My Survival Kit hurt me!

For my recent 3 day rafting trip on the Rogue River in Oregon, I had a minor incident caused by the way I carry my survival kit. My kit is about twice the size of Doug's PSP, and I carry it on a belt in an AquaPac, at the small of my back.

If you've whitewater rafted, you know that "unauthorized swims" are not highly unusual. Once you've managed to get to slower water, the raft approaches you... you hang on to the grab lines (usually along the side of the tube) and someone inside grabs your lifejacket by the shoulders. One monumental heave, and usually you're back inside the boat.

Not so with me. One monumental heave wedged my Survival Kit belt buckle under the lifeline... making it almost impossible to pull me further into the raft. I rolled around with my back to the raft, and the kit itself hung up. Finally brute force from two people inside the raft broke me loose and pulled me in. No worse for wear, except for an upper back "pull". And, scared! Quite scared!

So I'm going to re-think my carry options.

That's a really good reason why you should carry at least one fixed blade or one-handed folder within easy reach AT ALL TIMES. Preferably two, on different locations.

A number of people have died in a situation similar to yours. Falling into a fast flowing river, getting entangled in rope, branches, a submerged tree or some such obstacle is no joke. I've heard of a guy who drowned because his boot lace got caught underwater on a rock and he couldn't take it off. Eventually his buddies pulled him out but it was already too late. Folks have burned to death because they crashed their car and couldn't unfasten the seatbelt before the vehicle caught fire. Lots of not-so-pleasant scenarios that can happen almost any time.

Also, keep in mind that any gear that sticks out of your general silhoutette too much is likely to snag on something. I often see hikers who hang all kinds of stuff on their backpack, everything from cooking pots to bags, pouches and whatnot, probably just because it looks cool. Which I think is pretty unwise for the reasons just stated, not to mention it makes crawling through some dense bush unnecessarily tiring.

That's happened to me in the water before with knives or buckles from other gear... just gotta be careful and yell at the people trying to rip you in half a knife is good to cut you loose too. BUT as you noticed it all happens VERY VERY FAST.

Good points, guys. Actually, I have/had more knives than I needed... had I needed one. And the boat guide had his Gerber River Shorty handy, too. And I agree about not having gear sticking out: the AquaPac is less than 2" thick, and the buckle isn't thicker than any belt buckle. Still, S&@t happens.

Actually, the problem was prolonged because those in the raft were (appropriately so) doing their thing... but unfortunately without listening to what I was trying to say. The solution was to stop pulling on me and allow me enough slack to self-extricate. I understand though: sometimes the "victim" is the last one the rescuers listen to.

My plan in the future is to have my PSP(s) in my pockets or under my pants or shirt. I could have and should have done so with the rig I wear, as it could have been worn next to my skin and under my shorts or T-shirt. The AquaPac is vinyl plastic, and wasn't comfortable next to my skin, so I moved it. Dumb move, in retrospect.

Lessons learned.

NAro:

It honestly looks like you hav a good pack and to be honest.. lines get tangled on lines. In my opinion you have a small enough pack and murphy just got the better of you at that moment.

There may be ways to have a small PSP that can hide beneath the life jacket offering a smoother entery. I know that when I go into tight places and areas I have to be careful with what is on my belt and on my person. (add to that the fact that I am 280pounds and not a small person) Quiet often I have to think about how I get into and outof things.

I would not beat yourself up. even putting the pack next to your skin will open the posability for heat blisters or chafing.. and we all know chaifing is not fun.

Eric

Good to hear you came through the experience without injury NAro.

I have a similar story that happened to a co-worker. My friend was the passenger in a Turbo Beaver float plane that was landing on a remote lake. The plane was on amphibious floats and unfortunately attempted to land with wheels down. The plane immediately flipped over when it contacted the surface of the water and slowly began to sink. The pilot quickly unstrapped his seat harness then unstrapped the passanger as he was struggling to get it undone. The pilot exited the aircraft but my friends equipment belt was entangled in the shoulder harness straps, therefore holding him inside the plane. Without thinking my friend took an old Buck 110 folding knife from his belt pouch and opened it with 2 hands, but before he could cut the straps the pouch tore apart and he was able to exit the aircraft. They both survived with only minor injuries and were rescued quickly.

My friends advice was to carry a serrated one-hand folder clipped to your cargo pants pocket for use when entangled. He also advised that if your outer work belt is attached to an inner belt with keepers , to remove these keepers when flying or working on water; this will allow you to drop the outer equipment belt quickly if required.

I think I may have posted this story on ETS before, I can't remember; good advice worth repeating if I did.

Mike

One of the things I like about BDU style clothing is the covered buttons on the pockets and fly to reduce snagging, as well as the roominess of the thigh pockets. Now, if I could just find some made out of a lightweight nylon,I'd be thrilled.

I am glad to hear the worst you got was a scare NAro.
Snagging on stuff is why I don't wear anything on a cord around my neck, why I only wear weak watch straps and why I don't wear rings.
I also have a habit of checking my gear for loops that can snag too.

On a side note;
If you snagged on the raft's grab line others likely have too. It might be worth thinking about a safer way of providing that grab rope feature.

I prefer distributed pocket carry for EDC rather than a "kit".

