Codger_64
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- Oct 8, 2004
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Back in the days of yore, some of us young immortal stallions braved whitewater on a wing and a prayer. We didn't carry specialized equipment for rescue and personal floatation devices, life jackets were rudementary. Crude. Most of us lived in spite of our jackassery. Today's crew have specialized equipment and more than that, specialized training. Here is a long film shot with Gopros (incidental to the action) of a quite recent pinning rescue on a six foot drop. In the film, you will no doubt see some rescue devices and techniques that you have never seen before, though some may be familiar to climbers. Primary is a throw bag... a nylon bag containing a length of floating rope which, with practice, can be thrown to a person in the water hopefully pulling them out of danger. Most whitewater kayakers and canoeists now carry them as standard equipment. You will also see the use of caribiners, z-drags and prussik loops.
In this incident, a kayaker went over the fall and pitoned. The end of his kayak plunged straight down resulting in a pin. All he himself could do as his skirt collapsed and the boat filled and bent trapping his leg, was to cross his arms over his face to form a small cavitation, an air pocket where he could still breathe though essentially under water with the full pressure of the fall holding his boat... and him... in place. He could not move to grab any of the ropes or "probes" sent to him. Only by unsticking the kayak itself could he be extracted.
For thirty minutes his friends, trained in swift water rescue, worked to free him. It was finally done using a “V-system with live bait”, a boater hooked to a set of lines and drawn to his pin where the boat was finally pulled free and, eventually he was freed from the boat and evacuated by ambulance.
The film: http://vimeo.com/68476394
The story: http://www.crestedbuttenews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3510&Itemid=40
The moral: For me, though I will not be doing any extreme whitewater and do not kayak, I will be carrying some rescue equipment on my class II canoe trips. I end up rescuing someone two or three times a year and so far I've been able to do it with little to no equipment and just a bit of smarts. But if I keep going, eventually I will run into a worse situation where my own or someone else's survival will depend on me having some basic rescue gear. A throw rope or even two. A pair of prussiks and caribiners. And a rescue rated pfd. I don't have the physical strength and endurance to do what these guys did, but I would darn well try as long as I didn't make myself another victim.
It doesn't take water as powerful as seen in the video to cause a bad situation. A simple tree or rootball or willow jungle can do it in moving water. Or a swimmer who ventured too far. Or a neophyte paddler with poor technique and balance. Inexperienced boaters/floaters not wearing pfds are more common than I would have believed. And as often as not, they are poor swimmers to boot.
Specialized swiftwater training is available in most states, and offered several times a year. If you canoe or kayak often, you might consider taking a class to learn how to do water rescue. But minimally, IMHO, having a throw bag handy at all times is a must for me now. I already know self rescue techniques to use when possible and needed.
Michael
In this incident, a kayaker went over the fall and pitoned. The end of his kayak plunged straight down resulting in a pin. All he himself could do as his skirt collapsed and the boat filled and bent trapping his leg, was to cross his arms over his face to form a small cavitation, an air pocket where he could still breathe though essentially under water with the full pressure of the fall holding his boat... and him... in place. He could not move to grab any of the ropes or "probes" sent to him. Only by unsticking the kayak itself could he be extracted.
For thirty minutes his friends, trained in swift water rescue, worked to free him. It was finally done using a “V-system with live bait”, a boater hooked to a set of lines and drawn to his pin where the boat was finally pulled free and, eventually he was freed from the boat and evacuated by ambulance.
The film: http://vimeo.com/68476394
The story: http://www.crestedbuttenews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3510&Itemid=40
The moral: For me, though I will not be doing any extreme whitewater and do not kayak, I will be carrying some rescue equipment on my class II canoe trips. I end up rescuing someone two or three times a year and so far I've been able to do it with little to no equipment and just a bit of smarts. But if I keep going, eventually I will run into a worse situation where my own or someone else's survival will depend on me having some basic rescue gear. A throw rope or even two. A pair of prussiks and caribiners. And a rescue rated pfd. I don't have the physical strength and endurance to do what these guys did, but I would darn well try as long as I didn't make myself another victim.
It doesn't take water as powerful as seen in the video to cause a bad situation. A simple tree or rootball or willow jungle can do it in moving water. Or a swimmer who ventured too far. Or a neophyte paddler with poor technique and balance. Inexperienced boaters/floaters not wearing pfds are more common than I would have believed. And as often as not, they are poor swimmers to boot.
Specialized swiftwater training is available in most states, and offered several times a year. If you canoe or kayak often, you might consider taking a class to learn how to do water rescue. But minimally, IMHO, having a throw bag handy at all times is a must for me now. I already know self rescue techniques to use when possible and needed.
Michael
