Perils of Wading

Okay, so I was the moron that fell in on the Spring river trip. (This is a more accurate description than ‘I never thought it would happen to me’)

I was in fairly deep, fast water and felt I could handle it. Then I stepped into a spot where I got pushed into deeper water by converging currents. Fortunately I had a wading belt on and a sling pack which helped with buoyancy. I just went with the flow of the stream and as the water wasn’t too rough I got on my back and back stroked to shore (the wrong shore!). Three keys – not panicking, trying to keep my body on top of the water and having a wading belt.

Lesson for me was to review wading pitfalls and strategies BEFOREHAND – Simms has an excellent, comprehensive 6 part series on YouTube. Each situation calls for different strategies so my defensive posture of feet downstream and quartering towards the shore was right in this instance however, there are 2 schools of thought on how to swim downstream (head first vs feet first), depending on stream conditions, potential obstacles or if you have a personal flotation device.

This river has a lot of boulders and I found out pretty quick that trying to step over as opposed to around puts one in a pretty unstable position, even with a staff. Things I’ll do differently: get a second wading belt that I can place around my sternum when getting in treacherous water. My waders did fill in the foot area but not completely and could swim without too many problems which surprised me.

These are the notes that I took and the resources I used:

Perils of Wading

>2000 drown in rivers each year (2011)

60% of people that die in rivers are swept away and drown

Other 40% are caught on log jams in undercuts or foot traps

90% of river deaths happen within 10 feet of the shoreline

Wading Basics

–       Shuffle walking, walk around boulders DO NOT step over them

–       Force of stream slows down as gets near bottom – less resistance

–       Lift leg – encounter more resistance/force of the stream AND you are less stable

–       The river flow usually wins – best sometimes to go with the flow not against it – offensive swimming (see below)

 

Wading across rough waters – preemptive strategies

–       2nd wading belt across the sternum

–       Free your hands – store rod in a handle loop

–       Wading staff

– Staff downstream and firmly anchored

– Rotate upstream leg 180 degrees downstream as you move

Buddy wading

–       Hold on to each other by your upper wading belts

–       Upstream partner holds the rods

–       Downstream wader holds the wading staff

–       Once gets too deep bounce and ‘quarter” your way across (45 degrees)

Swimming in waders

–       Goal is to try to get most of your body on top of the water and out of the full thrust of the deeper stream

–       2 postures (schools of thought) in swimming in waders:

– defensive – feet first on your back, for calm water or for intervening with logs etc (see below)

– offensive – swim aggressively headfirst and on your stomach, for more treacherous water with multiple obstacles – allows you to see rocks and obstructions and react accordingly

– “The typical position for swimming anglers to assume is on their back, head upstream and feet downstream. This is the position taught by the Boy Scouts, Red Cross, NOLS, and the military. Unfortunately for anglers, the defensive swimming technique is designed for someone wearing a life jacket and not a pair of waders.”

This is from the 2014 Flyfisherman article referenced below  https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/the-big-swim/151726

–       Don’t fight the current or stand up until you are in a place that’s calm and shallow enough

–       Practice swimming in waders in a location with safe start and stop areas – it was a lot easier than I thought and not as cold as I thought either

 

Handling Log Jams

–       Real danger of a river is being flushed against an object like a downed tree or a rock

–       If going towards an obstruction GET RID OF YOUR ROD – better chance of survival with both hands free and don’t panic

–       Try to avoid getting swept under the log

–       Be offensive and try to swim on top of the obstruction going headfirst

–       OR go feet first and try to brace yourself against the log and “walk off” to the side – defensive swimming

–       If your feet go beneath the log best to get your knees or feet on the upstream side of the log

Foot entrapments

–       To free someone who is foot entrapped, simply wade in behind them and break the force of the current with your legs. If you reach the victim, try to get a rope or stick against his shins and, with a person on either end, move upstream.

–       Self-rescue is limited to cutting the boots off your feet with a knife or pair of paramedic shears.

Stepping off a shelf

–       Don’t panic, swim and look for the nearest bank

–       If in slow water can backstroke your way holding on to your rod

–       Once ashore dry out!

Stuck in muck (by yourself)

–       Use wading staff to determine hard ground

–       Step back to break the suction by leaning  forward at the knee and lifting the heel off to break the suction pointing your toe towards the ground and pull your foot out and slowly back up and find your last hole you stepped in

–       Can’t break suction

– Need to get weight off feet cuz weight of feet holding us down

– Take the longest possible step you can this will break the heel free of the suction and have your weight dispersed on your shin and lift toe up as fast as you can

Take care of yourself

–        Dehydration and hunger lead to poor wading decisions on the stream

 

Resources

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/the-big-swim/151726

 

Simms Wading videos parts 1 – 6