Scenario: Your only way home is your vehicle parked safely on high ground across a small river in a mixed oak and conifer forest. None of the trees near the river is more than 50 feet tall and most are much shorter.
The river has unexpectedly flooded to about 50 feet across, more than 15 feet deep in the middle, and is flowing faster than you can walk. Occasional large debris floats downstream, some hanging up on shore rocks.
You are alone.
Strategies that circumstances have forced you to reject: waiting it out, calling for help, hiking upstream, diverting the river, or using explosives [Blast].
You have 50 feet of paracord, and know how to make cordage from a wide variety of materials. You have your EDC and PSK, but no other camping or woodcraft tools.
What are the options you consider? Of those options, what do you try first?
Ok, now that my esdeemed fellow forumite's have finished slamming your head against a wall, whilst yelling
No! No! No! , lets actually look at the question shall we?
Right,
first point is that 99% of the time they are entirely correct. However, for the purposes of this
exercise I am going to assume that staying where you are is certain death.
So you have got to cross the river. One way or another. That means a raft, or more accuratly a floatation device that will permit you to keep your upper body out of the water. The two killers in this situation are drowning and hypothermia. If that water is cold then the latter is the greater threat, simply because getting chilled will incapacitate you extremely rapidly. At that point its a toss up between drowning and heart failure.
So what you do is:
Construct a bundle raft of the required boyancy.
Collect a lot of fire making materials. You will need these on the other side to rewarm yourself.
Strip to bare skin. Th only thing that you should have on is your boots.
As far as possible make a waterproof bundle of your clothes. I for one always have a plastic bag of some description in my pocket (had too many supermarket bags go south on me at exactly the wrong moment). Lash it to the raft. The more insulation you have under you the better.
Take the raft and your pole walk out quickly but carefully untill you reach a depth that allows you to float your raft. That should be no more than waist deep.
Climb on and push off. A quick prayer might be in order at this point. Something to the effect that "Lord I know I'm an idiot, but my Missus and Kids don't deserve to loose me."
Swim your raft at an angle to the current. There is no way that you will be able to swim directly across. Nore can you fight the current so you have to go with it and angle your way across. Don't worry about trees in the water. They and you are moving at the same speed. Don't try to rush across. Won't work and all you will do is exhaust yourself. Keep going untill you reach the other side. You will probably wind up someway down stream. If you succeed (you probably won't) then as soon as you exit the water, start a fire and rewarm youself.
I am going to repeat:
THIS IS A TACTIC OF DESPERATION. THIS IS A VERY BAD IDEA UNLESS YOU ARE LOOKING DEATH RIGHT IN THE EYE.