Me too. I have found it to be the best option for me.

Pick the clothes, "S" can the buttons and replace with Velcro. I did this on the inspection BDU's in the army. Just not the one's for the field due to noise discipline.

5-11 just came out with a new pair of tactical pro pants. They are not BDU standard but are very close to it and much lighter. I tried on a pair and was impressed.
5-11 tactical pants

I personally wear Mountain Hardware Canyon pants and have put them through years of off trail abuse with zero defect. No cargo pockets but the depth of the 2 front/2 back more than make up for it. Plus I use vests or packs for heavy carry instead of stuffing pants.

The lightest stuff is going to be from North Face, Mountain Hardware, Columbia, heck even Under Armour has some good light and strong pants. The rub for me is most of these that have cargo pockets are also zip offs and I don't do that style.

For those activities I prefer an old style Mil SEEK 2 pocket
vest, it will fit well under a float vest.

The link goes to the poly/cotton version. I have nylon 5-11 trousers and they are very comfortable in the rain. Add some Smartwool/other wool long underwear and they should be good in cold and wet.

Thanks for the suggestions, Comms. I have some of the very lightweight nylon pants and shirts for backpacking and casual outdoor use from various makers. By the way, Academy Sports has some really nice models, near copies to Columbia, etc., at very good prices, zip-off or not. I now have enough use on them myself to say they hold up well.

What I need are some in the recent BDU pattern, in khaki, which are issue for the federal agency I work for. Unfortunately, the issue is in poly-cotton, which is still way too hot, heavy and slow drying for me, especially since I know superior fabrics are now available. I even looked into having a half dozen or sets made up for me, without success.

Well,

When you say Northwest Florida, how close are you to Hulbert field? The fellows in the USAF that wear the Aussie brimmed hats might know of a good seamstress in that area. Long before the new (8 years or so) uniforms came out, the SOCOM boys were modifying BDU's to fit their needs.

My favorite mod was the SDU5 beacon pocket on the sleeve.

I work and train with some of those guys. I'll ask around again. It was a few years ago that I last looked into it, mostly online. I had a few leads on tailors, but I think I was looking for a sewing pattern. I should have asked last weekend, when we were all sweating our posteriors off in heavy, sweat soaked poly-cotton tees. My job is safety officer, which means mostly being the water-boy and official rest and rehydration nag. We even had a major discussion about heat stress issues. But I'd long since dropped the unform replacement project. Funny how you get so used to "what is" that you forget about "what could be."

I took an old set of "Cook's Whites" (old faded woodland BDU's) and a seam ripper and made my own pattern. Took some time, but it worked when we needed some OPFOR uniform and grew tired of the old "chocolate chip" desert BDU's.

I don't know what the new Army ACU is like, but it looks darn functional.

If using the old BDU pattern, sew the velcro to the "Button Flap" under the pocket flap so the stitching doesn't show.

But then on my inspection uniforms, I also had the pockets cut and the bellows reversed into the uniform instead of bellowing out.

I should say that these uniforms were only for guard mount inspections and street MP duty. In the field, I had regular issue BDU's.

I think most seemed to have missed the point. Scafool seems to have come closest.

The point is to keep survival kits, and all gear attached to you, compact and streamlined.

While keeping a knife easily at hand sounds like a sound solution in this case a knife may have been exactly the wrong solution. Slashing desperately and blindly at a grab line while being buffeted by whitewater sounds like a fine way to hole the raft. Tangled in the grab rope of a raft is bad. Tangled in the rope of a raft that is no longer stable and under control because a major flotation chamber is holed is far worse.

Now I don't object to having a knife of some sort handy, options are good, but the knife has to be used with great care and only where it makes sense. Also the sheath and knife have to be mounted and positioned in such a way that it does not create a risk of being tangled. Some thought might be given to the sort and size of blade you carry. Knives designed for use around life rafts often have blunt points and it would seem to be common sense that the blade should be relatively short. Most knives purpose built for survival use around rafts seem to have blades only about 3" long. A shorter knife would also seem to be less likely to get snagged or cause unintended damage.

Survival gear in general should stay out of the way until needed and impose the minimum burden possible on the person carrying it. Small and light with a few well selected and highly adaptable pieces is better than a larger kit with more specialized gear. Particularly if the kit gets in your way. The most important, and comprehensive piece of kit is what you carry in you head.

Okay, no one else said it so I will. The force of water is such that 5CFM can bend steel.(I learned that on the History channel the other day)
It is not outside of the realm of probability and well within the range of human experiences for water to literally rip things off that are attached to you.
If I were to carry a survival kit on my person when whitewater rafting, and I do, I carry it beneath the flotation device. There is little likelihood of it getting snagged, washed away or damaged. The vest offers some protection and since you would not need any of those items until after you hit dry land, their access or lack thereof is inconsequential.
The survival kit on a fighter plane is not accessible until after the jet jockey punches out for much the same reason.
I would have a knife on the outside of your PFD as well as a backup in your survival kit...

No matter how you carry a kit, there is always going to be SOME situation in which that means of carry fails just because anything that can happen, eventually will happen to someone.

Redundancy for some items is a good thing after planning for the probabilities in deciding how to carry the basic kit.