Interesting motivation for this tragic escapade:

Zion National Park (UT)
Two Rafters Drown In Virgin River

On Sunday, April 25th, rangers received a report of an overdue party from a float trip down though the Virgin River Narrows. Investigation revealed that two 23-year-old men from Las Vegas had hiked into the Narrows with the intent of constructing a log raft and floating approximately 50 miles through the Narrows to Hurricane, Utah. The men were not equipped with wetsuits or PFDs, did not have whitewater rafting experience, and had limited camping experience, little food and no overnight gear. They told their father that they intended to record their entire trip on video camera as an entry into the “Man vs. Wild” competition. The SAR operation concluded on April 26th when both bodies and a small amount of personal gear were recovered from the river. [Submitted by Cindy Purcell, Chief Ranger]

Uh-oh, I think we have candidates

"They told their father that they intended to record their entire trip on video camera as an entry into the “Man vs. Wild” competition."
I guess Bear isn't sorry for anything he teaches on TV, like "I have a SAFETY crew behind the scenes in case I get in trouble"

Loser-Families
Winner Nobody

Mike

That's just sad. Foolish and sad.

Sympathies to their family and friends. Kudos to the SAR team.

This is a very sad outcome. Given the details of their story, it also seems these men were astoundingly unprepared for what they were getting into.

They were planning on paddling a completely committed, class III-IV run in a log raft. They did the trip in April, when the water temps are at best in the 40's - and the air temp was about the same. They didn't have helmets, wetsuits, or even PFDs! Neither had any whitewater experience, and they didn't get the mandatory permit from the rangers.

They were in a gorge where the only way out is by boat, in a homemade log raft, with no safety gear, knowledge, or experience, and without letting the rangers know they were there.

With the low flows in the Narrows, I suspect they died of hypothermia instead of flush drowning. Those flows would require a lot of portaging, lots of hopping in and out of water. Without proper gear and lows below freezing, that seems most likely.

Condolences to their family and friends. Hopefully others will learn from this tragedy and avoid repeating it.

In 40F degree water even wet suits wouldn't be appropriate. A dry suit would be required. Maybe they thought they weren't gonna get wet. I suspect your are correct and that they died from hypothermia first before simply drowning assuming of course they could swim in the first place!! Chances are they probably weren't very good swimmers either. But hey they had a raft and Bear Grylls said its the quickest way out of the high mountain wilderness!!

Bear Grylls seriously thinks that floating a log raft down an unknown, unscouted high-gradient river is the quickest way out of high mountain wilderness?! That man is dangerous to anyone who listens to him.

I think a wetsuit with splash gear would be sufficient for 40 degree water on a roadside run with an experienced guide and a proper raft. I've swum in 40 degree whitewater with a 3mm wetsuit and a drytop, and while it was cold, a good wetsuit would be sufficient for a relatively short swim.

On the other hand, drypants to match my drytop are one of the best purchases I've made! For any cold run where you may be in the water for any substantial duration, dry gear is a must.

Meh, for short term submersion (the sort I've experience while rafting at least) a 7mm farmer john top and bottom would more than suffice. Of course, if you're going to be spending more than a minute or two in the water something heavier would be nice, or a dry suit. People here sail dinghies in water at or below forty degrees in just farmer john bottoms, they fall in, right the boat, and are in the water just less than a minute. Of course, there are crash boats in that case, so the top isn't as important.

Falling off a log raft is different than out of a boat-boats, for the most part, have something to grab onto to haul yourself back on board. A log raft has slippery logs-putting your fingers in the gaps is only asking for broken fingers. Poorly planned-I hope that friends tried to talk them out of it, instead of encouraging them to do so. Sometimes, bravado wins out-but nature doesnt care about bravado. Or, about you at all. It just exists.
My buddy wanted to try out a new Coleman inflatable kayak a few weeks ago-days after our epic rainfall here. He wanted to go on a river. It took two days for me to convince him that, one, new equipment needs to be TESTED first; two, the water in April is too cold for casual river running: three, the water levels are WAY too high-especially for novice kayakers (which both of us are); and four, a nice flatwater paddle is more relaxing than running rapids your first time in the water-unless you have experience.
Fortunately, I won out-we did some kayaking on a few lakes. The website said the kayak he bought is rated to class IV-I doubt that though. Mine, which is a semi-rigid inflatable, is only rated to a class III-not that I have done one, nor intend to in it, but I think that the people who rated mine were more qualified (the one I have is simply better built-the one he bought is more like an inflatable canoe, with a skin over the top)and independently rated-by kayakers. I like to think that I saved his life that day, and he owes me a beer

I've seen a couple of the Coleman inflatable kayaks in stores. They look like deathtraps for whitewater. From what I've seen, they're far too soft. They won't bounce or slide off rocks, they'll wrap around them - potentially with you still in them! I could see taking one down a class II to III- wavetrain. If the rapid has any rocks in it (as they sometimes do!) I'd feel safer just jumping in to the rapid and swimming.

There are some high-performance IKs out there that can be paddled safely by experienced whitewater boaters in class IV-V rapids. They start at about $1000 new though!