use climbing cord. 

One end is tied around the oar, loosely enough to easily slide along the oar. 

The other end is tied around the oar tower, around the support that is closest to the rowing position. I use a bowline, but finish it with a bight, so that I can easily pull the free end to undo the entire knot in an emergency. I also sprayed red plasti-dip on the free end so it is easy to identy and grab in an emergency.

I've flipped once with this setup. The knots held tight.

Additionally, I found closed-cell, solid foam rods that are the same OD as the oars' ID. I run counter-balanced oars and the foam rods inside the oars' help with floatation. The foam plugs that come with the cataract oars are virtually useless.


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## montuckyhuck (Mar 14, 2010)

Couldn't imagine running class V without them. Pins and clips do NOT eliminate the need for them. I get that entanglement is a serious issue and has caused multiple drownings, but I have never heard of an entanglement drowning caused by oar tethers. Enlighten me if you have. Flipping and re-flipping needs to happen lightening fast running continuous class V and the next few moves after a re-flip could be critical. I chose to have the best chance of having my oar close and ready to use after a flip.


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## smhoeher (Jun 14, 2015)

I've always had tethers. It's just the way I learned to rig my boat. I had tethers that needed to be replaced but I kept putting off. Lost 2 oars in one trip. I have loop cam straps now.


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## Bigwaterforeveryone (Feb 7, 2018)

Back when I used to run bigwater Class IV & V on a regular basis, we used 1/2" webbing (aka hoopie) for oar leashes. We kept the leashes as short as possible to reduce the entrapment risk and so they didn't slide down too far on the oar at an inopportune time and bind. We would tie slippery bowlines on each end of the leash for the quick release. The loop around the oar should be just large enough so it can move freely (not tight to the oar). The length of the leash, once tied on, was the distance from the frame to just at the waterline.


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## PhotoGuy (Jun 12, 2016)

i really like my straps from DRE. They have saved my oars many times and I have yet to flip in big water to really test the release feature. https://www.downriverequip.com/oars...ent/down-river-oar-leash-deluxe-pair-pid-2523


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## Z_in_MT (Mar 30, 2017)

bluegrassburke said:


> No to oar tethers! We can't even begin to count how many drownings have been from entanglements. I will sacrifice nice oars in flips and consider it my life insurance. 8 high water middle forks, 7 high water main salmons, 6 grands, 8 yampas, 6 gates, 9 desos, many westwaters, and many others and still no lost oars with no tethers. I get using tethers on flat water trip with no chance of flipping. I hate seeing tethers in my group and make note of the boats that have them. I will take more precautions rescuing those boats which takes more time and more lost gear. Say no to tethers I say, your mom would agree.



Who is "We" and have you actually seen oar tether entanglement? I've heard of the danger but only anecdotally. 



Guessing since you're super good at counting river trips you'd be able to recall the number of times you've witnessed (or at least heard of a verifiable instance) oar tether entanglement drowning.


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## Z_in_MT (Mar 30, 2017)

*Equestrian Panic Hook*

I use these equestrian panic hooks with a strap around the oar. Clip these to D ring or loop of rope on the frame.


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## DoStep (Jun 26, 2012)

Regarding tether length, I had a flip and while self rescuing I was bringing tethered oars up onto the bottom of the boat. Mine were different lengths, and I could only bring one oar up to the bottom of the boat, the other tether was too short. I ended up loosing that oar. I will always make sure to have tethers long enough to allow for that.

I don't find the entanglement risk to be high enough to run without tethers.


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