I'd be interested to know how often folk get hands on training for rescues, including boat recovery from pins.

I'm not talking just about formal training courses where you pay for a course, but you and your mates going out and running some senarios on the river.

So, when was the last time you threw a bag, pulled a boat off a rock or tried any of the many (sometimes overly complicated) rescues that you can read about in the books?

In my case............throw bag, about 3 times a year training, about the same for real.
Pins..............never
deepwater.....about 2 or 3 times a year
dealing with unconscious paddler in the water..............never
first aid......current, but only general training. Might / might not be able to cope with a serious mishap
checked your equipment for dealing with a hypothermia case (NB I checked mine recently. My foil survival bag, when rolled out, turned out be defective.........there was hardly any heat reflecting foil on it)


Okay. So it is own up time.

How good is your bank support????

Hi Tony
Your right we dont train enough on technical and life threatning rescues , We never think we are going to need it it`s always somebody else !?
How do you fancy doing a few sessions , The way the group is expanding it would be a great way to get together ,run a river and do some rescue work,
My first aid is not to bad, non of the BODIES that I have treated have ever complained, But carrying the first aid kit is a bit of a problem I could maybe manage a triangular bandage and safty pin in ma wee boat

Thanks for putting a bit of life into the forum
cheers GREYTOWEL


As for bank support the manager keeps ignoring me ....

sorry Dave, we will try and get a throwbag to you a bit quicker next time....we were too busy smelling the flowers.

Oh..............you mean THAT bank manager??!! Can't help you there mate! :D


Good idea about the training. I have a feeling we might need it for real, real soon.

well I guess that says it all...................

a post about a DVD gets 131 views

a post about rescue gets 24, and only one real reply.

Hope I never have to paddle with the DVD watching arm chair warriors :angry:

I've practiced using a throwbag, once.

My first aid is fairly recent.

That's it.

Eric

I've just done an afternoons solo deep water rescue training, trying to figure out how to re enter my Wenonah Prism. All conventional methods failed for me when I last tried so this time I came prepared with a canoe pole and a dry bag stuffed with camping gear.

I tied the pole to the thwart, and the bag to the end of the pole, thus making an outrigger, like an over sized paddle float (sea kayaking).

It worked every time, re entery was easy.

I did this from the water too, ie set the whole thing up whilst floating. this took a bit longer but was fine.

However, 2 things became apparent. 1. everything needs to be tight. This is not easy to achieve FAST, and for obvious reasons you do not want to hang about. I used straps which were fast, but were not really tight enough. i reckon that in big waves (guarenteed, otherwise you would not be forced out of your boat on flat water) the whole thing would slip about and be ineffective.
2. you need a big bailer. This is the only way you can empty the canoe, and you need to do it fast because it is unstable when swamped, it sits low in the water and those waves may well be coming over the side. i often take waves over the gunwales when the canoe is (was) dry so in a seroiusly swamped state I'm thinking fast bailing is essential.

Now you might think that with a big outrigger you would not capsize again. i thought that too, so tried it. You cannot capsize towards the dry bag float, but unless the dry bag is heavy (it will still float even if full of food, stove etc) then believe it or not it is possible to pull the dry bag right over the canoe and to capsize on the other side. Watch your head if this happens! It would of course be possible to capsize towards the float if the pole slips loose of the thwart, or the dry bag moves off the end of the pole, or perhaps towards the side of the canoe.

I still need to work on this, but the idea is basically sound.

Pole to gunwale must be fast and very firm, and possible from the water. Any ideas?