Private boater here in Durango, CO and just took a river guide certification for my own edification … ropes were preached as last resort and boat spacing and communication was key. We practiced flipping boats, aggressive self rescue and throwing lines to swimmers, and all was in the context as you said here … thank you for bringing it into perspective with kayaking and professional swift water rescue. Great episode, as always.

Great video! I took swift water rescue back in the early 80s in Ca and we were told the impetus of the course was set up to help firefighters and first responders who were getting killed during high risk rescues. It was gear gear gear and I remember having to change a lot of techniques as I did more and more rafting. You are spot on about using your boat first, most of the time. Practicing on the water is crucial. One thing of note; I stopped guiding class IV-V with questionable paddlers because of their lack of swimming skills and ability to stay in the raft. So many folks once they get into the water, do nothing to self-rescue and they get into trouble. I remember a class IV-V run up here in BC where I was paying guest and the guide was smoked after the first run having to rescue everyone but me. I ended up helping her guide much of the rest of the day because the paddlers were just terrible. She worked her ass off trying to get everyone down the river in one piece. Keep up the great work!

Love the vid! I’ve been teaching rescue classes for the last three years out of Missoula with the Whitewater Rescue Institute. And I can’t reiterate enough in each class how much of a hazard a rope can be. Row over throw rescues all day. But practice all the skills when you can, even if you are a class V boater can you swim class III. If your an experienced rafter can you still make that throw bag toss when you need to! Recreation is some of the best practice you can get!! Thanks for all the content, keep it up!

I’m really excited about this new series!

Very important distinctions. I like the slide and look forward to the kayaker whitewater rescue portion. I did an 8-class series last year with Calleva in MD last year where they stressed the importance of practicing and staging rescue scenarios.

Very informative and really liked the learning takeaways from this video.

Nice! Sometimes I feel bad for being a canoeist but then I remember how fun it is😉 I just took the boreal whitewater rescue 1 and 2 course which was amazing. A big takeaway I got was in most cases swimming(and knowing how) to your subject is the best option. We were told to generally avoid rescuing from our boats but I’m sure that’s different for the rafting world. I love hearing all the perspectives and I look forward to the series!

It’s a great idea and we’ll thought out list. I definitely got trained initially by the guys on the shore and my first high flotation PFD looked like Batman. To the bat cave!

Very good information!! I agree with you on many points. Sierra rescue does RRC and they typically organize their classes to their clients. Like recreational boaters, or raft guides, etc… they too preach the row over throw when you can. Which I believe is crucial, especially if you’re throwing a rope to someone that doesn’t know to roll over onto their back and put the rope over the upstream shoulder… anyways great content Zac! Keep it coming!! ✌️❤ everyone and happy rowing/paddling to all.

I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while now. I’m a former raft guide, a kayaker, Search and Rescue team leader, and trained as a fire fighter. I’ve done SRT courses that included Tyrollean traverses and others that focused on swimming. When fire fighting training I did ice rescue as well. All that to say I would rather have some good rafters and kayakers than most fire fighters and volunteer SAR folks. There may be a difference in training and responsibilities for professional raft guides and friends going rafting. So they may need different training. Rather than Catwoman/Batman I think the better analogy is we should dress as seals (the animal) not SEALs (military).

Super interesting video

Great video and I love that you are engaging in this conversation. I just took a swift water rescue course this weekend, actually. It was great. I did it because of an incident/rescue I was involved with recently as a kayaker. Everything ended up OK but we did need to do a 911 river evac/rescue for my friend. My thought as someone who has now been involved with a few different incidents is that we train people for land-to-river things. That, in my experience, is not how things go down. I'd like to see more instruction or conversation about how you address a situation from your boat. I raft now more than I kayak and have small children. I wonder what resources or training are available for the "in-the-moment" rescue from a raft on the water. My observation is that the training is from the shore but all the incidents I have been involved with do not work like that. We are on boats. Rescue while boating is where we need more instruction, in my opinion.

Good video. Video suggestion - swiftwater landing techniques for both passenger and person rowing.

Good video. I was fortunate enough to take a Rescue 3 course that was for raft guides. Do you think if you were to provide a "River Rescue" course you would include some on-water training using your boat as a Rescue tool?

Do you ever use non-locking carabiners on your gear? If so where?

Well said Zach. Curriculum really matters and boaters should take a good look at the courses they are signing up for. Sierra Rescue does a pretty good job, and i love seeing in your classes that you keep it simple and applicable 🤙

You asked for opinions, and we all have one right, and they all stink, but in the last 2 weeks I lost a good friend to a maytag and a drowning, and I saved 4 people. That's in 2 weeks over 8 floats. I wasn't there for my friend, I was on a different section that day, unfortunately, fortunate, but the latter 4 I can tell you that if I wasn't there, there would be more headlines in the paper. All 4 of them. Missing take outs, not looking down river, no pfd's, jumping in the water for no good reason, Suppers running low class 3 at high water just getting off the couch from their online yoga sesh. It goes on and on. The best preparation and the most effective way to stop people dying on the river as you float it is to be crucially observant and try your best to express and exhibit behavior that recognizes that what may be declared as a sunny booze cruise changes instantly when the flows are 10x and the water temp is in the low 40's. Sure, play your music, have your beer, but you better be laced tight, listen the F up, and be ready to explode on command, be that for yourself, or someone else. What I see the most is that complacency, or at the other end- the expert halo, leads to the most deaths. You are way safer in your car, and maybe you should stay there. This goes for having a swivel on your neck at all times to be situationally available. You can still have fun and be the life of the party, but you better bring your A game every time you think about unloading that trailer. And you should check your tire pressure and grease your bearings too so I don't have to deal with that crap blowout at the put in. Thank you. RIP Nick. You organized 2 memorials for our friends in the last couple of years, and now I don't know anyone to do it for you. 34 is way too quick to go out like that. www.vaildaily.com/news/vail-community-celebrates-life-of-nick-courtens-a-talented-horticulturist-and-dependable-friend-at-betty-ford-alpine-gardens/

Well I guess the swift water rescue class I’m taking this weekend is a waste. 😜

Lot's of good points. Jackson made a nice rescue video a few years ago. Some cross references to rafters, some don't. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l8eUhbiY1LXRqGw.html